A Manggala Agni forest firefighter struggles to extinguish a forest and land fire in Rambutan village, Ogan Ilir regency, South Sumatra, on Sept. 12, 2026.

Why Indonesians feel increasingly bitter today

Indonesia’s rising public anger reflects deeper structural pressures, from elite impunity to digital manipulation, eroding trust in democratic institutions.

1 week ago

Academia premium

Federalism and the middle way of decentralization

To survive in an unstable world, Indonesia must master the delicate art of the middle way: keeping a firm hand at the center while fixing the fractured, graft-prone machinery of regional autonomy. ...

1 week ago

Academia premium

The American shield is cracking

America’s inability to protect bases in the Persian Gulf and Jordan and its regional allies’ territory signals a historic blow to its imperial system. ...

1 week ago

The Latest

Humanoid and quadruped robots participate in a demonstration calling for the regulation of artificial intelligence on Sept. 7 in Warsaw.

Academia premium

When AI stops asking permission

AI agents need protective layers, not a lecture about good behavior.

1 week ago

Jobseekers wait in line on June 8 during the opening of the 2026 Bogor Job Fair at Plaza Jambu Dua in Bogor, West Java.

Academia premium

What if young people create, not just seek, jobs?

The future job market belongs not to those waiting for a vacancy, but to the graduates equipped to turn society’s friction into economic opportunity.

1 week ago

Haze shrouds the Kuala Lumpur skyline on Aug. 26 amid high levels of air pollution from regional wildfires. Indonesia has for weeks battled wildfires that have led to school closures and thousands of people requiring medical treatment, with smoke also reaching neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Academia premium

Regional haze casts pall on ASEAN’s influence

The return of haze underscores a sobering reality: while ASEAN has policies designed to combat it, the problem continues to occur.

1 week ago

A thick haze shrouds Manila on Sept. 1 in smoke from fires in Kalimantan in this photo taken in Quezon City, the Philippines.

Academia

Cross-border crises test Indonesia’s regional credibility

When environmental crises cross borders, government communication becomes crucial to managing their impacts and protecting Indonesia’s international reputation.

1 week ago

Academia premium

Mobilizing middle powers in a multi-directional world

Middle powers are critically important in at least two spheres of influence: in the UN and in protection against mass atrocities.

1 week ago

An orangutan named Sampurna receives emergency treatment after being rescued on Aug. 30 at a palm-oil plantation near an area affected by wildfires, in Kuala Satong village, Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan.

Academia premium

What do dead monkeys reveal about Indonesia's wildfire toll?

The flames may eventually die down, but for the wildlife trapped in Indonesia’s charred forests, the real crisis of hunger, trauma and displacement has only just begun.

1 week ago

Real wheels: A member of the Indonesian Army (right) helps a boy down from a Komodo armored vehicle by state arms maker PT Pindad on Aug. 24, 2026, during a military exhibition at Living World Grand Wisata in Bekasi, West Java.

Academia premium

Hidden fiscal risk behind Indonesia’s military expenditure

Indonesia is entering an era of bigger defense budgets and small budgetary visibility. Yet the institutions that allow the legislature and the public to determine where money goes have not strengthened.

1 week ago

Police officers and protesters face each other on Aug. 27 during a demonstration urging lawmakers to immediately pass an asset forfeiture law for corrupt officials outside the Senayan Legislative complex in Jakarta.

Academia premium

The shield, the weapon, the decoy: Indonesia’s architecture of elite protection

The public has been handed a reform that was quietly rendered toothless months before its scheduled arrival.

1 week ago

A farmer walks into the solar-powered water pump station in Tengengwetan village, Siwalan district in Pekalongan, Central Java, on Aug. 22. The solar-powered water pump allows farmers to cut diesel fuel consumption and thus their production cost.

Academia premium

100 GW: new electrons for a new economy

The 100-gigawatt solar ambition is no longer about hitting a target, it is about turning homegrown clean power into our next great economic engine.

1 week ago

Academia premium

Calling drivers entrepreneurs won’t create better jobs

Rebranding gig drivers as "entrepreneurs" might polish government employment data, but no administrative label can turn precarious, low-productivity survival into a genuine path to prosperity.

1 week ago

Foreign Minister Sugiono (right) shakes hands with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as they attend a press conference after their meeting on Aug. 21 at the Foreign Ministry office in Jakarta.

Academia premium

Indonesia and China: Toward a more honest conversation

Closer relations present a moment to revisit whether the partnership has mutually benefited our peoples and contributed to the greater global public good amid such an unpredictable international environment.

1 week ago

Academia premium

The UN cannot, and need not, wait for consensus

At the United Nations' 81st General Assembly, member states will be close to choosing the next secretary-general, who will immediately be confronted not only by many global crises, but also by the UN’s diminished ﬁnances.

1 week ago

Fights for justice: Members of the Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD), legal counsel for Andrie Yunus of Kontras, display legal documents on May 11, 2026, stating their client’s rejection of attendance at the military trial scheduled to be held at the Jakarta Military Court II-08 on May 13.

