Marcos Sebares Jimenez-Blanco: Reshaping the Narrative of Events in Syria

In this episode of Orion Talks, host Marta Furlan talks with Mr. Marcos Sebares Jimenez-Blanco on the battle of narratives around Syria. With the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, Russia and Iran have lost an important ally in the Middle East that was key to their capacity to advance their military, strategic, and geopolitical goals in the region. Mr. Sebares explains how Moscow and Teheran have been using their information systems to try to shape, or re-shape, the narrative surrounding developments in Syria. While doing so, he points to the methods and strategies used, as well as to differences and similarities in the two countries’ approaches. Importantly, Mr. Sebares also discusses how the current efforts of Russia and Iran to manipulate information compare to the approach that they followed in the past, throughout the years of the Syrian civil war. He also discusses what the West could do to counter foreign (Russian-Iranian) information manipulation over Syria. To conclude the episode, Mr. Sebares shares his thoughts on the new HTS-led government sharing information or misinformation on certain crucial issues, such as the treatment of Syria’s religious minorities.

Marcos Sebares Jiménez-Blanco is a German Marshall Fund research fellow and a Spanish diplomat. He previously served as deputy consul in Mexico City. He studied law at the London School of Economics. He has written about the advancement and protection of human rights, and researches disinformation online.