Attendants take a selfie on Aug. 17 ahead of the annual flag-hoisting ceremony to commemorate the 80th Independence Day at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

Indonesia at 80: Getting China right in the rest of 2025

For Indonesia, the question now is not whether to engage with the world, but how to do so on its own terms.

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Nickel downstreaming in Sulawesi, Indonesia’s fault lines

The recent earthquake in Poso should be read less as an isolated natural hazard than a stress test of the country’s current industrial model. ...

1 day ago

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The Global South must claim the climate mantle at COP30

As the West recedes in climate governance, it has left an opening for the Global South to step up its already growing efforts to take the lead, ensuring that the global agenda reflects its needs and priorities while holding the world accountable in protecting our planet. ...

1 day ago

The Latest

A seller promotes her product on Dec. 11, 2023, through a live streaming platform at Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta.

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Tightening digital tax rules in sweeping VAT overhaul

More than a bureaucratic adjustment, this overhaul signals a strategic realignment of Indonesia’s economic policy in the digital age.

1 day ago

A technician walks on March 26, 2024, between solar panels that partially provide electrical power to the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.

Academia

How Muslims are powering environmental action across the world

In a time of mounting ecological challenges, all sources of wisdom are vital – including Islamic teachings that offer guidance for living in harmony with nature.

1 day ago

A woman walks along a railroad track on Oct. 14, 2022, past a shantytown near Kampung Bandan Station in Ancol, North Jakarta.

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The new face of poverty: Digital exclusion deepens gender inequality

The digital divide is a major contributor to the feminization of poverty in Indonesia, especially when digitalization leaves behind single mothers who are just scraping by.

1 day ago

A worker installs the battery of a Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric car on April 6, 2023, at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (HMMI) assembly plant in Cikarang, West Java.

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The nickel dilemma: A false binary between geopolitical power and a just transition

To promote the nickel-based EV battery industry Indonesia needs to cut bureaucratic layers and channel commitment into action, investing in innovation, building capacity and ensuring readiness for the future.

1 day ago

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Bridging Law and Technology: The Growing Importance of Privacy Compliance Automation Tools

Many organizations in Indonesia, from small enterprises to large corporations, are facing challenges in implementing the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP Law), which transition period ended on 17 October 2024. One key reason for this is the general lack of familiarity with this relatively new regulation.

2 weeks ago

Drivers for ride-hailing companies rally in Jakarta on May 20, 2025, in a mass protest for better pay and work conditions.

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Fixing governance in Indonesia’s start-up economy

Indonesia must face an uncomfortable truth: our oversight system has failed, and our governance culture remains dangerously thin.

2 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the end of their press conference on Aug. 15, 2025, following the US-Russia summit on the Ukraine war at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Donald Trump’s peace in our time

The US-Russia Alaska summit sent a clear message to European leaders: They are on their own and as such, Europe must now emerge as a superpower in its own right.

2 days ago

Children of the Orang Rimba indigenous community take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Aug. 17, 2022, to commemorate the 77th anniversary of Indonesian independence at Bukit Duabelas National Park in Sarolangun regency, Jambi.

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Resurging nationalism in Southeast Asia: A blessing or a curse?

Nationalism is experiencing a resurgence as an elitist construct, not just in Southeast Asia but across both developed and developing countries, raising a question as to whether internationalism is a better fit in this age of globalization.

2 days ago

A worker arranges pufferfish skins to dry at a small enterprise site in Banda Aceh on Nov. 4, 2024.

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Removing the regulatory hurdles in regional endowment funds

A regional endowment fund is a new instrument for intergenerational fiscal sustainability that allows local governments to invest public funds with a long-term horizon.

2 days ago

A vessel is seen opposite the Marina Pier in front of Batam island (background) on May 2, 2020, in Singapore.

Academia

Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs significant legal reform to take off

The development success of the Johor-Singapore-SEZ relies not only on infrastructure and diplomacy but also on an efficient legal and regulatory framework.

2 days ago

Handle with care: A National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) researcher inspects a nuclear reactor pond at G.A Siwabessy nuclear facility in the BJ Habibie Science and Technology Estate in Serpong, Banten, on July 15, 2024.

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Indonesia’s nuclear moment and the vision for energy sovereignty

Done right, nuclear can strengthen energy security, attract high-value industry and place Indonesia at the forefront of the clean-energy transition

2 days ago

Culture Minister Fadli Zon (center), accompanied by his deputy Giring Ganesha (top), delivers a presentation during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission X in Senayan, Jakarta, on May 26, 2025. The meeting discused the ministry’s plan to rewrite the nation's history.

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Rewriting history: Remembering, forgetting and forgiving

Official history can no longer stand alone as the sole arbiter of truth, while public history must cultivate critical discipline to avoid being reduced to mere emotional appeals.

3 days ago

Residents of Sumbawa Besar in West Nusa Tenggara hold up their newly issued land certificates on July 30, 2018.

