The Assad regime's propaganda: Manipulation through messaging at the beginning of the Arab spring uprising in Syria

Abstract

Propaganda is used by authoritarian regimes to maintain political order and influence internal and foreign opinion. With this general observation as a starting point, this thesis will analyze the presentation of events and dissemination of information by the Syrian government during the first sixteen months of the Syrian uprising, from March 2011 to July 2012. This was a critical opportunity period during which pro-democracy activists might have developed international support resulting in the ousting of the Bashar Assad regime early in the uprising. To the extent it can be assessed, how effective was the official Syrian propaganda in dictating a narrative description of events on the ground in Syria which inhibited effective international support for democratic change? This is the key question this thesis seeks to answer as it examines the regime's propaganda efforts and delineates the limits of traditional media and nontraditional media to question, invalidate, and counter propaganda, as exposed by the Syrian experience.