FOREIGN POLICY AND ITS REFLECTION IN THE MEDIA : BANGLADESH DURING THE GULF WAR 1990-91

Focusing on Bangladesh, this article investigates how news frames, editorial choices and diaspora influences mediated public understanding of the 1990–91 Gulf War and, in turn, fed back into policy discourse. It maps the interaction among government communicators, newspaper editors and television import flows at a moment when satellite channels expanded agenda-setting power beyond national broadcasters. The study dissects frames—legality, Islamic solidarity, economic risk, expatriate safety—and shows how they competed for salience as events evolved. It argues that communication ecologies shape elite latitude: when coverage emphasizes worker protection and UN legitimacy, policymakers can justify cooperation while managing domestic sensitivities.

The body outlines the timeline of crisis diplomacy, troop deployment to UN operations, and debates over sanctions and recognition. Section One analyzes content samples from leading dailies, coding episodic versus thematic framing and sourcing patterns. Section Two considers audience structure—urban/rural readership, diaspora remittances—and how these mediated risk perceptions. Section Three evaluates government information strategies: briefings, parliamentary statements and coordination with missions in the Gulf. Section Four discusses mis/disinformation and corrections, highlighting the emergence of media literacy as a policy issue. Section Five explores policy outcomes, including consular support, evacuation planning and labour market diversification to reduce geographic concentration risk. The conclusion proposes a framework for crisis communication that integrates humane narratives, transparent data and two-way channels so that foreign policy choices earn legitimacy without polarizing domestic opinion.