Collective fraud: Five suspects (from left) Central Lampung Revenue Agency acting head Anton Wibowo, Central Lampung Legislative Council member Riki Hendra Saputra, Central Lampung Regent Ardito Wijaya, PT Elkaka Mandiri director Lukman Sjamsuri and the regent’s brother Ranu Hari Prasetyo are seen on Dec. 11, during a press conference at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building in Jakarta. The KPK has detained the five suspects in connection with a bribery case related to the procurement of goods and services in several projects across Central Lampung regency, Lampung.

Regional autonomy does not have to redistribute corruption

As Vedi Hadiz has noted, decentralization has produced local oligarchies, new centers of power growing from old patronage networks.

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ASEAN must not legitimize a sham election in Myanmar

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the polls in Myanmar under a new law that carries severe penalties, including the death sentence. ...

3 months ago

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A model to keep multilateralism alive

As countries shift away from multilateral cooperation as the world grows more multipolar, organizations that are mission-driven, involve multiple stakeholders and founded on a spirit of partnership will become ever more necessary to face contemporary challenges. ...

3 months ago

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Local residents and families of people who went missing in the recent flash floods and landslides scatter flowers during a symbolic burial service on Dec. 23, 2025, in Hutanabolon, a subdistrict of Tukka district in Central Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra.

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The imperative for a comprehensive disaster risk reduction

Disaster risk reduction should be embedded in policymaking, especially industrial and spatial planning, to prevent economic activities from damaging the environment and thereby exacerbating the impacts of future calamities.

3 months ago

Students pray on Oct. 30, 2025, before eating food provided via the government's free nutritious meal program at an elementary school in Banda Aceh, Aceh.

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Strengthening the free meals program through women and communities

Nearly a year on since the launch of the free meals program, several studies point to an opportunity for policy learning: scaling the program toward its envisioned targets by placing women at its heart.

3 months ago

(Image courtesy of the Culture Ministry)

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Indonesian history: A foundation of national identity

To coincide with National History Day on Dec. 14, the Culture Ministry held the soft launch of Sejarah Indonesia: Dinamika Kebangsaan dalam Arus Global (Indonesian history: National dynamics in global currents).

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A man uses a bucket to wash off mud on Dec. 13, in Aceh Tamiang, Aceh, surrounded by the devastation wrought by flash flooding and landslides that swept through three provinces in northern Sumatra.

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Why perspective matters in humanitarian crises

The way we understand humanitarian crises determines whether we truly attempt to resolve them, or merely manage them so they remain tolerable.

3 months ago

United States President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping reach out to shake hands during a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base in Busan on Oct. 30, on the sidelines of the 2005 APEC Summit in South Korea.

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Rogue hegemons are sabotaging the global economy

The US under the Trump administration has emerged as a global hegemon alongside China, albeit with different drivers, afflicting the rest of the world with limited opportunities, especially developing countries.

3 months ago

An opened durian is pictured on Jan. 30, 2019, at a stall in Medan, North Sumatra.

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Soft power, hard rind: China and durian

China’s growing appetite for durian is giving this famously divisive fruit political power.

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A woman steps onto a concrete slab on Dec. 9, 2025, past the flooded yard of a house damaged by flooding in Bundar village, Karang Baru, the capital of Aceh Tamiang regency in Aceh.

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A look at Asia’s 2025 winners and losers

From cybercrime and disasters to an elfin plush toy trend, here are some of the worst and best to happen in the Indo-Pacific throughout the year.

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Pope Francis gestures in greeting on the main balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica on Dec. 25, 2024, following his Urbi et Orbi message as part of the Christmas Day celebrations in the Vatican.

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Christmas 2025 message: Saving the nation, starting from the dinner table

The Christmas 2025 theme as declared by the PGI and the KWI urges reflection on the state of Indonesian families and how "saving" them is inherently linked to the republic's future.

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Visitors look at Christmas decorations for sale on Dec. 18 at a shop in Manokwari, West Papua. Sales of Christmas ornaments, priced from about 15,000 rupiah to 12 million rupiah, have begun to pick up a week ahead of Christmas.

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Celebrating Christmas amid ecological disaster

In celebrating Christmas, Christians are invited to demonstrate concern for the Earth rather than adding to its burdens through environmentally unfriendly celebrations.

3 months ago

Green energy: A technician checks methane gas produced by a biomass reactor on March 4, 2022, in Gondosari village, Kudus regency, Central Java. The bioreactor installation converts agriculture and animal husbandry waste into energy, fertilizer and pesticide.

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Turning Indonesia’s mounting waste into watts

Through the waste to energy initiative, Danantara will provide the investment, while the state utility company, PLN, will handle the electricity generated.

3 months ago

A healthcare worker prepares a device to help a patient with an early cervical cancer screening on July 17, 2017,.at a community health center (Puskesmas) in Palembang, South Sumatra

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Are our labs equipped to achieve cervical cancer screening targets?

Out of the 386 regencies and mayoralties targeted by the Health Ministry, fewer than half are estimated to have public health laboratories currently capable of processing PCR-based HPV DNA tests to detect cervical cancer.

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People walk along a path on Dec. 11, 2025, through logs and wood debris left behind by flash floods and landslides in Central Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra.

