Global Book Events for Global Attention - And a Global Readership?

What is the attention-span of international book events and what do they contribute to the publishing industry at home and abroad? What does the readership gain from it? Is it about the power of books? Or is it about diplomacy and cultural politics? We'll discuss Unesco's World Book Capital initiative, in place since 2001, and its recent transformation into a network, and the European Union's Guest of Honor appearance at this year's FIL Guadalajara in Mexico.