This research reveals media strategies and tools of information warfare employed by the U.S. and Russian media outlets.

First of all, several features of an information campaign have been elicited in all aspects under analysis:

- Intensity: all media outlets have a substantial share of articles for each aspect of the conflict. The causes of the war are the least covered aspect out of four, because it was mainly discussed during the outset of the war.

- Consistency: all media refer to the topics in focus to a greater or lesser extent, but there is no doubt that in all six media coverages of the conflict is consistent.

- Negative representation: disagreements over aspects and mutual accusations result in negative representations of the other side's policies or actions.

- “Talking heads”: comments from experts or officials, along with quotations of speeches, comprise the majority of the articles dedicated to all the aspects.

- Detailed and vivid visualization: articles about the causes of the war, the fate of Bashar al-Assad's presidency, and the attitude towards political and military opposition usually contain vivid pictures or videos from the ground, which serve a particular purpose - to convince the audience who is guilty or to show how the events unfolded. Articles about the prospects for a political settlement are usually accompanied by pictures of the officials.

An analysis of the articles also allows the identification of which frames are used by media outlets and coverage of which aspects they are applied to:

- Identity frame is applied to all the aspects in focus: in the context of the roots of the war, this frame indicates the way protesters identified themselves as freedom fighters, radical opposition, or have a religious group affiliation - Sunni or Shiite; concerning Assad, Russian and American media use this frame to create his identity in keeping with their official position (whether he is a legitimate leader or a brutal dictator); to differentiate who the moderate opposition is and who the terrorists are, both sides apply this frame; covering peace initiatives, identity images for the “right” side to support are constructed;

- Characterization frame is used for all the aspects, except for the causes of the war: in all the other articles, negative characterization frame is applied to undermine Bashar al-Assad's legitimacy, to criticize American support for the opposition or to condemn each other's peace efforts and suggestions;

- Conflict management frame is applied to all the aspects, except for the causes of the war, but it is used in the same context: whether outside intervention can help defeat the terrorists and cause a regime change is a solution to stop violence, or no external players should decide the fate of the Syrian people, and no provocations should be undertaken to oust the government;

- Power frame helps to evaluate legitimate forms of power, which is more likely to advance its position and also to identify legitimate representatives of the Syrian people in all aspects.

Two frames which are crucial for the negotiations process are risk frame and loss-versus-gain frame, because possible risks, losses and gains are on the agenda during all of the reconciliation talks.

The most widely-used linguistic and stylistic tools that help construct an image in either of the sides are:

- Precedent: references to the Arab Spring wave, affected countries, in particular, the Libyan case, and previous rounds of peace talks organized by different actors and their results often occur in the articles.

- Labels - one of the most popular techniques: coverage of each aspect contains labels, for example, “brutal” regime or “brutal dictator”, “Western-backed” opposition, “moderate opposition” or “backers” of the regime.

- Connotation and sentiment: content analysis demonstrates that all aspects are characterized by negative connotations and sentiments.

- Evaluation: all media provide assessments of all parties involved in the conflict, their actions, military successes and strategies of the other side, policies and suggested peace initiatives.

- Presupposition: in the articles with experts' overview of the situation (for any of the aspects), presuppositions can come across.

In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the Syrian conflict has become a new battlefield of two great power in the diplomatic, military and information domains. It is evident that both countries have their interests in the Middle East, and even share the main one - maintaining security in the region, but, that is not enough for successful cooperation. Russia has its economic interests as, for example, making new economic ties through the oil or nuclear sectors and arms trade. U.S. interests are focused on the energy aspect, as well, along with developing long-term relations with reliable allies in the region. What is more important is a desire of the U.S. to promote democracy; attempts of which can be observed in the Libyan case. Russian policy-makers insist on a multi-polar world system with Russia among the great powers. Consequently, Russia has seen an opportunity to improve its position in the region during the Syrian war. Military operations have demonstrated its capabilities of quick military forces deployment and coordinated activities of air and naval forces. Moreover, this operation compelled other countries to start dialogue with Russia to prevent military miscalculations. Current Russian policy is aimed at balancing the U.S. presence. Moreover, Russia offers an alternative to the American perspective: regime changes should not be governed by Western powers, but by the willingness of the people. Hence, Russian priorities in the region are to restore and strengthen its positions, while challenging U.S. dominance. Nevertheless, the Syrian war is not yet over, and the threat of terrorism is still existent, while two countries are fighting for dominance, instead of productive cooperation aimed at peace and security in the world.

List of primary sources and literature

Primary sources

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7. Website of the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/#

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