Academia premium

From arsenic to acid: Impunity and the retreat of civilian supremacy

From the poisoning of Munir to an acid attack left unpunished, Indonesia’s military justice system reveals a chilling truth: impunity isn’t a breakdown of the law, but a calculated display of power.

1 week ago

An exhibitor looks at a wafer during the SEMICON China semiconductor exhibition in Shanghai on March 25, 2026.

Academia

How obscure yttrium became a global flashpoint

This obscure member of the rare earths family is going to be high on the agenda when China's President Xi Jinping meets with United States President Donald Trump later this month in Washington.

1 week ago

Elementary school children sit on a bamboo raft as they cross the Citarum River on their way home in Saguling, Bandung, West Java, on Sept. 1, 2026.

Academia premium

Reading the PISA scores and what should follow

The more useful question for Indonesia is why its students fall behind, and what can be done about it.

1 week ago

Newly appointed Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara (left) reacts as outgoing Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa signs a document, during a handover ceremony at the Finance Ministry, on Sept. 15, 2026.

Academia premium

Is Indonesia returning to fiscal orthodoxy?

The new finance minister may reassure nervous markets, but the real test begins when fiscal discipline inevitably collides with President Prabowo’s expansive political ambitions.

1 week ago

Newly appointed Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara (left) receives congratulations from Danantara Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Rosan Roeslani during a swearing-in ceremony on Sept. 14 at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta following a Cabinet reshuffle. President Prabowo Subianto appointed Nazara as finance minister for the remainder of the 2024–2029 term, replacing Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa.

Academia premium

Indonesia’s fiscal ambitions are too big for its finance ministers

Three finance ministers in less than two years proves Indonesia’s fiscal challenge isn’t about who manages the budget, but whether political ambition has finally outpaced economic reality.

2 weeks ago

Students attend a class at a state elementary school in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, on Aug. 21, 2026. The Palangka Raya Education Agency implemented measures for elementary and junior high school students, including delaying the start of classes to 8 a.m., temporarily suspending outdoor activities, requiring students to wear masks and implementing distance learning for early childhood education students due to haze from forest and land fires that had deteriorated air quality.

Academia premium

Beyond arrests: Who is really responsible for the haze?

Smoke doesn’t stop at national borders, and accountability shouldn’t stop at the person holding the match.

2 weeks ago

The raid: Personnel from the National Police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88 show seized firearms and other items on Aug. 14, 2023, following a raid on the house of an alleged sympathizer of the Islamic State movement in Bekasi, West Java.

Academia premium

When violence falls between the cracks

As youth violence shifts from organized terrorist dogma to decentralized digital subcultures, Southeast Asia must confront a new reality: how do you stop an impending attack when there is no ideology to deradicalize and no network to map?

2 weeks ago

Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira (from left), UAE's Supreme Council for National Security Secretary-General Ali Mohamed Hammad Al Shamsi, President Prabowo Subianto, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, China's President Xi Jinping, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian and Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pose for a family photo during the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

Academia

Why Russia is deepening ties across the Global South

The Ukraine war certainly featured in conversations. Tellingly, however, Putin steered many talks with leaders towards fuel, trade and transit.

2 weeks ago

A guide leads a boat tour on Sept. 19, 2024, through Bali’s Ngurah Rai Forest Park, a mangrove conservation park spanning 1,373.5 hectares in Denpasar.

Academia premium

We know how to bring degraded land back to life

Restoring our degraded lands is no longer optional: It is a proven, high-return investment in our climate, economies and survival.

2 weeks ago

President Prabowo Subianto (right) shakes hands with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) after signing the Treaty on Common Security during the latter's work visit to the State Palace in Jakarta on Feb. 6, 2026.

Academia premium

Indonesia–Australia: Neighbors by geography, allies by necessity

Once built, trust has to be continuously nurtured to enable the two countries to contribute fully to the maintenance of peace and security in the region.

2 weeks ago

Newly appointed Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara (left) shakes hands with outgoing finance minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa during a handover ceremony on Sept. 15 at the Finance Ministry in Jakarta.

Academia premium

Suahasil can restore budget credibility, but challenges remain

The new finance minister brings steady hands and deep institutional memory, but restoring fiscal credibility will mean making the hard choices his predecessor avoided.

2 weeks ago

A fishmonger holds a basket of fish on Oct. 18, 2024, at a wet market in Kuala Lumpur.

Academia premium

Chinese SMEs in Malaysia and ASEAN: Coming in fast and furious

As agile Chinese SMEs rapidly plant roots across Southeast Asia, Malaysia faces a high-stakes choice: harness their momentum to build a regional powerhouse, or watch its own businesses get crowded out.

2 weeks ago

A container is loaded onto a cargo ship on April 16, 2025, at the Port Hai Phong in Northern Vietnam.

Academia premium

Democratic dilemma: Communist Vietnam outpaces Indonesia, Philippines

As Communist-led Vietnam laps Southeast Asia's sluggish democracies in growth and foreign capital, ordinary citizens in Jakarta and Manila are left asking an uncomfortable question: Does democracy actually hinder prosperity?

2 weeks ago