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The strategic necessity of ‘mandiri’ in the extreme climate age

The Indonesian term "mandiri" embodies the type of strategic governance necessary to unify a state's resources under a single command during a natural catastrophe.

3 months ago

A girl draws water from a storage tank on Dec. 15, 2025, in Babo, Aceh Tamiang, Aceh, following a flash flood.

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We don’t have to choose between sovereignty and humanity

The debate about foreign assistance is a proxy for a deeper question of whether the state can make fast, clear, citizen-first decisions under pressure.

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Law and enforcement: National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo (right) addresses a press conference alongside Police Reform Acceleration Committee chairman and former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie on Nov. 24, 2025 following an event at the National Police’s Mobile Brigade Training Center in Cikeas, Bogor, West Java.

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The Constitutional Court ruling that is (not) final and binding

The current polemic between the Constitutional Court and the National Police is a test of the state vis-à-vis the ethics of power.

3 months ago

Doubleheaders: 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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Fragmented governance the hallmark of Prabowo’s presidency

As long as Jokowi loyalists remain within Prabowo’s government—not merely to sustain influence but to survive politically ahead of 2029—fragmented governance is likely to persist.

3 months ago

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Indonesia's modernized penal code ratification represents positive transformation

Indonesia is set to implement the New Indonesian Penal Code (Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana Baru or KUHP Baru), scheduled to come into effect on Jan. 2, 2026, enacted through Law No. 1 of 2023. The change demonstrates the country’s move away from a colonial-era criminal justice framework and reflects a modernized legal system rooted in national values and aligned with contemporary international norms.

3 months ago

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Indonesia’s EV market races ahead with 49% growth despite auto slowdown

Electric vehicles are rapidly changing Indonesia’s automotive landscape, gaining remarkable traction and offering hope for a cleaner and more innovative future despite declining traditional car sales.

3 months ago

An aerial photo shows a newly formed river cutting through a residential area in Pidie Jaya, Aceh, on Dec. 18, 2025. Flash floods and the overflow of the Meureudu River on Nov. 26, 2025, caused the formation of the new waterway that split the neighborhood.

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International aid and the state: Nargis Myanmar vs Senyar Aceh

In the aftermath of the disaster devastating parts of Sumatra, the lesson of Nargis is relevant not because Indonesia is on the brink of total failure, but because the moral test is identical.

3 months ago

Facing reality: President Prabowo Subianto (third left), accompanied by North Sumatra Governor Bonny Nasution (second left), greets evacuees at a shelter for victims of flash floods at MAN 1 Islamic senior high school in Tanjung Pura, Langkat regency, North Sumatra, on Dec. 13, 2025.

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Expendable lives, lack of leadership in the Sumatra disaster

Prabowo seems to live inside a political bubble, dependent on information filtered by ministers and advisers whose main job is protecting his pride rather than telling him the truth.

3 months ago

Participants march during a protest organized by the Indonesian Women's Alliance (API) on the 50th International Women's Day demanding labor rights, gender equality and protections, in Jakarta on March 8, 2025.

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Women are leaving what no longer serves them

Patriarchy damages a potentially powerful force of mature masculinity, one that could have been emotionally grounded, ethically strong and socially accountable

3 months ago

Pile it up: Stacks of containers are seen during routine export and import operations at the Shanghai International Port in China on Nov. 7, 2025.

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How to deal with involution in China

Multiple factors have contributed to overcapacity in China due to intense domestic competition, and though the government has several anti-involution measures in place, it will take time before they begin effecting any change.

3 months ago

At the 47th ASEAN Summit in early November, Malaysia concluded its chairmanship of the bloc, passing the baton to the Philippines. (Image courtesy of Free Malaysia Today)

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What the Philippines chairmanship means for ASEAN

ASEAN as a liberal institutionalist entity continues to suffer from political realist power plays which strain ASEAN unity.

3 months ago

Representatives of the Awyu and Moi indigenous communities protest on May 27, 2024, in front of the Supreme Court building in Jakarta. They were calling for the country’s highest court to revoke the permits of palm oil companies that are set to operate in Papua, which could potentially clear approximately 300 square kilometers of customary forest.

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Forests, fuel and food: Is expanding oil palm to Papua worth the cost?

Forest loss to palm oil plantations directly weakens these dimensions by increasing disaster risk and exposing communities to instability.

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Playing with fire: A worker in protective gear uses a tool to scoop molten metal on Sept. 16, 2025 at Harita Nickel’s smelting facility on Obi Island in South Halmahera, North Maluku.

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The limits of responsible business labels in nickel industry

Nickel smelter companies have increasingly worked with major national outlets such as Kompas, CNN Indonesia, and Tempo to run advertorials and sponsored content.

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Why the usual approach to corruption keeps failing

The real task of eradicating corruption is narrowing the space where wrongdoing still feels normal, necessary or excusable.

3 months ago

East Java governor-elect Khofifah Indar Parawansa (center) engages with a student on Jan. 8, 2025, during a visit to inspect the implementation of the free nutritious meal program at SMPN 1 Candi junior high school in Sidoarjo, East Java.

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Women’s leadership and the long road to Golden Indonesia 2045

The theme selected by the women’s ministry for Hari Ibu 2025 proposes a shift to a pragmatic, inclusive strategy that embraces women leaders' creativity and resilience toward achieving the country's centennial vision.

3 months ago