A teller places a bundle of rupiah banknotes into a currency counter machine on June 4, 2026, at a money changer in Jakarta.

Can BI support growth without sacrificing the rupiah?

Bank Indonesia is taking a high-stakes gamble with a multi-tool strategy to spur domestic growth while defending the rupiah. But can its competing policy instruments avoid canceling each other out?

22 hours ago

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Indonesia’s fires are releasing centuries of stored carbon

An El-Niño-induced intense drought is the match that lit this year's peat fires in Indonesia, which are releasing ancient carbon that won’t be reabsorbed by future forest growth as a dire consequence of land conversion. ...

18 hours ago

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Warmer Arctic, colder relations up north

Melting sea and land ice in the Arctic is not only changing the climate but also geopolitical alignments and economic rivalry, all the way south to the tropics. ...

19 hours ago

The Latest

Police officers and health workers respond on Jan. 29, 2026, to suspected mass food poisoning cases linked to the free nutritious meal program at SMA 2 Kudus senior high school in the capital of Kudus regency, Central Java.

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Empty jargon cannot fill families' wallets

Glossy ribbons and technocratic jargon may sound good in press releases, but only affordable food and verified results can win the public’s trust.

20 hours ago

Back in school: Students participate in a classroom activity on Oct. 29, 2026 at SDN 4 Menteng public elementary school in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, after two months of online learning due to haze.

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Engineering the future: Closing the gender gap in STEM

Modern nationalism should require Indonesian women and girls to also spearhead science and technology in all spheres of life.

2 days ago

People flock to the Car Free Day event on Jl. Rasuna Said in South Jakarta on June 21, 2026.

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Jakarta’s creative pulse: Building toward five centuries

Jakarta is positioning itself not merely as Indonesia’s largest city, but as a place where global talent and local energy meet on terms that benefit residents.

2 days ago

Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who learned to play several musical instruments from an early age, plays the flute in this undated photo.

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Let Bocelli’s music become a call for peace, not division

Instead of letting Andrea Bocelli’s upcoming shows in Indonesia divide the country, we should transform his stage into an uncompromising global platform for Palestinian justice and humanitarian solidarity.

2 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (center) presides over a limited cabinet meeting with several cabinet ministers on his administration's housing program at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor regency, West Java on Sept. 1, 2026.

Academia

Bakom RI responds

The Government respects the findings of the Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) survey as one reflection of public perceptions of the implementation of democracy in Indonesia.

2 days ago

People take part in a rally in Yogyakarta on Sept. 8, 2026, demanding an end to the government's free nutritious meal program after multiple cases of food poisoning.

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How knowledge is mobilized, actioned or rejected

Knowledge is not neutral; it can be deployed to legitimize those residing in the ivory tower just as easily as those seated at the policy table. Crucially, knowledge must travel if it is to inform state responses to recurring crises.

2 days ago

Line of defense: Visitors examine armored fighting vehicles produced by Indonesian defense solutions companies Sentra Surya Ekajaya and IPCD Group during the Indo Defense Expo and Forum military equipment exhibition at Jakarta International Expo in Jakarta on June 12, 2025.

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Indonesia signed Badr to escape a veto. Pakistan knows where vetoes go

In its rush to escape Western arms embargoes, Indonesia risks trading an American veto for Russian and Turkish ones - discovering, as Pakistan did, that true air power cannot simply be bought on foreign credit.

2 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto delivers a speech on Oct. 21, 2026, during a plenary cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace Complex in Central Jakarta, where over 100 officials from his Red and White Cabinet gathered to mark the second anniversary of his presidency.

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Two years in, Prabowo exhausts Indonesia's state capacity

Indonesia does not need more institutions to become a better economy: It needs stronger state capacity backed by accountable institutions, predictable rules and credible law enforcement.

2 days ago

A man uses his mobile phone in front of a reflection of an electronic board displaying stock prices at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) building in South Jakarta on Oct. 14, 2026.

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When diplomacy loses its place in policymaking

Indonesia does not lack spokespersons. What it is missing is diplomacy as the center of gravity of its foreign policy.

3 days ago

Job seekers wait in line during the opening of the 2026 Bogor Job Fair on June 8 at Plaza Jambu Dua in Bogor, West Java. The job fair, organized by the Bogor Manpower Office and attended by 30 local and national companies offering 3,212 job vacancies, aims to connect job seekers directly with employers and help reduce unemployment in West Java.

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The promise of ‘Sumpah Pemuda’, the promise of a first job

Nearly a century after the Youth Pledge, Indonesia’s demographic promise will not be fulfilled in speeches, but in whether its economy can offer millions of waiting young people their critical first job.