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Abandoned land should not mean abandoning reform

The government cannot fulfill its land registration agenda without the parallel implementation of an integrated digital land system, including the realization of the single map policy, and land administration reform to eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks and eradicate corruption in the sector.

3 days ago

This handout from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration taken and released on April 21, 2021 shows Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (center) visiting a field hospital set up in the Bangkok Arena indoor multi-purpose sporting venue to accomodate an upsurge in the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the country.

Academia

Sustaining healthcare in a precarious world

It is likely that the shortage of healthcare personnel will continue and deteriorate, with some exiting their profession to look for other opportunities.

3 days ago

People look for salvageable items at the site of destroyed buildings at Kyauktaw town in western Rakhine state on May 15, 2025, following air strikes by the Myanmar Myanmar military.

Academia

Why health workers need urgent protection and funding

Global funding cuts and escalating attacks on health care, in direct violation of international laws, are colliding at the worst possible time for the world’s regions most vulnerable to disasters and conflicts.

3 days ago

A man waves as he and his coworkers leave the Sukoharjo factory of PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) in Central Java on Feb. 28, 2025, just a day before the textile giant ceased operations due to bankruptcy, as declared by the Semarang Commercial Court on Oct. 21, 2024.

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The urgency to revise the outdated bankruptcy law

Indonesia is long overdue for a new bankruptcy law in this age of free trade globalization, especially one that contains provisions on cross-border insolvency.

3 days ago

A SEA Games signage is pictured ahead of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh on May 3, 2023.

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From geopolitics to geocivic: Building the ASEAN Community from the ground up

ASEAN has established itself as a geopolitical and geoeconomic entity. The next step is to become a geocivic community.

4 days ago

Farmers plant rice in a paddy field on June 28 in Lambaro, Aceh.

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When food governance becomes a maze

If Indonesia’s food governance is too bureaucratic for the elites, what hope is there for small-scale farmers and communities?

4 days ago

A woman and her children are tested for tuberculosis (TB) on May 14, 2025, at a Puskesmas (community health center) in Bandung, West Java.

Academia

Multilateralism must work in practice

At 80, the UN stands at a crossroads as a stalwart of multilateralism, and the way forward is to show that this works through cooperation, prioritization and action that is inclusive and respectful of the needs of developing countries, especially for localized solutions.

4 days ago

People wait to receive food at an aid distribution point in Sagaing on April 3, 2025, following the 7.7-magnitude shallow earthquake that struck central Myanmar on March 28, killing nearly 3,000 people and leaving thousands without homes.

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How growing ASEAN leadership helps the region manage disasters

The so-called humanitarian reset is shifting the response to humanitarian crises, whether caused by natural disasters or man-made conflicts, to local leadership, with international organizations playing a supportive, complementary role.

4 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands on Aug. 15, 2025, as they close a joint press conference following the US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Trump-Putin summit: Why ASEAN cannot afford to be a spectator

The Trump-Putin spectacle last Friday should serve as a cautionary tale for ASEAN, encouraging it to stay the course in its unique brand of diplomacy, one that is based on substance, not optics, as it navigates great power theatrics and affirms its place on the global stage.

4 days ago

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen on Aug. 15, 2025, in Gaza City.

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Starvation in Gaza and our global shame

There is a growing consensus that Israel is committing the most serious of crimes in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

5 days ago

Fed up: Members of grassroot groups stage a protest on Wednesday outside Pati Regent Sudewo's office in Central Java. Protestors called for Sudewo's immediate resignation amid a wave of controversy sparked by his widely criticized policies.

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Pati, Indonesian Spring and 80 years of muddling through

As Indonesia turns 80, state ceremonies are grand. But behind the performances, a deeper reality lingers: Anger is rising.

5 days ago

A person dressed as United States President Donald Trump greets visitors outside the White House on June 22 in Washington, DC.

Academia

Finding clarity in the eye of the global storm

What are the options for corporations, investors and policy makers in this whirlwind of uncertainties?

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Women sort plastic waste as a raw material for producing Petasol on Aug. 8 in Pekanbaru, Riau. Petasol is a diesel-equivalent fuel developed by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and deployed at over 50 sites nationwide to support sustainable energy and plastic waste management.

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When neutrality becomes complicity in fight against plastic pollution

Despite facing severe impacts from plastic waste, Indonesia has chosen a middle-ground stance, aligning with neither the high-ambition nor the low-ambition camp.

5 days ago

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Indonesia’s cyber force debate misses the real battle: Talent

Indonesia ranks low in the Tufts’ Digital Evolution Index, IMD’s Digital Competitiveness Ranking and the Network Readiness Index, indicating a less digitally integrated economy and society.

5 days ago

Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution center in Gaza City on Aug. 13, 2025.

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Prioritize Palestine, not Hamas

Making the dissolution of Hamas a prerequisite for the establishment of a Palestinian state is an act of coercion that disregards the root causes of the issue.

1 week ago

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