Antone Christianson-Galina analyses how Bashar Al-Assad’s self-presentation may have helped him avoid military action by the West.

Fall 2013 – US President Barack Obama attempted and failed to build support for air strikes against Bashar Al-Assad, who had just used chemical weapons. Bashar al-Assad’s self-presentation may have played a significant role in Obama’s failure. By presenting himself as a reasonable leader in the Western mould, he avoided analogies tying him to Hitler and Islamic Extremism. Avoiding these analogies prevented them from being used in the case against him, weakening the argument for air strikes or an invasion of Syria by US Forces.

Faced with time constraints, instead of computing all the variables to make the most logical decisions, decision makers often use analogies to determine the best course to take. Historical analogies define the nature of the current situation (Khong pp.19-29) through their perceived similarity (Gentner). They allow for schematic thinking, in which a hypothesised cognitive structure becomes a situational blueprint made up of character types, like “another hitler” and scripts like “balkanisation” or “a trojan horse”. Analogies circumscribe the role of the actor and define the actor’s appropriate status in the international system (Vertzberger pp.225-321).

Assad successfully avoided one of the most dangerous analogies: the Hitler Analogy. When any leader of the free world is faced with a “Hitler”, the only rational choice is to depose the “Hitler” before he destabilises his region of commits a genocide. Dictators who are successfully put into this Hitler mould do not last very long: Saddam Hussein, Qaddafi. In 2013, when a strike seemed imminent, President Assad rarely presented himself in a military context and when he did, he did so in a non-hostile way, as a president visiting his country’s troops, not as one of the troops. Most photos of him with troops show him with civilian garb, never holding a weapon. Rather than being shown fighting, he is seen encouraging the soldiers, adopting a civilian role and providing them with peaceful material support. Even in pictures posted of his days in the Syrian Army, he is never shown with a gun- he is shown with a shovel and blanket, helping set up camp. He supports the troops, he shakes their hands, but he is not a fighter. By taking up the suit and tie, Assad takes up the uniform of the western civilian leader. How could a respectable-looking man with a suit and tie be a despicable dictator!

One of the symbols of power closely associated with dictatorship is the podium. It puts a barrier between the speaker and the audience, eliminating any vulnerability. Its adornment with symbols of the state (fasces, flags, and predatory birds etc.) adds an aura of power and legitimacy, but creates a barrier between the audience and the speaker. In his photos, especially on his Instagram, Assad abandons the podium and instead sits on chairs and couches. Though this position makes him look vulnerable, his open hands and legs denote a relaxed attitude (Lardner 2). In his pictures, he sits at a roughly even level with those he speaks with, bringing a sense of egalitarianism. The confident, rational representations of Assad, with open palms and consensus-based leadership, make him seem clear-headed and logical.

Assad’s self-representation contrasts him with the stereotyped “Islamic World.” The imagined and stereotyped “Islamic World” is sexist, anti-education, anti-science and terrorist spawning (Kumar 257). Assad’s social media is filled with images of students receiving awards, some by his headscarf-shy wife, Asma Al-Assad. By showing themselves supporting students who have succeeded in science and art, they show their support for those subjects. By rewarding girls, they show their support for women’s education at the highest level.

Following Parliament’s vote against air-strikes, hopes of a joint strike against Syria began to apart.When Barack Obama tried to convince Congress to support air strikes, he failed in gaining its support. Assad avoided US airstrikes long enough for the Islamic State to become a threat. Once the Islamic State became a greater threat than he was. Suddenly, his presentation of himself as a non-Islamic leader made him an attractive ally. Now air strikes hit Assad’s enemies, not his troops. Assad’s self-presentation made it harder to build up a case against him than if he’d been easily comparable to Hitler or Saddam Hussein. In an environment where decision makers use analogies to reason, self-presentation matters. Successful self-presentation, whether or not it is a selfie, may actually help keep the airstrikes away.