3 days ago

A visitor walks past a screen displaying the movement of the Jakarta Composite Index (JCI) on Oct. 19 at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in South Jakarta.

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Keeping emerging market status: Lessons from 1998

To save Indonesia from a humiliating market downgrade, policymakers must abandon defensive rhetoric and deploy the painful, proven audit blueprint that rescued the nation’s banks in 1998.

3 days ago

People clear plastic on April 15, 2026, at a mangrove area as part of a cleaning campaign in Serangan village, Denpasar, Bali.

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Mangroves are more than trees, they are water infrastructure

After many decades of loss, mangroves and coastal wetlands are showing signs of incredible recovery.

3 days ago

A road sign stands in front of a large billboard featuring Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) of the Likud party and former military chief and leader of the centrist Yashar party, Gadi Eisenkot, in Ramat Gan on Oct. 20, 2026.

Academia

The two faces of Eisenkot, who could be Israel’s PM

While mainstream media paints Gadi Eisenkot as a moderate alternative to Benjamin Netanyahu, it sidelines a brutal truth: the retired general laid the very doctrinal blueprint for Gaza’s obliteration.

3 days ago

A Rohingya refugee living in Malaysia holds his son while others prepare to slaughter cows during the Idul Adha festival in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2022.

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Indonesia’s shaky Myanmar rapprochement

By pursuing rapprochement with Min Aung Hlaing, Southeast Asian leaders risk trading democratic credibility for empty concessions from a crumbling regime.

3 days ago

A woman wearing a face mask crosses a street in front of government public housing apartments in Singapore on Oct. 17, 2026, as the country continues to be shrouded in haze caused by fires in Indonesia.

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Indonesia needs to fight fires, not its neighbors

Weaponizing gas pipes and subsea cables won’t clear Southeast Asia’s skies; genuine leadership means putting out the fires together before burning down ASEAN unity.

4 days ago

Apa kabar? Canberra Grammar School (CGS) students join an Indonesian language class attended by Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Siswo Pramono (center right) on May 17, 2022, in Canberra.

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The Youth Pledge and the future of the Indonesian language

From an audacious anti-colonial pledge to a global language fighting for relevance abroad, Indonesian proves that a national tongue is never just spoken—it must be continually fought for.

4 days ago

Show of creativity: A visitor takes a photo of an unmanned aerial vehicle on Oct. 22, 2026 at the Global Innovation and Future Technology Summit (GIFTS) 2026 at the Innovation and Creativity Center of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Sleman, Yogyakarta.

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Drone proliferation: Reflection for Airspace Management Law

From the trenches of Ukraine to the skies above Jakarta, the rise of cheap, weaponized drones is upending modern warfare, and forcing a high-stakes rewrite of global aviation law.

4 days ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at the International Arctic Forum in Murmansk, Russia, on March 27, 2025.

Academia

The Arctic: From the Northern Sea Route to Greater Eurasia

Developing the full potential of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor is becoming a major priority for Russia’s cooperation with international partners in the Arctic.

4 days ago

Navi Pillay, a South African lawyer and champion of international law, waves on Oct. 9, 2026, after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize 2026 in the historic Courtroom 600 at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, southern Germany, where she was attending the Nuremberg Forum 2026 organized by the International Nuremberg Principles Academy.

Academia

The Nobel Peace Prize in a fragmented world

The Nobel Peace Prize is controversial by nature, but this year's awarding is even more controversial.

4 days ago

Buildings are shrouded in haze caused by fires in Indonesia, in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 16, 2026. Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Kalimantan and Sumatra, with the smoke drifting across the region.

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An ASEAN citizens’ assembly can break climate gridlock

From lingering forest fires to sluggish COPs, ASEAN’s best hope for an enduring climate legacy is to give everyday people a seat at the decision-making table.

4 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (second left), accompanied by an Air Force officer, inspects a Rafale fighter jet on May 18, 2026, during a handover ceremony for six Rafale jets, one Airbus A400M military transport aircraft and four Dassault Falcon 8X planes at Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta.

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Link and match: MSCI, the deep state and weapons procurement

Indonesia might think it is diversifying its weapons suppliers, but it is buying from the very same financial architecture in New York that grades its markets and sets the price of its defense.

5 days ago

University students protest against the government's handling of haze and wildfires on Friday outside the Central Kalimantan Governor's office in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.

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Building resilient generation beyond law enforcement

Indonesia’s next great crime-prevention weapon isn't a heavier badge or a faster patrol car - it’s a generation of digitally savvy teenagers trained to outsmart scams, bypass brawls and defuse radicalization from the palm of their hand.

5 days ago