Thread by @olliekarp

In today's #dailysoup, I'll introduce Indonesian journalist and academic, Smith Alhadar.

He's best known for being a so-called "expert academic" spreading anti-West and pro-Russia peepotalking remarks.

1/19

Alhadar serves as a journalist x professional at an NGO named "Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies".

Moreover, the profiles of Alhadar claim that he is also an executive director of a think-tank called "Institute of Democracy and Education Indonesia".

2/19

Despite claims in Alhadar's profiles pointing to his position as "executive director of IDE Indonesia", I didn't see his name in the list of executive board members in IDE Indonesia's website.

3/19

Alhadar is also known for his works on local Indonesian politics.

For example, he is known for writing critiques on the administration of Jokowi Widodo, criticising him for "being a Chinese stooge orienting his policies towards Beijing, especially via Luhut Pandjaitan".

4/19

Alhadar wrote that Jokowi has problems with corruption and controversial policies. He also added that "Jokowi is pro-oligarchy" and "the oligarchs, possibly Chinese ones, wanted to pressure Jokowi to get rid of Anies Baswedan, one of his rivals". Moreover,...

5/19

...Alhadar wrote a book on the life and works of Anies Baswedan, while calling him as a "man with broad intellectual knowledge".

Meanwhile, Alhadar is also known for his anti-West, pro-Russia, and some pro-China peepotalking remarks.

6/19

Alhadar is known for his comments on Middle Eastern studies. For example, some of his articles commented that "US and its allies initiated hostilities that worsen the tensions between the US and Iran".

7/19

Alhadar praised the December 2022 meeting between 20 Arab leaders and Xi Jinping, calling it as a "demonstrative action against US hegemony", claiming that "Washington warned that China's efforts to increase influence in the Middle East is violating international law".

8/19

In the same article, Alhadar called the Arab countries' building of closer relationships with China as "very strategic to counterbalance the hegemonic US", adding that "the emergence of China as a superpower is inevitable". He called China's authoritarian system as...

9/19

..."efficient" and "attractive to developing countries".

Alhadar said something like "Western claims that only democracies can stabilise is disputed", praising the BRI for "supporting China's growth".

He added that "China is playing a role in creating a new world order".

10/19

Mr. Alhadar, if you claim that China's authoritarian system is "efficient" and "attractive to developing countries", how will you explain China's one-party system, heavy censorship, territorial interference, and genocide of the Uyghurs?



11/19

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

In a Republika article, Alhadar claimed something like "Ukraine is a part of Russia from day one cuz of their shared history, language, and culture", adding that "About one-third of Ukraine's population are ethnic Russians who speak Russian".

12/19

Alhadar bought into the "Russia's war in Ukraine was terrible, but the West was responsible for this" peepotalking remark. He claimed that "after WWII, NATO was formed to suppress the USSR's expansion into Western Europe".

13/19

Contrary to Alhadar's claims, the NATO website indicated that the alliance's founding treaty states that the main purpose for the founding of the alliance is the collective defence of its member countries.

14/19

Alhadar claimed that "NATO promised Putin not to include Ukraine into the alliance, but cuz NATO wanted to deal with China, it decided to integrate Ukraine into the alliance", adding that "NATO betrayed Russia".

15/19

Alhadar claimed that "NATO's open-door policy is riling Russia".

He added that "NATO is expanding eastwards into Russia's borders and Putin must stop it", claiming that "Russia is surrounded and vulnerable".

16/19

In another article, Alhadar claimed that "the war in Ukraine is due to Zelenskyy's failure to read Putin's signs, psychology, and geopolitical thoughts, while Zelenskyy is too overconfident with NATO".

17/19

Then, in the same article, Alhadar suggested that "the supply of weapons from NATO countries to Ukraine until Putin is defeated is wrong", adding that "Russia will not lose cuz it's one of the greatest military powers in the world" and "war is always cruel".

18/19

Alhadar stated that "Ukraine should be forced to negotiate with Russia, Zelenskyy should be arrested, and a pro-Russia regime should be installed".

Then, he claimed that "China, due to NATO's miscalculations, has the most to gain in the NATO-Russia conflict".

19/19

Support my work:

Related entries:
Russian narratives (from #vatniksoup) - https://t.co/7tIKhxzQmH

Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan - https://t.co/rHi6PNY8Lbbuymeacoffee.com/olliekarp

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

https://twitter.com/olliekarp/status/1665461138195369985?s=20

Shoutouts:
@P_Kallioniemi, @Aaron_MatthewIL, @outlierplanet, @NervosaCafe, @LukeShiga, @RadityoDharmaP

If you have any more info, feel free to comment below.

This is Phase 1, Entry 32 of the #dailysoup. Feel free to read the previous entries here 👇
bit.ly/thedailysoup

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