How Syria's President Transformed His Image
Postedabout 2 months agoActiveabout 2 months ago
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Syrian PoliticsMedia ManipulationPropaganda
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Syrian Politics
Media Manipulation
Propaganda
The story discusses how Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has transformed his image, sparking controversy over CNN's positive coverage and the implications of such propaganda.
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Nov 11, 2025 at 8:41 AM EST
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Summarized for those already familiar with al-Shara: "He disavowed Al-Qaeda in 2016".
The video itself is propaganda because the West wants new Syria to align with them instead of Russia and Iran. (Putin's also met with al-Shara.) You can tell because it's free, edited for mass distribution via TikTok and Instagram, and the controversies/ongoing criticism is vastly understated, while still being present. A kind of innoculation of the mind to soften the blow of future, harder criticism.
Even the long(er)-form article from yesterday is outside of the paywall: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/world/middleeast/syria-al...
This is not to say that al-Shara is worse than al-Assad, but this video is shockingly reductive.
Yes, he looks good in a suit. I guess that makes people forget he’s a terrorist: https://nypost.com/2025/10/13/media/syrian-leader-appears-to...