Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture
Mar 29, 2023 19 tweets 11 min read Read on X
In today's #vatniksoup I'll introduce a Norwegian political scientist and pro-Russian propagandist, Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen). He is best-known for his promotion of pro-Russian propaganda on RT and for his articles on conspiratorial, "anti-globalist" blog Steigan.

1/18
Glenn is widely known as a regular commentator on RT, and Swedish journalist and writer Patrik Oksanen (@patrikoksanen) has referred to him as being "part of the Russian propaganda machinery".

2/18
A Norwegian human rights activist, Aage Borchgrevink (@AageB) has said that Diesen plays "an important role in RT as the Western expert", providing him legitimacy as a Kremlin mouthpiece.

3/18
Borchgrevink also described Diesen's writings as "unreliable" and their factual basis "doubtful", making them a perfect fit for both RT and Sputnik. He's also member of the Moscow-based think tank, The Valdai Discussion Club.

4/18
Glenn's actively trying to control the narrative on his own Wikipedia page,despite his obvious conflict of interest.With his account,Gead1979,he's been trying add claims such as being "famous for developing a geoeconomic concept", but other editors have called out on his BS.
5/18
Diesen's talking points revolve around "multipolarity" of the world, heavily focusing on anti-US and anti-NATO rhetoric. By his view, the US is heading into economic catastrophe whereas its opponents, especially Russia and China, are thriving.

6/18
In his first article for Steigan, he discussed how the information war waged by the West against Russia threatens academic freedom, warning that "we should be very critical of how the information war affects both Russian and Western media coverage", and continuing...
7/18
...that "it is not the job of academics or journalists to polarize the policing as pro- or anti-Russia". Yet, this is exactly what he's doing as a Russian propagandist in his articles and on his podcast.

8/18
Glenn Diesen has a small YouTube/Rumble channel where he does regular interviews with people who share his views. For example in Feb 2023, he invited the old man Chomsky to talk about propaganda in the "Ukrainian Proxy War".

9/18
Other people he's interviewed are very much in the "vatnik" category, including Douglas Macgregor, Karin Kneissl and Scott Ritter. As you can already guess, these talks contain little to no critical views on Russia's actions and politics.

10/18
When talking about Ukraine, Glenn often refers to it as a "divided" country, referring to the Ukrainian presidential election map from 2010. I can post maps too: Here's the Ukrainian Independence Referendum from 1991. Also, check this other map on ethnicities inside Russia.
11/18
Glenn's naturally talked about the Revolution of Dignity being a "NATO-backed coup d'etat" that was "not supported by the majority of Ukrainians". "Meddling" of Victoria Nuland, involvement of far-right groups, it's all there.

12/18
I guess Mr. Diesen hasn't heard about Russia's interference in EVERY Ukrainian election or about Yanukovych's plans of becoming the new Lukashenko in Ukraine:


13/18
In 2020, Diesen collaborated with KGB agent Arne Treholt to write an op-ed for the Norway's largest printed newspaper, Aftenpost. Treholt was arrested for espionage on behalf of the USSR in 1984, and was convicted to 20 years in prison.

14/18
Following Treholt's arrest, he was described as "the greatest traitor to Norway since Quisling", and his espionage has been seen as the most serious spy case in Norway's modern history.

15/18
In Jun 2022, Glenn published a book called Russophobia: Propaganda in International Politics. "Russophobia" is a Kremlin-made and spread term to deflect any criticism towards the Russian hostilities and meddling, ...

16/18
...and it was highly popular during the Orange Revolution of 2004 and after the Russian invasion of Feb 2022. The book can now be bought at "reduced price" for only 100 USD, in case you're interested.

17/18
So,it all there: Ukrainian nazis,proxy war, Russian "legitimate interests and security needs","multipolar world", Russophobia,sanctions hurting the West.. Glenn wants to pose as a "neutral commentator" on the war,but it's very clear that he's just another Kremlin mouthpiece.18/18

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Pekka Kallioniemi

Pekka Kallioniemi Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @P_Kallioniemi

Jul 28
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce a Russian politician and First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia, Sergey Kiriyenko. He’s best known for running both domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda operations for the Kremlin.

1/20 Image
On paper, and in photos, Kiriyenko is just as boring as most of the Kremlin’s “political technologists”: between 2005-2016 he headed the Rosatom nuclear energy company, but later played a leading role in the governance of Russia-occupied territories in Ukraine.

2/20 Image
Image
What is a political technologist? In Russia, they’re spin doctors & propaganda architects who shape opinion, control narratives, and manage elections — often by faking opposition, staging events, and spreading disinfo to maintain Putin’s power and the illusion of democracy.

3/20 Image
Read 21 tweets
Jul 27
Let me show you how a Pakistani (or Indian, they're usually the same) AI slop farm/scam operates. The account @designbonsay is a prime example: a relatively attractive, AI-generated profile picture and a ChatGPT-style profile description are the first red flags.

1/5 Image
The profile's posts are just generic engagement farming, usually using AI-generated photos of celebrities or relatively attractive women.

These posts are often emotionally loaded and ask the user to interact with them ("like and share if you agree!").

2/5 Image
Image
Then there's the monetization part. This particular account sells "pencil art", which again are just AI-generated slop.

Country code for the phone number is in Pakistan.

3/5 Image
Read 5 tweets
Jul 15
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American lawyer and politician, Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee). He’s best-known for opposing the aid to Ukraine, undermining NATO by calling the US to withdraw from the alliance, and for fighting with a bunch of braindead dogs online.

1/21 Image
Like many of the most vile vatniks out there, “Based Mike” is a lawyer by profession. He hails from the holy land of Mormons, Utah, where he faces little political competition, allowing him to make the most outrageous claims online without risking his Senate seat.

2/21 Image
Before becoming a senator, Mike fought to let a nuclear waste company dump Italian radioactive waste in Utah, arguing it was fine if they just diluted it. The state said no, the public revolted, and the courts told poor Mikey to sit down.

3/21 Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 14
While Ukrainians are terror bombed on a daily basis, rich Russians live in Europe like kings and queens.

This young lady lives in Portugal, and travels freely to Ibiza...
...the Alps...
... and of course Paris.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 7
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’ll introduce an American national security policy professional and the current under secretary of defense for policy, Elbridge Colby (@ElbridgeColby). He’s best-known for fighting with cartoon dogs online and for halting military aid to Ukraine.

1/21 Image
Elbridge "Cheese" Colby earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. Before entering government, he worked at top think tanks and in the intelligence community, focusing on nuclear policy and strategic planning.

2/21 Image
Image
Cheese quickly became a key voice for a “China First” strategy, arguing the US must prioritize military buildup in Asia over commitments in Europe or the Middle East. He sees (or saw, rather) Taiwan as the core test of US credibility.

3/21 Image
Image
Read 23 tweets
Jul 6
In today’s Vatnik Soup, I’m going to talk about… Vatnik Soup! As some of you know, we also have a website where you can find every soup ever published. The site also has other useful resources, making it the most comprehensive resource on Russian disinformation & vatniks.

1/15 Image
Unfortunately, Elon has flagged the website as malware, as he might not be very happy about the soups I wrote about him - so far, they have garnered over 60 million views on X/Twitter.

The “freedom of speech” spokesperson doesn’t seem too keen on free speech, after all.

2/15 Image
The heart & soul of the website is of course the soups page. There you can find all 360+ soups, which can be sorted chronologically, by popularity, etc. You can also search for soups by title or even in the soup text:

3/15

vatniksoup.com/en/soups/
Read 15 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(