The Problems of the Middle East in the Context of the Formation of the Image of the Enemy by the British Media in the Late 1940s — Late 1950s

The article is devoted to an urgent problem of information warfare — the image of the enemy, its formation at the initial stage of the Cold War on the example of the Middle East problem. Its main forms, methods and directions are investigated based on the analysis of materials from 16 British media outlets in the late 1940s and late 1950s in the context of their coverage of the first two Middle Eastern wars. Socialist states such as the USSR, Eastern European countries and China, as well as Arab countries and liberation movements in them, were presented as enemies. It is considered how the creation of stable negative stereotypes by the media contributed to the support of the political and military actions of Great Britain in the region. It is emphasized that such stereotypes could lead to an increase in xenophobia and intolerance towards certain groups of people or countries.