Thread by @olliekarp

In today's #dailysoup, let's go to #Indonesia as I'll introduce an Indonesian military x defence academic and Putin fangirl, Connie Bakrie. She is known for parroting common pro-China and pro-Russia peepotalking points in her articles, seminars, and soc-med posts.

1/19

From the outside, Bakrie may look like your "ordinary academic". After finishing her doctorate at Universitas Indonesia, she attended two security studies programs at the US x UK before starting her academic career.

From the inside, it is a totally different story.

2/19

Bakrie's husband, Djadja Suparman, once served as one of the key military heads on top of Indonesia's transition of democracy after the fall of Soeharto in 1998.

Suparman was convicted of a corruption case related to a land acquisition scandal in a city south of Surabaya.

3/19

Instead of being an "ordinary academic", Bakrie ended up being a vatnik x pro-China peepotalker, especially in her articles, her Instagram posts, and various seminars and talk shows.

4/19

Bakrie's stance has been somewhere along the lines of "being one of those people from the non-aligned movement who get gullibly attracted to the BRICS without knowing what Russia and China are up to".

She attended peepotalking events on the "non-aligned movement".

5/19

Bakrie peepotalked about how "Putin is the most interesting and powerful man in the world", and then she clumsily compared Putin and Xi to Soekarno, a notable independence hero in Indonesia.

In reality, Putin and Xi are more like war criminals than heroes.

6/19

Two days after Russia started invading Ukraine, Bakrie suggested that "Russia and Indonesia are threatened by foreign forces, especially NATO" and "AUKUS and the QUAD are threatening China and non-aligned countries".

In reality, Russia and China are the ones threatening.

7/19

Moreover, Bakrie added another pro-Russia peepotalking point when she "blamed Ukraine for allowing other countries to go against Russia".

Meanwhile, she parroted Putin's infamous January 2007 statement of "NATO's expansion being a serious provocative threat".

8/19

Then, Bakrie stated that "NATO and the USA will learn a lot from Putin about balance and mutual respect", criticising the Ukraine deal for being "unfinished".

9/19

Five days after Putin started invading Ukraine, Bakrie, in an Indonesian talk show, suggested that "Indonesia should buy fighter jets from China" and that "Indonesia should not sanction Russia so that it could keep on getting Russia-made Sukhoi jets".

10/19

In a news interview, Bakrie suggested that "Russia should not be isolated for the sake of peace", adding that "UNCLOS needs the support of Russia and China".

In reality, China has been violating the UNCLOS in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea.

11/19

Bakrie attended a couple of seminars with Russian officials, including the 2022 Moscow Conference on International Security, in which she served as one of its guests while Putin himself provided the welcoming remarks.

12/19

Besides the common pro-Russia peepotalking points (e.g. the infamous "NATO expansion" remark), Bakrie spewed out pro-China peepotalking points, including "the US and NATO created the Taiwan issue", "Western alliances like AUKUS x QUAD will put Asia in danger",...

13/19

..."Taiwan is a part of China", and "we should not be involved in the Taiwan and SCS issues when China attacks".

Moreover, Bakrie criticised Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and added that "the AUKUS and the QUAD are also a threat to Indonesia".

14/19

Meanwhile, when the topic of Indonesia's dispute with China in the SCS over the Natuna Islands, Bakrie said that "Indonesia was just dragged into the dispute".

15/19

Furthermore, Bakrie engaged in anti-West whataboutism, especially when she said that "...the US is trying to fuel conflicts in Asia, Africa, and Latin America".

Bakrie also posted the infamous anti-West poster "blaming the US for being the aggressor".

16/19

Bakrie attended a Valdai Club seminar, asking Putin if "it's possible for Russia and China to get rid of AUKUS, QUAD, and NATO".

She fangirled Putin when she asked him "for a picture with her", which was followed by a compliment from him.



17/19

In April 2023, Bakrie attended a seminar with infamous vatnik Scott Ritter.

For more info on Scott Ritter, you may refer to this #vatniksoup entry from @P_Kallioniemi:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1621048526498336768?s=20

18/19

Some of Bakrie's Instagram posts are anti-Zelenskyy posts, with one showing infamous vatnik Tucker Carlson peepotalking against Zelenskyy.

For more info about Tucker Carlson, you may refer to this #vatniksoup entry from @P_Kallioniemi:

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1653350200176459780?s=20

19/19

Support my work: buymeacoffee.com/olliekarp

Related entries:
Entry #52 (Pro-CCP peepotalking points) -

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1650225950024667136?s=20

Entry #60 (South China Sea dispute) -

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1654762604278210560?s=20

#vatniksoup entry #120 (Russian narratives) -

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1634168118992949251?s=20

Related entries (cont.):
#vatniksoup entry #78 (NATO expansion) -

https://twitter.com/P_Kallioniemi/status/1616000266352078849?s=20

Similar entries:
Entry #26 (Bob Carr) -

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1637185997728362496?s=20

Similar entries (cont.):
Entry #40 (George Yeo) -

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1643646046520905728?s=20

This is Entry #63 of the #dailysoup. For previous entries, kindly visit this link: bit.ly/thedailysoup

Shoutouts: @P_Kallioniemi, @LukeShiga