Real progress for women in Indonesia requires moving past ceremonial greetings and toward structural reforms that dismantle patriarchal barriers and unlock the full economic power of the female workforce.

Elections are not enough to uphold democracy and civilian supremacy; civilian authority must be sustained by competence, integrity and delivery.

When the responsibility for insisting on basic ethical limits falls to private companies, the systems meant to protect the public interest from potentially dangerous technologies have clearly failed.

Every trillion spent compensating for global fertilizer price spikes is a trillion not invested in making Indonesian agriculture resilient.

A potentially widening budget deficit amid soaring global oil prices has prompted Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa to explore alternative revenue sources, including export duties on nickel and coal, commodities that are currently benefiting from relatively strong price trends. The push for rapid revenue mobilization, however, appears to be running ahead of sectoral readiness.

As the country's trash mountains reach a tragic breaking point, local grassroots successes offer a sustainable roadmap out of a looming national waste emergency.

If Indonesia withdraws from Lebanon in reaction to the death of the three peacekeepers, we are essentially saying their sacrifice means nothing.

Even when they were fluent in several languages, the language models retained their Western worldview.

Now that the Climate Change Bill has been included in this year's Prolegnas, it is up to our representatives to ensure that short-term economic interests cannot override ecological primacy, the very imbalance that has led to the climate crisis today.

Indonesia is practicing a balancing strategy, engaging multiple major powers simultaneously, not to hedge passively, but to actively expand its room for maneuver.

For decades, the US has nurtured the belief that it could wage wars abroad without exposing itself to the risk of serious retaliation.

As the collapse of old regimes and escalating tensions reshape the Middle East, the walls containing extremist threats are beginning to crumble. Indonesia must act now to bridge the gap between global geopolitical shifts and domestic security before "strategic ambiguity" turns into a national crisis.

While the world watches oil prices and insurance premiums in the Strait of Hormuz, 20,000 seafarers are trapped in a humanitarian crisis unfolding in plain sight. It is time to stop insuring the cargo and start protecting the people who move the world.

Gold miner Agincourt Resources, part of diversified conglomerate Astra International, was recently given the go-ahead from the Environment Ministry and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to resume operations at its Martabe gold mine in North Sumatra, following an earlier sanction over alleged environmental breaches. However, reports reveal that neither ministry had ever issued a decree to formally revoke Agincourt’s business permits.

As brutal violence replaces petty theft in Bali’s headlines, the island faces a reckoning over public safety. With international travel advisories mounting, provincial leaders must decide if they will protect their guests or continue to deflect responsibility.

True diplomacy is more than a calculation of interests. It is a commitment to stand together when the world is at its most fragile.

The criminal complaint filed in Jakarta has a solid factual basis, presenting clear evidence of genocidal acts against the Rohingya people, corroborated with reports from the United Nations.

The message of Easter isn't just a story of ancient ritual; it is the ultimate example of disruptive innovation: The resurrection broke a closed system of access to create a new, radical architecture of grace and public consequence.

Both Trump and Putin miscalculated how the conflict would play out, and each is now struggling to devise some face-saving way to escape the hole he has dug for himself.

Prabowo’s visit to these two nations was overdue. Fortunately, he was still able to reap concrete economic benefits from these East Asian nations, although I believe he could have secured even more had Indonesia not taken them for granted.

The government has beaten speculators and hoarders by announcing that it will not increase domestic gasoline prices, a move that has made Indonesia a regional outlier when neighboring countries have hiked theirs in response to soaring global oil prices.

Is the Jakarta government truly prepared to manage the consequences?

President Prabowo Subianto is hardly known for his commitment to human rights, not since taking up the presidency in October 2024 and certainly not during his Army years. He rarely addresses the issue in public, delegating it instead to his Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai to answer questions on the topic. 

Jakarta is more than a 71st-place ranking; it is a rising laboratory for a new kind of global city built on social resilience and kampung innovation. By championing a "Non-Aligned Cities Index," Jakarta can stop chasing Western ideals and start leading an urban future defined by the Global South.

Holy Week is not a retreat into ritual, but a mirror held up to a nation losing its moral compass.

From the shadow of the cross to the modern struggle for human rights, this Easter calls us to transform the "terror of Golgotha" into a relentless pursuit of justice for the oppressed.

Cultural festivals and religious celebrations in Jakarta  represent a deliberate and meaningful commitment to inclusivity, tolerance and Jakarta’s journey toward becoming a truly global city.