Blog archive all
26th March 2018
The Centre for War and Peace Studies was established in Rome last May "to support experts, academics, researchers, diplomats, governments, and civil society activists in their attempts to help countries in conflict, crisis and transition around the world".
It sounded like a worthy if over-… Read more
19th March 2018
A group of university professors who claim to be engaged in "rigorous academic analysis" of propaganda during the Syrian conflict have recruited a 9/11 truther to their team.
Mark Crispin Miller, professor of media studies at New York University, rejects what he calls "the official narrative" of… Read more
18th March 2018
A group of university professors who promoted conspiracy theories about chemical weapons in Syria are now making similar claims about the recent chemical attack in Britain which critically injured Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter.
The "Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and… Read more
15th March 2018
There's something uncannily familiar about Russia's propaganda antics over the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal in Britain. We've seen them before in Syria where Russia has steadfastly defended the Assad regime against accusations of using chemical weapons.
On an August morning in 2013… Read more
7th March 2018
The roadside signs show a bearded man in Arab head-dress with the words "He is bringing change to Saudi Arabia". Passing drivers, unless they are followers of Middle Eastern politics, may wonder who "he" is, but that doesn't really matter. The adverts seem to have been strategically placed so as… Read more
6th March 2018
The newly-formed "Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media" – which I wrote about last month – has added some further names to its list of members and advisers.
The group claims to be promoting "rigorous academic analysis" of propaganda in the Syrian conflict and says it aims to "provide a… Read more
5th March 2018
A recent report by a UN panel of experts painted a grim picture of the situation in Yemen. "Yemen, as a state, has all but ceased to exist," it said. "Instead of a single state there are warring statelets, and no one side has either the political support or the military strength to reunite the… Read more
2nd March 2018
Donald Trump and Joseph Mifsud, the mysterious "professor" in the Trump-Russia affair, have almost certainly never met but one day last year their paths crossed in the unlikeliest of places: Saudi Arabia.
On 21 May the American president was in Riyadh for a summit attended by leaders of more than… Read more
27th February 2018
At a recent meeting of the UN security council Syria claimed the US and France now doubt that the Assad regime has ever used chemical weapons. The claim was false but it provides an interesting example of how propaganda can be created.
Speaking on February 14, Syria's representative at the UN,… Read more
25th February 2018
In times of war it's important but often difficult to distinguish truth from propaganda. So the newly-formed "Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media" – comprising three professors, two lecturers and three postgraduate researchers at British universities – ought to be a welcome development.
"… Read more
ARAB ART ONLINE: Susan Hefuna: Al Sabr Gamil (Patience is Beautiful) 2007. Ink stained on wood 140 x 170 cm. More information | Click to enlarge
