Every regime born of electoral democracy proclaims its faith in meritocracy, a system that values competence over connection, and professionalism over political convenience, but Indonesia tells a different story. 

The governance and controversial politics surrounding Islamic academic institutions came to a head in recent weeks after a three-story pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in Sidoarjo, East Java, collapsed last month, killing 67 students and injuring over 170 others.

The bill will only change the method of suppression; whereas in the past silencing was achieved through military intelligence operations, it can now be done via cyber patrols.

President Prabowo’s focus - on food and energy security, defense modernization and economic sovereignty - instinctively recognizes the challenge to transform its founding philosophy, Pancasila, into a living force for competitiveness.

How Indonesia and Brazil have cut down on deforestation.

Many young people today grow up surrounded by misleading narratives, both online and in public discourse, that frame religion through the lens of fear or hostility. 

Many Australian businesses still view Indonesia as "too hard", despite recent reforms offering competitive incentives such as tax holidays, import duty exemptions, and super tax deductions.

Indonesia needs to look closely at the interrelation between productivity and participation as technology moves apace and leaves humans lagging in both jobs and wages to avoid creating the "useless class".

With Indonesia’s national soccer team failing to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Erick Thohir faces intense pressure as chairman of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI). The setback may also threaten his role as Youth and Sports Minister in President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet, a position now seen as vulnerable given his lack of formal political party backing and the apparent move to expel former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s allies from the government.

If Prabowo wants a mission-driven government, or simply aims to consolidate political support, he should assign new names to new roles rather than overloading the same loyal lieutenants.

The market mood of the moment is whether bubbles are being blown in riskier markets by loose fiscal and monetary policies that lift the inflation horizon for years to come.

Disputes and wars are not the only threats to stability. There are issues that are not limited to one against another, but that affect large swaths of humanity.

An international stabilization force is a central plank in the plans for post-war Gaza that have been put forward by US president Donald Trump.

While the President's address at the 80th UNGS signaled ambition, implementing the 2025-2034 RUPTL with de-risking mechanisms, clear financing solutions, a decisive move away from coal and other detailed steps is the real test.

Most pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) are evolving organically, seeking to balance their heritage with the demands of contemporary education and regulation.

The provisions regarding military operations other than war are ambiguous, with implementation regulated by government or presidential regulations.

The anger is mostly directed against corruption and incompetence displayed by members of the ruling elite who seem to be oblivious to problems affecting these young people; from a lack of stable jobs to unaffordable housing, to a rising cost of living, genocide and the looming climate crisis. 

Instead of strengthening the law, lawmakers are now seeking to weaken it, as indicated in the move to revise the Anticorruption Law, which will shield powerful decision-makers from accountability as long as they avoid direct bribery.

Faith in the implementation of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship “3 million homes” program has waned after it was recently excluded from the list of National Strategic Projects (PSN) as outlined in the Coordinating Economy Minister’s Regulation No. 16/2025. The setback comes following the annulment of the 2016 Public Housing Savings (Tapera) Law, which was expected to serve as a cornerstone of the government’s affordable housing drive by providing a sustainable funding source for the housing finance liquidity facility (FLPP), which provides low-interest mortgages for low-income households (MBR) under a subsidy scheme.

Following a dramatic campaign and a dynamic start to his presidency, Prabowo and his administration must now get down to the nitty-gritty or risk losing both momentum and trust.

Rather than a new technology, companies are promoting artificial intelligence by repackaging it again, this time by anthropomorphizing it and by default, dehumanizing our very ability to think for ourselves.

The lack of a global plastics treaty does not mean that people are standing idly by: communities, businesses and governments are already moving forward with national plans to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution.

Following the furor over the recent cut to the regional transfers scheme, the government could turn crisis into opportunity by trialing its fiscal decentralization move as a managed, monitored and measurable policy lab.

After one year, Prabowo’s natural resource policies stand in the shadow of an ecological paradox.

One year into his presidency, Prabowo's broader agenda is evoking echoes of the "Smiling General".

For Prabowo, victory is measured not by contracts, but by Indonesia's position at the global negotiating table.

President Prabowo Subianto may have raised Indonesia’s diplomatic profile in the Middle East, but going by public sentiments, opening diplomatic ties with Israel is not in the cards. The war in Gaza has made that prospect even more remote.