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Heroes’ welcome: Spain forward Ferran Torres (center right) raises the FIFA World Cup 2026 trophy as his teammates celebrate on a stage at Cibeles Square in Madrid on July 20, 2026, one day after winning the country’s second World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina.

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World Cup 2026: The great and the good, the bad and the ugly

The 2026 FIFA World Cup delivered a thrilling 48-team spectacle culminating in Spain’s tactical triumph, yet behind the five-billion-viewer celebration lies a troubling balance sheet. From player burnout and commercial exclusion to political intrusion, this comprehensive autopsy reveals why soccer's stewards must urgently address systemic flaws before 2030.

1 hour ago

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The ‘Sturm und Drang’ of a teenage girl and Indonesia’s transition to authoritarianism

Framed against the violent communist purges of 1965, Tari Lang’s debut memoir My Neighbour the Dictator weaves a gripping, Anne Frank–like coming-of-age story of a teenager thrust into Indonesia’s dangerous underground resistance. ...

1 day ago

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Why Indonesia needs an accountable developmental state

To unlock its economic potential on the road to 2045, Indonesia must move beyond simply chasing finance to closing its core development capital formation gap. Building an accountable, state-led architecture, not just a larger bureaucracy, is the true master key to turning strategic priorities into productive national wealth. ...

1 day ago

The Latest

President Prabowo Subianto (right) gestures next to Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong during a joint press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace complex in Jakarta on July 6, 2026.

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Securing public trust in Indonesia–Singapore clean energy cooperation

To transform their ambitious clean energy pact into a regional blueprint, Indonesia and Singapore must move beyond boardroom handshakes and secure the vital public trust needed to turn cross-border electricity into shared economic prosperity.

23 hours ago

Heavy equipment is used at the groundbreaking site for the Abadi Masela LNG project in Tanimbar Islands, Maluku, on July 16, 2026.

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Abadi Masela: Redefining Indo-Pacific LNG geopolitics

As Western energy majors retreat from Southeast Asia, the $21 billion Masela Block project signals a major geopolitical shift toward Asian self-reliance, binding Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan into a resilient new energy alliance.

1 day ago

Timor Leste's Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas (from left), Vietnam Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Brunei Foreign Minister Abdul Mateen Bolkiah, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Sugiono, Laos Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Myanmar Permanent Secretary Hau Khan Sum and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn join hands during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila on July 22, 2026.

Japan-ASEAN: Navigating our future, together

To ensure the prosperity and stability of this region, it is crucial to realize the ASEAN Community Vision 2045, guided by the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) as a key pillar of this endeavor.

20 hours ago

Timor Leste's Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas, Vietnam Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Brunei Foreign Minister Abdul Mateen Bolkiah, Indonesia's Foreign Minister Sugiono, Laos Foreign Minister Thongsavanh Phomvihane, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, Myanmar Permanent Secretary Hau Khan Sum and ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn join hands during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila on July 22, 2026.

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Why ASEAN, Pacific Islands states must forge a strategic front

To withstand rising superpower aggression, Southeast Asia and the Pacific island nations must abandon timid neutrality and unite around a shared, principled strategy to safeguard their regions.

21 hours ago

National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo (right), and Attorney General St. Burhanuddin exchange a handshake after a meeting on July 13 at the Attorney General's Office in Jakarta. The meeting was held as part of efforts to strengthen ties between the National Police and the Attorney General's Office and to enhance cooperation among law enforcement agencies.

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Indonesia’s dangerous gamble with defactualization of public life

While political rhetoric and insider deals create a comfortable narrative in Jakarta, global markets are marking that reality to market—and forcing a weakening rupiah to pay the bill.

2 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the end of a joint press conference after participating in a US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025.

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Who will sit atop the next world order?

American hegemony has given way to a new formulation based on rivalry and competition among several major powers, where there is no longer a fixed, codified set of rules.

1 day ago

Indonesian nationals line up during questioning at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten on Feb. 22, 2026, upon returning from Cambodia on commercial airliners. The largest group of returning citizens entangled in online scam operations in Cambodia underwent questioning by a joint team that included law enforcement officers.

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Can Indonesia's rights law tackle cross-border abuses?

Human rights abuses are no longer confined by national borders, yet the institutions tasked with addressing them remain largely bound by them.

2 days ago

An Argentina supporter reacts during the public screening of the World Cup 2026 semifinal between England and Argentina at the headquarters of state-owned broadcaster TVRI in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on July 16, 2026.

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World Cup 2026: Intelligence, truth, achievement and public perception

The World Cup offers far more than sporting entertainment; it offers a mirror through which humanity may examine itself.

1 day ago

A new law school graduate poses for a photo on April 16, 2026, in front of the statue of noted legal scholar Djokosoetono, the founding dean of the University of Indonesia Faculty of Law in Depok, West Java.

Stop policing AI in the classroom. Start teaching it

Instead of discouraging students from using generative AI, universities should teach them how to use the technology responsibly, transparently and ethically to prepare them for real-world applications in a fast-evolving workforce.

1 day ago

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (left) talks with an advisor next to President Prabowo Subianto during a plenary session of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 7, 2025.

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Time for Indonesia to build a new coalition of middle power

As global superpowers clash and fracture the international order, Indonesia has a rare opportunity to unite rising middle powers and forge a new center of gravity in world diplomacy.

1 day ago

Singapore's financial business district is seen on July 12, 2019, from Marina Bay.

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Indonesia as a global financial hub: Fantasy or strategic opportunity?

For Indonesia’s new financial hub to become a global powerhouse rather than an ambitious policy fantasy, the nation must offer investors what matters most: unyielding legal certainty.

2 days ago

Individual investors visit a securities firm on June 6 in the complex of the West Kowloon rail station in Hong Kong, China.

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Subsidies do not explain China's competitiveness

Like every major economy, China does use industrial policy, and its subsidies have mattered. But subsidies are no longer the most convincing explanation for Chinese firms’ growing competitiveness.

2 days ago

Assistant Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah walks out of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) special crimes division building in south Jakarta on July 10 ahead of a press briefing.

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Who gets what and how in AGO’s graft takeover

The PLN scandal was not an isolated event, but rather the tip of an iceberg of systematic kickbacks and case-brokering spanning the country's largest financial scandals.

3 days ago

Motorists queue to buy Pertalite gasoline on July 16 at a gas station in Medan, North Sumatra.

Forget crude. War pushes refiners to the brink

The renewed disruption to traffic through Hormuz has once again choked off regional exports, threatening hopes for a recovery in Asian or Middle Eastern refinery activity.

2 days ago

Chile's Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Perez Mackenna delivers a speech during a breakfast organized by the Association of Marketing Executives of Uruguay (ADM) on July 2 in Montevideo.

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Chile and Indonesia: Building a Pacific strategic partnership for the future

As open economies, Chile and Indonesia understand that globalization must become more inclusive, resilient and sustainable, ensuring that its benefits reach a broader range of people and communities.

2 days ago

Spain's supporters cheer prior the 2026 World Cup final match between Spain and Argentina on July 19 at Colon square's fan zone in Madrid.

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National unity: A lesson from Spain’s World Cup triumph

Spain’s World Cup triumph reveals a crucial lesson for a divided Malaysia: true national unity isn't built by erasing our differences, but by playing for the same goal.

2 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) speaks to United States President Donald Trump on Feb. 19 during the signing of the US-Indonesia Agreement on Reciprocal Tariffs (ART) in Washington, DC.

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Why the President should stop acting as foreign minister

While President Prabowo’s high-profile global engagement boosts Indonesia’s visibility, relying on personal charisma over institutional diplomacy risks undermining the long-term credibility of the nation's foreign policy.

4 days ago

Employees work on an electric vehicle production line during an organized media tour to a factory under Jiangling Group Electric Vehicle (JMEV), in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, on May 22, 2024.

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Development economics for an age of upheaval

As the boundaries that once separated sectors become blurred, prosperity increasingly depends on how economies build the ecosystems that sustain technological progress and nurture new productive capacity.

3 days ago

A Myanmar protester living in Japan holds a placard of Myanmar's detained former leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, during a rally denouncing an upcoming election led by the military junta outside Myanmar's embassy in Tokyo on Dec. 14, 2025.

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Still a mystery: Where is Aung San Suu Kyi?

The issue has evolved from a purely humanitarian concern into one of information credibility and international diplomacy.

4 days ago

An aerial photo taken on Oct. 28, 2025 shows a plot of mangrove forest in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra.

The missing link in the blue carbon agenda: The workforce

Blue carbon involves more than just counting carbon. It requires governance, finance, policy and practice. Ultimately, success hinges on people and their skills.

3 days ago

A Falcon-9 rocket belonging to SpaceX carrying Indonesian satellite SATRIA-1 takes off on June 18, 2023, at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida, the United States.

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Indonesia must leverage Russia, India for its spacefront blueprint

As two BRICS giants vie to build Indonesia’s first spaceport, Jakarta stands at a crossroads: it must swiftly finalize its regulatory framework and secure vital technology transfers to transform its equatorial advantage into sovereign spacefaring power.

3 days ago

Bishops from across Asia arrive on Oct. 30, 2022, at Bangkok Cathedral for the closing Mass of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences’ general assembly.

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Asian bishops assembly: Building bridges of dialogue for humanity, justice

As the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences convenes in Jakarta, the Asian Catholic Church faces a historic opportunity to turn the ideals of interfaith harmony and digital-age human dignity into a concrete regional roadmap for social justice.

3 days ago

Demonstrators from the civil society coalition MBG Watch hold posters during a rally in front of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) building in South Jakarta on July 15, 2026. The protesters urged the AGO to completely investigate alleged corruption pertaining to President Prabowo Subianto's flagship free nutritious meal program.

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We are confronting not just systemic but networked corruption

Indonesia will never defeat corruption by simply locking up individual officials; it must dismantle the resilient, invisible networks that keep the system alive.

5 days ago

Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan (left) talks to registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler (right) prior to the first appearance of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte before the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charge of crimes against humanity over his deadly crackdown on narcotics, in The Hague on March 14, 2025.

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The subversion of the International Criminal Court

Some institutional failures unfold not through scandal but procedure, with acts of sabotage dressed up in the language of good-faith inquiry and accountability.

4 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (front), accompanied by Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (left, second row), Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto (right, second row) and other military leaders, inspects forces from his presidential vehicle in October ahead of a ceremony to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the TNI at the National Monument (Monas) complex in Central Jakarta.

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The rise of dynasties and politicization of meritocracy in the TNI

As the TNI swaps rigid seniority for an ill-defined model of "meritocracy," the rhetoric of professional advancement increasingly serves as a convenient cover for dynastic privilege and political patronage.

5 days ago

Emus seek food in the dry earth near the Australian agricultural town of Walgett, 650 kilometers northwest of Sydney in this file photo taken on Feb. 12, 2015.

Trump's Iran lesson from Australia's emus

The lesson here is about strategy: superior firepower can fail against an adversary built to survive.

4 days ago

Students of SRMP 9 Sekolah Rakyat junior high school at the Wyata Guna center in Bandung, West Java, try out their bunk beds after attending the opening of Sekolah Rakyat's orientation program on July 14, 2025.

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Sekolah Rakyat needs evidence, not applause

How Indonesia can move from celebrating a flagship anti-poverty program to actually finding out whether it works.

4 days ago

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