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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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Gibran wiped from the 2029 contest without a crisis

The court saga surrounding Gibran's credentials has essentially spelled the end of the Widodo political dynasty, not by killing it outright but by ensuring that it fades away.

5 hours ago

Is Washington dropping the diplomatic ball?

Almost half of US ambassadorships remain vacant while political appointees outnumber career diplomats being put forward, creating a perceived void in Washington's global presence. ...

1 hour ago

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Squeezed by debts and disasters, the Global South needs reparations, not more loans

As the IMF-World Bank meetings convene in Bangkok, frontline nations are calling for financial liberation from the debt traps and failed prescriptions of international financial institutions. ...

2 hours ago

The Latest

A woman holds a poster with caricatures criticizing government officials after 81 years of Indonesian independence on Aug. 18, 2026, during a protest on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta against government policies, including state budget spending, the free nutritious meal program, the military’s expanded role in civilian affairs and corruption eradication efforts.

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Foreign proxy labeling as a pretext for silencing dissent

When foreign debt is celebrated as statesmanship but foreign grants to civic watchdogs are branded as treason, "national sovereignty" becomes a convenient weapon to silence dissent.

3 hours ago

Migrants returning from Malaysia look out from a bus upon their arrival at the Myanmar Navy base in Thanlyin on Oct. 4, 2026. Nearly 1,500 Myanmar migrants from Malaysia arrived in their war-torn home country on Oct. 4, a Myanmar official said, returned under an opaque repatriation scheme that rights monitors say cannot assure their safety.

Myanmar is a litmus test of what ‘ASEAN way’ amounts to

As ASEAN races to normalize ties with Myanmar's brutal military junta for geopolitical gain, its quiet betrayal of human rights and its own charter lays bare the hollow core of the "ASEAN way."

2 days ago

Circular endeavor: Students produce key holders from plastic waste on Oct. 8, 2026 at Pondok Pesantren Ali Maksum, an Islamic boarding school in Panggungharjo village, Bantul regency, Yogyakarta.

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Addressing sexual violence in ‘pesantren’: Is it possible?

Behind the sacred walls of Indonesia’s boarding schools, an insidious architecture of spiritual authority weaponizes devotion to silence victims of sexual abuse—and only collective resistance can tear it down.

2 days ago

Anti-death penalty activists attend a candlelight vigil outside the Singaporean embassy in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 8, 2021, to protest the impending execution of Malaysian national Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, who was convicted of trafficking heroin in the island nation. Dharmalingam was executed at Singapore’s Changi Prison Complex on April 27, 2022.

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The moral blind spot: From executions to dissent

Hanging elderly convicts and criminalizing peaceful vigils isn’t strong governance; it is a posture of institutional shame and insecurity.

2 days ago

PT Freeport Indonesia’s copper smelter and precious metal refinery in Gresik, East Java, is seen on March 17, 2025.

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Misaligned mineral policies a threat to natural resource-based view

Downstreaming raw minerals into high-purity metal is meaningless without the advanced industry to absorb it—and without aligned policy, resource nationalism risks freezing the very wealth it set out to unlock.

2 days ago

Massive splash: A large banner promoting the 20th Asian Games hangs on Sept. 16, 2026 above a concourse at Nagoya Station, a major railway hub in the capital of Aichi prefecture, Japan.

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Nagoya’s sustainable ecosystem offers urban lessons

While megacities across Asia buckle under gridlock, pollution and unmanaged waste, Nagoya shows how disciplined urban planning and cultural wisdom can build an enduring model of sustainable living.

2 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (right) attaches rank insignia on Oct. 1, 2026, to the uniform of newly appointed National Police Chief Suyudi Ario Seto (left) during his inauguration at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

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Translating the tagline ‘Police alongside community’ into actions

As sweeping new powers meet persistent allegations of abuse, Indonesia’s new police chief faces a defining test: turn a modest community slogan into real accountability, or let the "no viral, no justice" reality endure.

3 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk on Oct. 30, 2025, at Gimhae International Airport in Busan, South Korea, following a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

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Sino-American stability, without trust

While the recent Trump-Xi summit in Washington was largely successful in terms of curbing escalation, Sino-American relations are in a general holding pattern for now.

3 days ago

Chief Justice Suhartoyo (center) reads out the nine-member bench’s ruling on a petition challenging Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka’s eligibility for contesting the 2024 presidential election on Oct. 6, 2026, at the Constitutional Court in Central Jakarta.

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Constitutional Court’s decision: Rule of law or rule of court?

By airing doubts about Gibran’s credentials while throwing out the case on standing, the Constitutional Court has committed the ultimate judicial sin: letting its rhetoric intervene where its decree dared not tread.

3 days ago

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks during an official event at Sydney University in Australia, on July 15, 2026.

International students face Australia’s migration churn

Abolishing the temporary graduate visa would deliver a large additional blow to international education in Australia.

3 days ago

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AI regulation is becoming a question of national security

Amid calls from AI executives to pace advancement to accommodate regulatory development, the debate could eventually arrive at an intersection between the technology’s capability and governance capacity.

3 days ago

A bus carrying Myanmar nationals being repatriated from Malaysia to their homeland, is seen heading toward to navel base in Lumut, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on Sept. 29, 2026. Malaysia began sending back around 1,500 Myanmar nationals on Sept. 29, AFP journalists saw, launching a scheme rights groups say may endanger migrants by returning them to the war-torn country.

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Can Myanmar’s war be contained without ending it?

Myanmar risks entering a phase in which the conflict is contained without being resolved.

