Authors

Discussion

Over the past decade, Russia has significantly expanded its presence in the Middle East. This occurred largely through interventions in contexts of war and political turmoil, where Moscow has leveraged military, diplomatic, and economic tools to promote an illiberal model of conflict management that contrasts with Western norms. A key component of this strategy has been the deliberate use of media to shape positive narratives about Russia's role and influence local perceptions. This paper aims to examine the role of Russian media in Middle Eastern conflicts, offering new insights into the ‘weaponization’ of media and its contribution to Russia’s broader strategy to challenge the Western-led global order. The study focuses on Syria, where Russia has been militarily involved in the conflict that began with the popular uprising against the Damascus regime in 2011 and culminated in the regime’s collapse in 2024. Since launching its military intervention in 2015, Russia has employed a wide range of conflict management tactics. While the military and diplomatic dimensions have been extensively studied, the use of media as a deliberate tool of conflict management remains under-explored. The research begins by analyzing a corpus of approximately 1,000 articles published by Russian media outlets operating in Syria and internationally - RT Arabic, Sputnik Arabic, Sputnik International - from 2015 (start year of Russia's intervention in support of Damascus) to 2024 (regime change in Damascus). Using qualitative media content analysis, it will identify and examine the dominant Russian narratives, incorporating them with interviews with Russian war correspondents, media professionals and experts within both Russian and Syrian circles. Through its focus on the Syrian conflict, this research seeks to contribute to a broader understanding of Russia’s media strategies in conflict zones worldwide.