When major economies are running at near full capacity, it is not clear that trade deficits should be a cause for concern, since they represent a transfer of purchasing power from surplus countries. Under the current circumstances, then, China’s widely criticized surpluses might as well be called enrich-thy-neighbor.

In practice, recognition that should represent the state’s respect for communities that have existed for generations can instead become an administrative mechanism determining whether a community is worthy of recognition. 

A false rumor started in the early 20th century that the Japanese emperor would convert to Islam. It helped Japan build alliances with Muslims across Asia.

Do we measure the quality of education or the institution’s ability to prove quality?

As many industry insiders feared, the mining sector's performance has weakened further, locking it into negative territory for the first half of the year. 

For five centuries, raw materials have flowed out of Africa and Brazil at low cost to be used as inputs elsewhere, often returning to their source countries embedded in expensive finished goods.

Rather than delivering justice to victims, authorities have normalized, and often downplayed, their suffering, frequently misclassifying victims as perpetrators.

Investors are focusing more on tangible results: cash flow.

Why must China constantly attempt to prove its stature? What drives it to project superior force at every turn to assert its claims?

Governance gap leaves academic freedom vulnerable to exploitation because academic repositories and open scholarly platforms operate on trust.

Some are insisting that the new governor must be independent, which usually gets defined, rather narrowly, as someone able to say no. It is worth asking whether that is really the binding condition.

At a time of historic inequality and inadequate public investment, the kind of redistributive policies promoted by politicians on the left are badly needed.

It is true that a hefty share of public spending went into FGDs, seminars and workshops that produced little. But his own government now suffers the opposite failure of executing before it plans, then improvising the plan as the execution collapses. Yet the damage is already done, heavily. 

The lasting legacy of the Iran war will likely be a renewed impetus for energy-importing nations to lessen their dependence on fossil fuels.

For the first time, these unique ecosystems are expanding at a faster rate than they are declining.

Droughts expose who gets left behind when basic public services aren't built for everyone.

Modern colonialism no longer arrives in wooden warships or under foreign flags. It sits in executive offices, speaks the national language and cloaks itself in the slick rhetoric of "national development." 

The geographical diversification of technological innovation has remained more of a dream than a reality.

As the country rushes headlong into AI, what is being left behind is the age-old wisdom that has been a cornerstone of human civilization for millennia: When entering someone's home, we knock first to obtain their permission, and we don't barge in anyway if they turn us down.

US corporate earnings are already running almost 60 percent above trend, with rapid growth still expected for years, mostly thanks to the AI boom. But the questionable economics of new AI data centers could pop this bubble.

While the country already has a regulation on digital child protection, the rapid advent of artificial intelligence and its growing integration in children's lives requires a shared effort by all stakeholders to instill safe and responsible use, especially among vulnerable individuals.

Amid the ongoing commotion regarding the draft law on citizenship, perhaps it is time to hearken back to the wisdom of Ibu Pertiwi, our national personification, in revising our policies so they welcome back all who claim Indonesian roots with open arms.

ASEAN’s 60th anniversary next year offers an occasion for both reflecting on the progress it has made thus far and considering the transformative efforts it must undertake to fulfill one of its founder's visions: a Southeast Asia that stands on its own feet.

Most of the world seems to misunderstand why global capital is not financing the developing world’s climate transition.

While a public service academy has a place in the education ecosystem, nurturing future leaders that can navigate the country's positioning in the global arena of technology, innovation and business doesn't require building a whole new institution.

Does foreign investment genuinely strengthen Indonesia's industrial capabilities, technological base and global competitiveness - or is it simply taking advantage of the country's large domestic market? 

The recent bilateral summit in Jakarta was a master class in Southeast Asian statecraft, where the visiting Thai premier and the hosting Indonesian president showed off their diplomatic chops in the art of political survival.