Legitimacy Construction of Transitional Governance in Syrian Conflict Context

Abstract

Syria continues to be one of the most complex and deadliest conflicts of the 21st century. The power dynamic in the country changed by the end of 2024, when the Sunni Islamist militant group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime. The ‘surprise offensive’ attracted attention from international actors and the media, whose coverage gradually shifted from narratives about the group’s extremist past towards discourses of legitimacy, positioning the group and its leader as the main power in Syria. The research focuses on the legitimacy crisis in Syria’s transitional governance due to the involvement of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham. It aims to analyse how the media create and frame narratives across different phases of Syria’s transitional governance. The theoretical part is grounded in normative and discursive legitimacy, framing, and agenda-setting theories, employing a qualitative research design. The empirical part applies the Narrative Policy Framework for systematic content analysis of narrative elements such as setting, plot, characters, and the moral of the story. News reports from BBC News and Al Jazeera are coded using Maxqda software. Narrative circulation typology investigates whether international political discourse corresponds to media narratives on Syria’s new governance. Findings suggest, political transition unfolds in four stages: Deadlock, Violent trigger, Initial transition, and Post-Settlement Transition. Media narratives gradually shifted from delegitimizing Assad and associating HTS with terrorism to attempts to legitimize the group. BBC News frames legitimacy as a conditional, reversible process, whereas Al Jazeera frames legitimacy as progressing with governance developments. Overall, findings demonstrate close alignment between media narratives and international political discourse, highlighting the strong connection between media discourse and political strategies.