In viewing the design, development and deployment of artificial intelligence, Kartini’s legacy reminds us that direction is a vital part of progress.

When rigid "one size fits all" accounting meets the complex realities of Eastern Indonesia, the very rules designed to ensure transparency risk silencing the marginalized voices they were meant to empower.

Seventy years after the historic Bandung Conference, the struggle for true independence has moved from the map to the mind. We must dismantle the "captive mind" and reconstruct a global knowledge system grounded in inherent human dignity.

Nine out of ten ships that once passed through the Strait of Hormuz are not going anywhere. The consequences are already shaping Asia's next harvest and the one after that.

Standard practice around that period mostly revolved foreign correspondents parachuted from the major capitals of the West to report from the “exotic” East, who often wrote with an outlook which literary critic Edward Said deemed “orientalist”.

The idea that the climate crisis is diverting global attention and funding away from the eradication of poverty and hunger perpetuates a dangerous misconception of both problems. 

At the core of scam compounds is a system of paid but forced labor.

For decades, Indonesia has led the world in defining the law of the sea and the rights of its workers. Now, as the 2026 ratification deadline for the ILO Convention 188 looms, the nation must decide if it will remain a global trendsetter or leave its millions of fishers waiting for a "Godot" that never arrives.

The room for maneuver of the ruling elite in Tehran is currently being hemmed in by a confluence of rigidity, fracture, decay and war, the very dynamics that have historically led to the erosion of revolutionary regimes and their incipient end.

The sustainability challenge is no longer about defining goals. It is about building systems capable of delivering them.

When the state begins to mistake verbal dissent for a physical attack, the line between national security and authoritarianism effectively vanishes.

Indonesian popular culture is gaining global traction, with Joko Anwar’s Ghost in the Cell (2026) set to screen in 86 countries and music artists like NIKI, Anggun, Rossa and Voice of Baceprot touring internationally. Yet these successes remain largely driven by individual efforts, leaving the country’s creative industries with a fragmented and under-institutionalized global presence, highlighting the need to position the sector as a strategic industry.

Indonesia's energy transition challenge is no longer about resources or policy, but execution.

While government estimates suggest fuel hikes are a minor technicality, the real danger lies in a "squeezed middle class" whose forced spending cuts could trigger a much broader economic slowdown.

As recent reporting makes clear, Beijing's long-running emphasis on energy security has given it a stronger buffer against external shocks.

Even if the guns fall silent, flows through the narrow waterway will take months, and possibly years, to recover to pre-war levels.

A decade later, the verdict is damning. The world was warned. Lawmakers blinked. And the system endured.

The August 2025 protests were a sign of public pressure building, but mass mobilization without leadership or clear direction can easily tip into chaos that only benefits those already in power.

If policymakers continue to prioritize stability without addressing the root causes of capital inefficiency, Indonesia will not escape from the 5 percent growth trap.

Indonesia’s "architecture of impunity" transforms personal vendettas into institutional shields, allowing military personnel to bypass civilian justice. By exploiting legislative loopholes and expanding into civil governance, the TNI risks dismantling the very constitutional safeguards designed to ensure democratic accountability.

The prolonged United States-Israeli war on Iran, coupled with the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, is beginning to ripple through global supply chains, particularly in oil and gas. The conflict is fueling cost-push inflation through rising prices of oil-derived products, especially plastics. Yet in Indonesia, the policy response remains limited, even as the economic impact becomes increasingly visible.

While the KPK’s arrest spree suggests a victory for the rule of law, it may indicate a deeper political rot. Without reforming how parties select candidates, we risk trading our hard-won democracy for a cycle of perpetual graft.

The selection of the next secretary-general is also a moment to confront an undeniable truth: half the world’s population are women and girls, yet global leadership rarely reflects that reality. 

While Indonesia’s Blue Economy Road Map promises a sustainable future, a widening execution gap threatens to leave coastal communities behind in favor of elite industrial interests.

The Cikarang Bekasi Laut was built to carry water. But it has always had the potential to carry something more.

Ports, power grids, rail corridors, data centers and critical-mineral supply chains are no longer just “projects.” They are the operating system of sovereignty.

China and Indonesia are both major developing countries and important members of the Global South, sharing extensive common interests and a solid foundation for cooperation, said Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong.