President Prabowo Subianto ('right') inaugurates Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa ('center') as Finance Minister on Sept. 8, 2025 at the State Palace in Jakarta.

Paradox of control: Indonesia’s fiscal decentralization in reverse

Instead of fostering autonomy and innovation, fiscal decentralization has evolved into an arrangement defined by dependency and compliance.

1 week ago

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Indonesia’s bond market now driven by domestic policy, not global sentiment

Weak credit growth in the private sector has left these banks flushing with liquidity, which they have channeled into government bonds. ...

1 week ago

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The world hails Bandung, but Indonesia forgets

Forgetting is easier than confronting the truth that Bandung represents: that freedom is not only the absence of colonial rule, but the commitment to dignity, solidarity, and justice within the nation and beyond. ...

1 week ago

The Latest

A farmer stands on a boat that passes through solar panels installed as part of the Rawa Pening floating solar photovoltaic plant on Oct. 12, 2025, in Tuntang, Semarang regency, Central Java.

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Energy transition is achievable in emerging markets

In a new working paper, we found that shifting the energy sector to renewables is relatively affordable for emerging-market economies in the G20.

1 week ago

Philippines' President Ferdinand Marcos Jr delivers remarks during the ASEAN chairmanship handing over ceremony as part of the closing ceremony of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Oct. 28, 2025.

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Canada and ASEAN: Building the future together

Canada strengthens ties with ASEAN for the long run, not just because it wants to be, but because ASEAN’s prosperity and stability is also Canada’s.

1 week ago

Oxfam activists wearing oversized masks representing (from left to right) European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Argentina's President Javier Milei, United States President Donald Trump and Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney pose on Wednesday during their “Big Heads“ protest stunt at the riverbank of the Federal University of Para in Belem, Brazil, on the sidelines of the COP30 United Nations Climate Summit.

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Climate justice: From rhetoric to real responsibility

For developing nations like Indonesia, COP30 in Belem is not merely another conference; it is a moral test of the world’s commitment to justice,

1 week ago

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on Nov. 5, 2025, in the Queens borough of New York City, the United States.

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Zohran Mamdani and the reshaping of urban space pricing

The high cost of living in cities is not the result of neutral market dynamics. It comes from power structures that privilege landowners and property capital.

1 week ago

Job seekers register on May 22 at a job fair attended by over a hundred recruiting companies and thousands of job seekers in Jakarta.

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Can the developing world weather the next financial crisis?

Developing countries must recognize the risks and take urgent steps to strengthen their economic resilience.

1 week ago

People of the Gelar Alam indigenous community carry bundles of rice stalks in a procession during the Seren Taun harvest festival in Sukabumi, West Java, on Oct. 5, 2025. The annual ceremony expresses gratitude for the year's harvest and seeks blessings for harmony with nature and ancestors.

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Self-sufficiency or statistical mirage? Rethinking Indonesia’s food data

True food self-sufficiency cannot be measured merely by production figures or the absence of imports. It rests on data integrity, policy consistency and the state’s ability to ensure equitable access to affordable food for all.

1 week ago

Residents exercise during Car Free Day on Oct. 12 at the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia in Jakarta.

Academia

Long nights in the Jakarta streets

Ours is an age of instant outrage and fleeting wisdom, where humanity searches for quick fixes to problems generations in the making.

1 week ago

United States President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One at Gimhae International Airport on Oct. 30, 2025, in Busan, South Korea.

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Trumpism 2.0 and America’s authoritarian capitalism

It is crucial for international communities to anticipate the wave of Trumpism 2.0.

1 week ago

A health worker measures the height of a women participating in the free birthday health screening program at a community health center (puskesmas) on May 15 in Serang, Banten.

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The health workforce equity challenge in Asia

Across the region, the story of the health workforce reveals deep inequities.

1 week ago

Protesters hold banners that read “Reject the national hero title for Soeharto” during a protest on May 15 in front of the Social Affairs Ministry office in Jakarta.

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Beyond the builder: Soeharto, impunity and the global standard of heroism

The proposed conferral of the national hero title upon Soeharto challenges not only our collective memory but also our unwavering commitment to transitional justice and the mandates of the 1998 Reformasi.

1 week ago

A general view of the osteological reproduction of “Little Foot“ fossil skeleton at the Sterkfontein caves' exhibit on April 25 located within the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site in Krugersdorp near Johannesburg.

Academia

Tracing humanity’s coastal journey from Africa

We propose in a recently published review paper that the coast of southern Africa was likely where Homo sapiens began the worldwide journey.

1 week ago

Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) activists burn an effigy of United States President Donald Trump during a rally on Aug. 6 in Kolkata, India, to mark the 80th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack, on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of WWII.

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Preventing Pandora’s Box from opening on nuclear testing

A return to nuclear explosive testing by the United States has the potential to open the doors for others to follow suit to “perfect” their nuclear arsenals.

