Students lay on cots as they are treated for food poisoning linked to the free nutritious meal program on Sept. 2, 2026, at Sidoarjo Regional General Hospital in the East Java regency.

A two-year roller coaster with the free meals program

Two years in, the President's flagship free meals program is cannibalizing regional budgets, stoking food inflation and risking systemic economic fallout for the sake of political ambition.

16 hours ago

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Is Indonesia’s democracy still worth the name?

Behind the facade of regular elections and court battles, the country has quietly traded democratic governance for a militarized cartel, begging the real question: Who can still say no to the President? ...

12 hours ago

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The frequent-flier president: High-stakes global tour

Trading traditional consensus building for high-stakes presidential dealmaking, Prabowo has transformed Indonesian diplomacy into a high-wire act of transactional multi-alignment where soaring global ambition collides with mounting geopolitical risks. ...

13 hours ago

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President Prabowo Subianto (in passenger seat) and Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Agus Subiyanto (second left, standing) ride an open-top jeep bearing the license plate “Indonesia 1” on Oct. 5, 2026, while inspecting troops during the 81st TNI Day parade in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

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Whither remilitarization? Two years of Prabowo’s administration

To survive his sinking popularity and an unruly coalition, President Prabowo is reviving New Order-style remilitarization, turning the TNI into his political shield at the peril of military professionalism.

14 hours ago

Export-oriented: Using a rubber-tired gantry crane, port workers load export-bound containers onto a vessel flying a Portuguese flag on June 24, 2025, at Tanjung Mas port in Semarang, Central Java.

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Bangkok meetings: Indonesia’s high-stakes growth test

As rising global debt and geopolitical shocks squeeze developing nations, Indonesia’s push for ambitious expansion hinges on disciplined spending, targeted tax reform and private-sector competitiveness.

1 day ago

A Health Care and Social Security Agency (BPJS Kesehatan) official (right) assists a customer on May 14, 2024, at the agency's South Jakarta office.

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What it will take to make JKN financially sustainable

Bailouts and premium hikes buy time. Only evidence-based decisions, standardized care and smarter purchasing can keep national health insurance solvent.

1 day ago

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

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Has Indonesia’s stock market really changed?

Indonesia’s reforms have improved transparency and regulation, but their impact remains constrained by structural problems that stricter rules alone cannot resolve.

1 day ago

Traders, brokers and clerks gesture on March 11, 2025, on the trading floor of the open outcry pit, also known as The Ring, at the London Metal Exchange (LME) in London.

Academia

Rejuvenated London Metal Exchange looks to new horizons

The LME will start trading a new hot-rolled-coil (HRC) Steel Shanghai contract widely regarded as the global benchmark for the flat steel sector.

1 day ago

A firefighter sprays water to extinguish a fire on Aug. 26 in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan.

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Who will pay to preserve tropical forests?

For too long, it has been more profitable to destroy tropical forests than to conserve them, even though they provide services essential for the survival of many countries and for the welfare of us all.

1 day ago

A solar-powered water pump irrigates a rice farm on April 6, 2026, in Lumajang, East Java.

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Investment readiness is key for ASEAN energy transition

Sustainable-finance instruments may be available, but their availability does not automatically translate into new energy-transition projects.

1 day ago

An aerial view shows a farmer spraying crops in a rice field in Sukakarya, Bekasi, West Java, on Oct. 2, 2026.

Academia

Innovation from investment to impact

Ending global hunger isn’t held back by a lack of innovation, but by our failure to get proven solutions into the hands of the farmers who need them most.

4 days ago

Students select side dishes at a buffet-style lunch on Oct. 8, 2026, provided via the government’s free nutritious meal (MBG) program at SMPN 2 Kandeman junior high school in Batang regency, Central Java.

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Using locally produced processed foods for a safer feeding program

To end recurring food poisoning outbreaks linked to the flagship free meals program, we must rethink the kitchen: Blending freshly cooked meals with safely processed local foods is the key to scaling without sickening our children.

3 days ago

Murky schooling: A schoolgirl waits to be picked up on Sept. 16, 2026 next to a sign on drop-off/pickup rules at a school in Padang, after classes were let out early as West Sumatra’s provincial capital reinstated remote learning in response to a spike in the air pollutant standards index (ISPU) to 900 due to dense haze.

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If haze can be predicted, learning loss can be prevented

Indonesia cannot stop climate disasters from arriving, but its schools must stop waiting for the smoke to clear before they start preparing.

3 days ago

Students take part in an automotive training course on April 13, 2026, at a private vocational school in Jakarta.

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Education should engender critical thinkers

Vocational schools may train obedient workers, but without critical thinking, they risk producing a generation of citizens who can only follow orders.

3 days ago

Deputy Primary and Secondary Education Minister Fajar Riza Ul Haq (right front row) attends the First Australian Congress for Indonesian Language 2025 at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra on Dec. 6, 2025.

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The fading away of Indonesian in Australia

As Indonesian faces functional extinction in Australian classrooms by 2031, both nations stand on the brink of a costly strategic blind spot.

3 days ago

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center right) accompanied by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right), waves to students during a welcoming ceremony upon their meeting at the State Palace in Central Jakarta on July 7, 2026.

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India-Indonesia: Multipolarity and Global South

India maintains that a global multipolar order must start with a multipolar Asia, rejecting both a US-dominated unipolar structure and a China-centric "Asia for Asians" model.