3 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (center) speaks during a meeting with technology executives about artificial intelligence, at the White House in Washington, on Sept. 29, 2026.

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Super Intelligence, anarchy, and the next Cold War

As Washington and Beijing race for AI supremacy across rival blocs and autonomous digital frontiers, the world isn't heading toward peace, it’s drifting into a perilous, uncontainable new Cold War.

4 days ago

A customer scans a QRIS code to pay for a bowl of bakso (meatball soup) on Oct. 17, 2024, in Tangerang, Banten.

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Does inclusive finance really need stablecoins?

Some 1.3 billion adults — more than half of them women — remain excluded from the formal financial system, and lower-income consumers still struggle to find and access the financial products and services they need.

4 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (right) inaugurates members of the Presidential Advisory Board (Wantimpres) on Oct. 2, 2026, at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

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Wantimpres and its million-dollar question

Prabowo’s supersize, 26-strong advisory council offers plenty of room for political accommodation.

4 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (center left) and US First Lady Melania Trump (left) greet on Sept. 23, 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping (center right) and China’s First Lady Peng Liyuan (right) upon their arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the US.

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The Trump-Xi thaw offers breathing room for the world

The high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping served as a vital de-escalation momentum desperately needed for the stability of our world.

4 days ago

Buildings in the Central Business District loom beyond the Singapore Flyer amid a shroud of haze Sept. 15, 2026, along the island-state’s Marina Bay prime waterfront area.

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The haze makes us angry, but our anger needs to be directed

The negative energy from anger over haze must be turned into positive action for supporting the people on the front lines battling forest fires and for bringing to account the companies found responsible for starting them.

4 days ago

Motorcyclists commute on Oct. 2, 2026, as haze from forest and land fires shroud the road, in Palembang, South Sumatra. Wildfires in Indonesia have been blamed in large part on slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that result in the destruction of fire-resistant forest cover and the draining of peatlands.

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Smoke in the air, noise online: Public response to forest fires

While thick haze chokes the skies, an online disconnect between citizens and the state reveals that Indonesia’s greatest firefighting challenge may be digital, not just environmental.

4 days ago

Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his speech on Sept. 26 at the United Nations General Assembly high-level debate in New York City, the United States.

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Why Indonesia's fifth Security Council bid needs public buy-in

Indonesia is ready to claim a fifth seat on the UN Security Council, but unless President Prabowo can convince ordinary citizens why it matters, the bid risks looking like little more than expensive diplomatic tourism.

5 days ago

Visitors watch green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) hatchlings crawl to the sea on May 2, 2026, during a release event at Pasir Jambak Beach in Padang, West Sumatra.

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Conserving a connected ocean

Marine conservation is a fundamental component of national development among many WIO countries, but international cooperation and common financing instruments are essential because the ocean, as well as the species in it, knows no man-made bounds.

5 days ago

Container vessels are moored at the Jakarta International Container Terminal on Nov. 6, 2018.

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The foreign exchange Indonesia leaves at sea: Flag carrier is needed

Indonesia fuels the global economy with its coal, palm oil, and nickel, yet loses billions every year by paying foreign fleets to carry its own wealth away.

5 days ago

Smoke rises from Saudi Aramco’s oil refinery in Riyadh on Oct. 3, 2026, after reported Houthi attacks.

Oil's new problem is logistics

A lot more crude is getting through the Strait of Hormuz. So why is Brent still trading above $100 per barrel?

5 days ago

United States President Donald Trump (center right) salutes after a B1 bomber flyby on Sept. 23, 2026, while welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (center left) at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

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A Trump-Xi AI hotline is not governance. ASEAN must build its own

A bilateral AI hotline between Washington and Beijing will manage the superpower crises, but it won’t save Southeast Asia from the collateral damage of frontier tech.

5 days ago

Indonesia exercises its right of reply on Sept. 28, 2026, in response to statements by representatives of the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu on the situation in Papua during the general debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States.

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UNGA High-level Week: Calling for a resilient multilateral system

Beyond the theatrical spotlight of global superpowers, Indonesia faces the vital diplomatic challenge of ensuring that its voice delivers lasting substance on the world stage.

5 days ago

Family members wait outside the Myanmar Navy base in Thanlyin on Oct. 4, 2026 to welcome their loved ones returning from Malaysia. Nearly 1,500 Myanmar migrants from Malaysia arrived in their war-torn home country on Oct. 4, a Myanmar official said, returned under an opaque repatriation scheme that rights monitors say cannot assure their safety.

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Ignoring Myanmar normalizes tyranny upon us

As Myanmar’s people bleed under a brutal junta and regional indifference, Jakarta’s complacency serves as a chilling warning: ignoring the normalization of tyranny abroad only paves the way for creeping militarism at home.

6 days ago

Langkat Regent Syah Afandin is escorted to a detention vehicle after questioning at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta, on July 4, 2026. The KPK detained Afandin after naming him as a suspect in a bribery case related to public works projects in Langkat regency from 2025- 2026.

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Beyond bribery: Rethinking how Indonesia understands corruption

By reducing corruption to mere bribery, Indonesia risks letting modern abuses of power escape justice, a blind spot laid bare by the controversial trial of Nadiem Makarim.

6 days ago

Members of the all-women The Power of Mama (TPoM) volunteer firefighting team spray water onto smoldering peatland on Sept. 26 in Mensubuk Lama, Tanjungpura village, Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

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Climate resilience starts with care

Estimates of funding needs and proposed investment pipelines overlook a critical piece of infrastructure: an ecosystem of climate-adapted care services that helps families prepare for, cope with and recover from climate-induced hazards.

6 days ago

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