Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Mar 17, 2023 18 tweets 8 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce an American academic, political scientist and Quincy Institute author, Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms). He's best-known for his pro-Russian and pro-Syrian views, and especially for trying to fit them into an academic framework.

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On 7 Mar, 2023, @TheAtlantic published an op-ed titled "I Teach International Relations. I Think We’re Making a Mistake in Ukraine" written by Abrahms. You rarely see op-ed titles with this much of self-satisfaction,but we'll let that slide - let's take a look at the content.2/15 Image
His article clearly is an attempt to create a "scholarly perspective" on the war in Ukraine. He's suggesting that if the West wants to help Ukraine, it should actually STOP the military & weapons aid, and that the US is provoking Russian aggression by sending weapons to 🇺🇦.

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First of all, Abrahms builds his arguments around Mearsheimer's view on NATO expansion to being the main culprit of the Russo-Ukrainian War. This silly accusation has been de-bunked several times, and you can read mine here:

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Professor Branislav Slantchev, a professor of Political Science at the University of California San Diego, has written an excellent academic analysis on the article & if you decided to read Max's article on The Atlantic, you should follow with this: slantchev.wordpress.com/2023/03/08/how…

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But Abrahms has done much more than this op-ed he's now pushing on every media channel - Previously he has aligned with Max Blumenthal's fake news blog The Grayzone by denying the al-Assad regime's involvement in Douma chemical attack.

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Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently published their third report on Douma and conluded that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Syrian Arab Air Forces were the perpetrators of the chemical weapons attack".

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Abrahms has occasionally commented on the Russiagate, calling it a "ruse". I started writing an op-ed this morning titled: "I teach information operations & disinformation. I think Max Abrahms shouldn't talk about Russiagate".

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Abrahms' academic career so far has been quite impressive, but he's also had his fair share of hardships. He had to resign from the board of the journal of Terrorism and Political Violence following an investigation on serial plagiarism, after Dr. Or Honig and ...
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...Jake Shapiro accused him of using their work without referencing it. Shapiro even wrote to the publisher of Abrahms' book "Rules for Rebels", pointing out various instances where Max stole Shapiro's texts without referencing them.

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Some have even suggested that Abrahms shouldn't have gotten his tenure at the Northeastern University since he is seen as fundamentally unserious researcher by his peers. But then he threatened to sue the Dean for anti-Semitism if he wasn't accepted. Bam, he got his tenure.
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On Twitter, Abrahms has routinely suggested that the "US escalation" in 🇺🇦will eventually lead to nuclear war. The problem with this is that if Ukraine concedes, Putin most probably starts looking for the next target, which could be Moldova, Georgia the Baltic countries.

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As you found out from the title of his op-ed, Max claims to be an expert in international relations, and especially in the areas of terrorism. Considering his expertise, and the fact that he seems to have an opinion on pretty much any topic on Twitter, it is rather ...

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...surprising that he hasn't made any comments on Bucha massacre, Izium mass graves, Mariupol theater bombing or Kherson children's torture chambers and other FSB operations.

Similarly to Mark Ames, Katrina vanden Heuvel and Glenn Greenwald, Abrahms seems to be...

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....utilizing an anti-US and anti-NATO stance on the conflict - these people blame the West for "aggressive" NATO expansion towards Russia, but the expansion only happens voluntarily and because these countries are afraid of Russia's invasion - for a reason.

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Support my work (and get some AI art!): buymeacoffee.com/PKallioniemi

Past soups: vatniksoup.com
Max, it's very rude to ask me questions and then block me right after. And maybe contact the Quincy Institute's webmaster and tell them to remove you from their website. Image
CORRECTION TO 1/15;

"Pro-Syrian" should be "pro-Assad".

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More from @P_Kallioniemi

Apr 4
In today’s Vatnik Soup REBREW, I’ll introduce a Russian ultra-nationalist propagandist and “philosopher”, Aleksandr Dugin. He’s best-known for his blueprint on Russia’s geopolitical strategy and for his genocidal rhetoric towards Ukrainians.

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In my first Dugin Soup, I covered the man’s 1997 book Foundations of Geopolitics — a manual for dismantling the West, breaking up NATO, and building a Russian-led empire. In it, he makes eerie “predictions” that seem to be playing out today.

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Dugin called for destabilizing the US by exacerbating internal divisions. Fast forward to today: culture wars, conspiracy theories, far-right lunatics, and social media algorithms doing half the work for him.

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Apr 3
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Apr 1
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce Russian propagandist Sergei Tsaulin. He’s best-known for spreading pro-Kremlin narratives in Estonia, fleeing to Russia after breaking several laws in Estonia, and almost getting blown up by a bomb in St. Petersburg.

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For years, Tsaulin was known for organizing marches and events glorifying the Soviet Union. Under the excuse of “remembering history,” these events were nothing more than Kremlin propaganda, wrapped in a red flag with a hammer and sickle.

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One of his most infamous events was the “Immortal Regiment” march, held every 9th of May, where people carried portraits of Soviet soldiers. These marches are used by Russia to push the idea that the Baltics owe their existence to the Soviets.

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Mar 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a podcaster and conspiracy theorist, Joe Rogan (@joerogan). He’s best-known for launching the biggest podcast in the world, promoting various conspiracy theories, his support for Donald Trump and his anti-Ukraine rhetoric.

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Joe Rogan started as a stand-up comedian in the 1980s, found fame on NewsRadio, and became a household name with Fear Factor. But his biggest impact came in 2009 when he launched The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE), one of the first major podcasts.

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JRE started as casual but deep conversations, often covering countercultural topics like psychedelics, MMA & hunting. Joe’s podcasting style is largely non-confrontational, often allowing his guests to share their views without significant pushback or critical questioning.

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Mar 27
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce KOOS party leader and Estonian crypto businessman Oleg Ivanov. He’s best known for running shady businesses, spreading Russian false narratives in Estonia, and participating in the pro-Kremlin political party KOOS.

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As a talented youngster, Oleg learned Estonian almost flawlessly, was a promising karate athlete, and landed a job at a law firm at just 20. He caught the eye of Estonian fuel entrepreneur Endel Siff, who quickly took him under his wing.

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Oleg’s father, Vladimir Ivanov, was a longtime politician from the Russian-funded United People’s Party of Estonia. His career at the town hall ended abruptly when he was caught drunk at work. After that, he went into business with his son, Oleg.

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Mar 26
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll talk about the takeover of social media by illiberal, populist influencers. For the last ten years, social media has been dominated by these voices and it is one of the main reasons for the political rise of people like Trump and Orban.

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“Illiberal populists” like Trump reject democratic norms while claiming to speak for “the people.” They centralize power, attack institutions, and push nationalism over rights. Elections exist, but checks & balances erode. This is democracy in name, autocracy in action.

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The media landscape has changed drastically over the past two decades. The Internet and social media have changed how we interact online & how we consume media,but it has also become our main source of news. In many ways,social media companies have control over information.

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Read 26 tweets

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