3 days ago

Two women stand on the banks of the Kahayan River whose water levels have dropped amid the dry season in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, on Sept. 15, 2026.

Academia

Net zero timing matters for the future of El Niño

Extreme El Niños are coming. Reaching net zero sooner means facing fewer of them.

3 days ago

A wind power plant (PLTB), financed by PT SMI, is pictured in Sidrap, South Sulawesi. (Courtesy of PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur)

Academia

Why the Asia-Pacific needs stronger development finance institutions

Indonesia’s journey, and PT SMI’s contribution to it, is but one part of a broader regional narrative. What I carried home from Colombo was a profound sense of optimism that our development finance institutions are becoming more than financiers of growth; we are becoming a community of practice, united by a shared purpose and enriched by the exchange of ideas and experience.

4 days ago

Newly appointed Foreign Minister Arrmanatha Nasir (right) reacts as former foreign minister and current Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, Sugiono, embraces him during a handover ceremony at the Foreign Ministry in Jakarta on Oct. 12, 2026.

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Foreign Ministry back in the driver's seat, but not alone

Arrmanatha’s appointment puts diplomats back in the driver’s seat of Indonesian foreign policy, but navigating today’s volatile geopolitical landscape requires soldiers, economists and the Palace to chart the course together.

4 days ago

Motorcyclists queue to refuel at a gas station in Denpasar amid a fuel supply shortage in Bali on Oct. 14, 2026.

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How worried should we be about the global economy?

The global economy is entrenched in a cycle of sluggish economic growth, with rates in many countries, particularly the major developed economies, stalling well below 3 percent.

4 days ago

Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka looks toward the central dais on May 20, 2026, prior to President Prabowo Subianto's speech on the macroeconomic framework to lawmakers at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.

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The House’s right to act and the political agenda of 2029

The controversy over Gibran’s credentials is no longer just about a diploma: It is a defining test of whether the national legislature still checks executive power or merely bows to it.

4 days ago

Farm workers spray green paddy on Oct. 2, 2026, at a rice field in Sukakarya district, Bekasi, West Java.

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From farm innovation to food security for all

The main challenge to food security for all is not innovation but adoption, which involves localizing proven solutions and ensuring that they are affordable to use, maintain and grow.

4 days ago

A woman walks past the Wisma Danantara Indonesia building on Aug. 11, 2026, on Jl. Jend. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta.

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When investor protection risks becoming financial immunity

Indonesia’s push to lure capital through Danantara’s special bonds risks turning investor protection into a legal shield for financial crime and tax evasion.

4 days ago

Protesters hold posters, one of which reading “Oligarchic families should be eradicated", on Aug. 23, 2024, during a rally in front of the General Election Commission (KPU) building in Jakarta.

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Indonesia badly needs inclusive institutions, not rhetoric

Indonesia’s path to lasting prosperity depends not on the myth of a strongman savior, but on dismantling elite capture to build institutions that are truly fair, accountable and built to outlast power.

5 days ago

(left to right) Finland’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Riikka Purra, World Bank president Ajay Banga, Thailand’s Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Kristalina Georgieva and BBC economics editor Faisal Islam sit during the "Building Resilience in a Fragmented World" panel at the Annual IMF and World Bank Meetings at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok on Oct. 13, 2026.

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Public investment is fiscally responsible

Governments’ fiscal policies should be judged by whether they strengthen the economy’s capacity to meet public obligations over time.

5 days ago

Gowa Regent Sitti Husniah Talenrang (center) walks to an interrogation room in the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) on Oct. 1, 2026, after arriving at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta for questioning as a suspect in four cases involving corruption, extortion and money laundering.

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Women in power, corruption and the limits of affirmative action

Affirmative action can open the corridors of power to women, but it was never meant to be an immunity card against the corrupting machinery of Indonesian politics.

5 days ago

QatarEnergy's liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility continues production amid the United States-Israeli conflict with Iran, at the Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar, on March 2, 2026.

Academia

Middle East LNG industry remains hostage of Iran war

Until a durable resolution of the United States-Israeli war with Iran is reached, Gulf shipments will be heavily curtailed, leaving the global LNG market seriously strained.

5 days ago

Two schoolgirls look at an informal riverbank settlement on Aug. 7, 2026, from a bridge in Kebon Melati village, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

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The rich world’s climate distraction

Development must focus on the best ways to help the poor, who are more vulnerable to everything, not just climate change.

5 days ago

An oil tanker sails Nakhodka Bay on Dec. 4, 2022, near the Russian port city of Nakhodka.

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Trump’s Russian diesel deal is a warning to Asia

By breaking ranks to cut a private fuel deal with Moscow, Washington just handed Asia an urgent lesson: Build your own energy reserves, or get priced out of the scramble.

5 days ago

A motorcyclist rides past a Red and White Cooperative outlet that had yet to begin operations on July 11 in Ternate, North Maluku. The government aims to have 40,000 Red and White Cooperative operating by the end of 2026 as part of efforts to strengthen rural economies, complete cooperative facilities and prepare professional staff to manage the program.

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Bending, not breaking? Indonesia’s resilience paradox

Indonesia’s increasingly centralized economic model promises greater protection against external shocks. Yet concentrating both authority and financial risk in the state may be eroding the many shock absorbers on which the country’s resilience has long depended.

6 days ago

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