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

The next step of Indonesia's digital infrastructure journey

How does Indonesia sustain digital economy growth into lasting competitiveness on the global stage?

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ASEAN has the tools to tackle the haze crisis

ASEAN doesn’t need a new treaty to end the haze choking Southeast Asia. ...

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The Thucydides Trap obscures the choices of power

Commentators should drop the Thucydides Trap because it is both banal and dangerous. ...

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The Latest

An employee demonstrates the working of a humanoid robot on April 15 during the China Import and Export Fair, commonly known as the Canton Fair, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China.

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China faces a storm of political and fiscal risks

Though few dare to speculate about it publicly, an economic and political perfect storm is bearing down on China.

2 days ago

Defendant in the alleged corruption case involving the procurement of Chromebooks for the Education Ministry's school digitalization program, Nadiem Anwar Makarim, center, greets Gojek drivers after attending the verdict hearing on June 30 at the Jakarta Corruption Court in Jakarta. The panel of judges sentenced Makarim to 10 years in prison, fined him 1 billion rupiah (about US$61,000), with an alternative of 190 days in jail if unpaid, and ordered him to pay restitution of 809.59 billion rupiah, with an additional five-year prison term if unpaid.

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Redefining corruption misses the point of Indonesia’s judicial crisis

Redefining corruption to exclude "state losses" misses the real danger: changing the wording of the law cannot fix a justice system that still struggles to separate honest policy failures from corrupt intent.

1 day ago

Indonesia exercises its right of reply during the General Debate of the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in response to statements by representatives of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu regarding the situation on Sept. 28in Papua.

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Decolonization and the geopolitics of legitimacy: From Morocco to Papua

When multilateral forums succumb to political theater and procedural breaches, the genuine legal principles of decolonization and sovereignty risk being lost to ideological distraction.

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The sprawling Plaju refinery of state-owned energy giant Pertamina stands alongside a green space and residential settlement in South Sumatra’s provincial capital Palembang on Oct. 24, 2018.

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Indonesia’s gas policy must deliver more than energy sovereignty

By choking off gas to Singapore to fuel the domestic industry, Jakarta is gambling that resource nationalism can build real economic muscle rather than simply leave stranded promises in its wake.

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Job seekers look at recruitment notices at a job fair targeting college graduates and other job seekers held on May 22 in the Huai’an University Gymnasium in Huai’an, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.

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Why China’s stimulus keeps missing the mark

Now that major trading partners are seeking to put up more barriers, Beijing may need to rethink its cautious approach to direct household stimulus.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (center, rear) is projected onto a giant screen on March 6, 2024, as he addresses a plenary meeting of the 2024 ASEAN-Australia Special Summit at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in the capital city of Australia’s southeastern Victoria state.

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Fifth year and counting: ASEAN-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership

From elevating ties to an unprecedented strategic partnership five years ago to tackling shared regional challenges, Australia and ASEAN continue to prove that our collective security and economic future are inextricably intertwined.

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European Union flags fly at half-mast outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels on March 1, 2023, to honor the victims of the Greece train collision on Feb. 28.

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Strengthening EU-Indonesia dialogue, advancing human rights

At a defining moment for global justice, the European Union and Indonesia are proving that defending universal human rights demands more than shared values: It takes a decade of sustained dialogue, bold reform and united action.

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Workers wait for the cargo ship Towuti, carrying 119,000 cubic meters of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Tangguh, West Papua, to moor on Jan. 19, 2015, at the Arun storage and regasification facility in Lhokseumawe, Aceh.

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Indonesia's gas export cuts: A costly blow to trust and regional leadership

At stake are Indonesia's credibility as an economic partner, its ability to attract long-term investment and its standing as a regional leader.

2 days ago

President B.J. Habibie addresses the House of Representatives on Aug. 15, 1998, where he called for military reform and a new democratic paradigm during the early days of the Reform Era.

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BJ Habibie’s status in Indonesian history

One of the criteria for becoming a national hero is not having committed treason against the nation. Was BJ Habibie excluded because of this issue?

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Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin (front, left) and state energy holding firm Pertamina executive director Simon Aloysius Mantiri (front, right) attend a press briefing to assure the public that Pertamina's current fuel meets standards and is unaffected by the 2018-2023 fuel supply corruption case at Pertamina subsidiaries at the Attorney General's Office building in Jakarta on March 6, 2025.

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Redefining corruption: Protection for economic power?

Narrowing corruption down to bribery may protect state investors from criminalized business losses, but without strict checks, it risks turning legal certainty into a shield for oligarchic power.

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Indonesian nationals who had worked at scam centres in Myanmar are greeted by officials upon arrival from Thailand, at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten near Jakarta on March 18, 2025. Indonesia on March 18 began repatriating more than 500 of its nationals freed from online scam centres in Myanmar, officials said, bringing them home from grim holding camps in Thailand where many have languished for weeks.

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Jakarta should not lower the bar for Myanmar

As a member of the Financial Action Task Force, Indonesia can help ensure Myanmar is judged by enforcement results, not by its new civilian title.

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People watch a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on April 19, 2026.

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ASEAN should press its Plus Three partners on denuclearization

With East Asia on the brink of a dangerous nuclear tipping point, ASEAN must abandon quiet diplomacy and force frank answers from Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul at next month’s summit.

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A worker checks sacks of locally produced rice on May 30, 2024, at a of warehouse state food company Perum Bulog in Indramayu, West Java.

