ABSTRACT
The war in Syria has been accompanied by high levels of propaganda, as is the case in all wars. This chapter details key elements of the UK’s strategic communications operation with respect to that war. These include a range of private companies and NGOs, operated by former UK military personnel which have, between them, provided support to ‘PR’ operations for opposition groups, created the so-called ‘White Helmets’ first responders, facilitated legal activities related to prosecuting non-Western actors involved in the conflict and influenced the investigation of alleged chemical weapon attacks. Through these mechanisms, the UK, in tandem with its allies, has contributed to the maintenance of a specific and propagandised narrative of the Syrian war, which presents the UK and its allies as benign and on the side of international law, whilst the Syrian government is presented as the primary aggressor and violator of international norms and laws. Overall, the chapter argues that the combination of outsourcing/contracting and the scale of these activities has resulted in a situation where, in Vyvyan Kinross’s words, it is “hard to distinguish between the reality of events and a managed perception of them.”