1 week ago

Protesters participate in a rally on Sept. 27 for Climate Justice in Seoul.

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The fraught politics of corporate disclosures

The US Securities and Exchange Commission must recognize that a wide variety of interests look at corporate financial disclosures, and that the effects of such information can be material in a variety of ways.

1 week ago

An oil refinery is seen behind a mosque on July 9, 2024, in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

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Climate cost of leaving methane on the table

By failing to prioritize methane reduction, Indonesia is not only undermining its climate credibility but also throwing away revenue and energy security.

1 week ago

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva arrives for a briefing with foreign media on Nov. 4 ahead of the COP30 UN Climate Change Conference in Belem, Para state, Brazil.

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It’s time to reform the climate summit

Over the past three decades, climate conferences have grown too large to function effectively.

1 week ago

Members of K-pop fans group and a child from Batin Sembilan indigenous community plant tree seeds on a burned land on Feb. 9, 2024, as part of efforts to restore Harapan Forest in Batanghari, Jambi.

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How social protection can accelerate climate action

Integration of climate objectives into social-protection systems can go a long way toward delivering limited finance where it is needed most.

2 weeks ago

Students listen to their teacher at a classroom of SMA 70 Jakarta state senior high school in South Jakarta on April 14, 2025.

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Cultivating prosperity through education

Education does not automatically guarantee economic success. Its real power lies in expanding one’s capacity to choose.

2 weeks ago

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears on a screen to deliver a speech remotely on Oct. 26 as other leaders attend the 22nd ASEAN - India Summit during the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

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ASEAN and India’s shared AI opportunity

ASEAN and India’s partnership can become far greater than the sum of its parts.

2 weeks ago

A diver enjoys the beauty of coral reefs on May 6, 2024, in the waters off Tomia Island, Wakatobi regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

Academia

Restoring reefs, not just corals

Most restoration programs focus their efforts on increasing coral growth, but rarely ask whether the reef is actually functioning as a living ecosystem.

2 weeks ago

Members of Myanmar's military stand next to Starlink devices seized during a raid on the KK Park online scam center in Myawaddy, Myanmar's Kayin state in this handout photo taken on Oct. 20, 2025 and released on Oct. 22, 2025 by the Myanmar Military Information Team.

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Myanmar’s border ‘raid’ and the scam war

The raid did not signal the beginning of the end for the online scam industry along the Thai-Myanmar border. It was the result of a battlefield gain, repackaged as an anti-crime success.

2 weeks ago

A teacher ('right') checks a student’s work in a classroom on Oct. 2, 2025 at SDN Sudirman II elementary school in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

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'Bahasa Indonesia': Identity, inspiration or illusory prestige?

Since Indonesia became globalised, academics, cultural observers and even members of the general public sense that the Indonesian language is in crisis

2 weeks ago

An anopheles mosquito is seen resting on a human hand.

Academia

Words matter in Papua’s malaria fight

We recommend more targeted and context-specific strategies to accelerate malaria elimination in Papua, with a focus on culturally responsive communication, active community engagement and integration into existing health services.

2 weeks ago

A Burundian government official from the Office for the Protection of Refugees speaks with newly arrived Congolese refugees awaiting relocation while weighing a sack of rice from the final batches delivered by the now-dismantled United States Agency for International Development (USAID) following a food distribution at the Cishemere Transit Center near Buganda, on May 6, 2025.

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Development finance must shift away from aid

Better ways of financing development are becoming more available.

2 weeks ago

A teacher uses an interactive smart screen to teach students on Oct. 3 at SDN Panunggulan 2 state elementary school in Serang regency, Banten.

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Beyond access: Toward true equity in education

True equity in education is about relevance: whether what students learn connects to the lives they will lead, the work they will do and the future they will shape.

2 weeks ago

Workers arrange melons at the Rau market in Serang, Banten, on Oct. 3, 2025. Statistics Indonesia (BPS) recorded inflation of 2.31 percent in Banten in September 2025, caused by price increases in nine expenditure groups, including food and beverages.

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Food irradiation: A game changer for food security, inflation stability

In Indonesia, a country where nearly a third of harvested food spoils before reaching consumers, keeping food fresh longer is not simply a safety matter, it is an economic necessity.

2 weeks ago

A general view at the nickel smelter of PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, on Aug. 2, 2024.

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Restoring technocratic rationality and rule-based governance

We have entered an era of rhetorical abundance but institutional scarcity.

2 weeks ago

United States President Donald Trump ('left') talks to China's President Xi Jinping as they shake hands after their talks on Oct. 30, 2025, at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea. Trump and Xi had their first face-to-face meeting in six years, seeking a truce to end a trade war that has roiled the world economy.

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Donald Trump's pivot from Asia

Trump spent much of the last week of October in Asia but failed to create enduring structures in the economic sphere or put to rest increasing doubts about the United States’ strategic commitment to the region.

2 weeks ago

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