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Indonesia has a mountain of rice, but not food security

A record rice surplus is filling Bulog warehouses rather than lowering market prices, exposing a costly food policy that prioritizes managing inventory over feeding the poor.

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Migrant deterrent: A tent camp for holding immigrant detainees stand in a yard at the Illegal Alien Holding Operations Center at the Guantanamo Bay United States military prison in Cuba on Feb. 6, 2025.

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Hambali: Southeast Asia’s last Guantanamo detainee

More than two decades after his capture, Southeast Asia’s most notorious jihadist remains trapped in legal purgatory at Guantanamo Bay, a relic of a forgotten war that neither Washington nor Jakarta has the political will or legal means to resolve.

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Students attend classes at state elementary school SD Pekayon 05 and state junior high school SMP 91 in Jakarta on Oct. 12, 2026.

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How Indonesian language could bridge education gaps

Advancing alternative and equitable ways of thinking about education is urgently needed, and the Indonesian language may have a role to play.

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Big tent: Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres) Pratikno (second left) shares a light moment with fellow council members including former government critic Rocky Gerung (third left) on Oct. 21, 2026 on the sidelines of their meeting.

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Dissent in the halls of power: The intellectual’s dilemma

The ultimate test of an intellectual is not challenging power from the outside, but refusing to become its mouthpiece once invited inside.

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Youths and activists holding banners as they march towards the National Monument (Monas) complex during a Global Climate Strike to protest against climate change in Jakarta, Indonesia, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

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Fostering, empowering youth in Indonesia’s foreign policy

To navigate a fractured world, Indonesia’s foreign policy must move beyond symbolic inclusion and treat its youth not just as tomorrow’s leaders, but as today’s strategic diplomatic partners.

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A visitor looks at an electronic display showing movements of the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) Composite index on Oct. 16, 2026, at the bourse in South Jakarta.

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Resetting Indonesia’s capital market needs verified integrity

Indonesia cannot restore foreign investor confidence with emergency price supports or rhetoric. It must prove the integrity of its markets through independent verification of ownership and true liquidity.

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Activists from labor groups hold a sit-in protest on May 1, 2026, during a rally to mark International Workers’ Day at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta.

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Breathing new life into organized labor

Fulfilling the ILO’s promise of defending workers’ rights will require more than another declaration or incremental institutional reform: There must be a concerted global effort to create an enabling environment for all workers and their organizations to operate across borders as easily as capital does.

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President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (second left) congratulate and shake hands with new cabinet members on Oct. 1 during a cabinet reshuffle at the State Palace in Jakarta.

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Maximum coalition, minimum performance

Political stability at the elite level has not yet translated into improvements in the economy, public services and the quality of governance.

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Customers purchase vegetables during a government-sponsored affordable food market in Panyileukan, Bandung, West Java, on July 16, 2026. Organized by the Bandung Food Security and Agriculture Agency (DKPP), the program offers staple food items at below-market prices to help stabilize supplies and curb inflation in the city.

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The FAO we need for the future of food security

To end global hunger in an era of compounding crises, we must stop reacting to disasters and start turning frontline innovations into rapid, equitable impacts.

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Firefighters work to contain a wildfire on Oct. 13 in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan.

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Why Indonesia keeps repeating its forest fire crisis

We have accumulated experience, yet too often respond as though we are encountering fires for the first time.

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Nickel processing facilities operate on Oct. 8 at the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park in Central Halmahera regency, North Maluku province.

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Going green is not enough for industrial parks to thrive

The upcoming Industrial Estate Law must decide whether its manufacturing hubs remain mere clusters of concrete and carbon targets, or evolve into fully integrated, people-first eco-industrial ecosystems.

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Defendants in a murder case of a bank branch head in Jakarta, namely Chief Sgt. Frengky Yaru (second left), Second Cpl. Feri Heriyanto and Chief Sgt. Mochamad Nasir (second right), are escorted out of the courtroom after their verdict hearing at the Jakarta Military Court in Jakarta on June 3, 2026. The judges sentenced Nasir to 13 years in prison, Feri to seven years and Frengky to a year after finding them guilty in the murder case.

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Impunity for military ends, may justice for all begin

By dismantling the shield of military courts for ordinary crimes, the Constitutional Court's landmark ruling reclaims civilian supremacy and demands an end to institutional impunity in Indonesia.

6 days ago

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping as the latter arrives in Kuala Lumpur on April 15, 2025, for a three-day visit to the Southeast Asian country.

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Understanding, adapting to the new world disorder

As the post-war order fractures into a volatile new world disorder, Malaysia must abandon diplomatic complacency and master the art of strategic autonomy—or risk becoming collateral damage in the next great-power shock.

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A street is choked by haze from forest fires on Oct. 15 in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan. Toxic haze has covered parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore for weeks as Jakarta struggles to contain fires that have scorched large tracts of Borneo and Sumatra, with smoke drifting across the region.

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Who are really behind Indonesia’s forest fires?

Holding those behind Indonesia’s forest fires truly accountable means looking past the individuals striking the matches and following the corporate paper trail straight to the parent companies profiting from the burn.

6 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left), who also chairs the Gerindra Party, and former president Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo pose on stage during the party's 17th anniversary in Bogor, West Java, on Feb. 15, 2025.

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Prabowo braces for a 2029 showdown with Jokowi

If the latest cabinet reshuffle says anything about their relationship, it is safe to say it is going downhill and that they are in for another political showdown.

1 week ago

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