The Role of Media and New Media in Syrian Political Crisis (2011-2014)

With the development of the global information society on the basis of integrated communications possible manipulation of information increases significantly. The purpose of this paper is to examine the features of informational confrontation between Russia and the United States during the Syrian conflict. Understanding the experience of the Syrian conflict today is very important for several reasons. Russia, for the first time after the failure of recent years in the international information field, has taken a proactive stance in foreign policy. It is also important that these processes have been actively involved the media in Russia and the United States, which occupied a certain position. Their role in the development of the conflict also requires a special understanding. Finally, we must draw attention to the fact that Syria's example confirms the trend of coverage of political conflicts in the international arena - this aspect also remains poorly understood. The study attempted to compare the approaches to the information war in the United States and Russia, and to reveal the features of informational confrontation during the Syrian conflict on the basis of empirical data - publications in both Russian and American media. This work helps to see how governments act in relation to other states, which falls within the scope of media attention and which do not. The methods of information warfare, that used in the media, often at odds with the established rules in the doctrine of the information security of United States and Russia's national security strategy. Keywords: Media, new media, the political crisis, Russia, USA, Syria, Information War.