Treasured tradition: Customary leaders walk through a throng of revelers as they prepare to perform a ritual on Sept. 23, 2026, during the Cia-Cia community’s annual Maataano Santa festival in Laburunci village, Buton regency, Southeast Sulawesi.

A truly just transition demands direct indigenous power

A decarbonized future cannot be measured in megawatts alone: without the non-negotiable right to consent, the global rush for clean energy risks replicating the very exploitation it claims to leave behind.

1 week ago

Academia premium

Militarization by request: The quiet creep in Jakarta

When civilian ministries outsource governance to the barracks, democracy risks mistaking military creep for routine statecraft. ...

1 week ago

Academia

Clean nickel paradox vs. fossil fuel dominance

The Indonesian nickel industry is currently navigating a profound paradox: a world that desperately needs our mineral wealth but increasingly demands it to be "clean" and low-emission. ...

5 months ago

The Latest

A graphic shows the Equal Earth cartographic projection. The United Nations General Assembly voted on Sept. 4, 2026, to back a resolution spearheaded by several African countries to adopt a map that makes their continent bigger while shrinking North America and Europe, which aimed at “a more accurate representation“ of continental landmasses.

Academia premium

A road map for the next UN secretary-general

The next secretary-general will fill the most prominent position in multilateral governance at a time when multilateralism is arguably at its nadir.

1 week ago

President Prabowo Subianto looks on as he arrives on Aug. 14 at the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta for the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) plenary meeting, in which he delivered the State of the Nation address and the 2027 state budget proposal.

Academia premium

Fiscal rule, self-discipline and the state budget

If the government seeks a better balance between fiscal stability and economic growth, adopting a springboard approach is the path forward.

1 week ago

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raises a hand on Sept. 22, 2026, as he arrives at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the United States, to attend the first day of the high-level general debate during the 81st UN General Assembly.

Academia premium

Pakistan-US ties: A new chapter for an old friendship

Both countries will benefit from a more meaningful, multidimensional and consistent relationship built on a historical foundation and oriented toward a forward-looking framework, as will the wider region and the world.

1 week ago

United States President Donald Trump (left) and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk on Oct. 30, 2025, as they leave after a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Busan, South Korea.

Academia premium

Different times, shared hearts: What brings China and the US together

Long before treaties and summits, the enduring bond between China and the United States was forged in classrooms, cockpits and ballparks by ordinary people with extraordinary hearts.

1 week ago

A Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) crew walks towards a CH-47 Chinook helicopter ahead of Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin's visit to the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF) ship JS Kunisaki on Sept. 15, 2026, at Kijing port in Mempawah, West Kalimantan. In his visit, Sjafrie held a limited meeting with the Japanese officers on the joint waterbombing missions to extinguish forest and land fire in the province.

Academia premium

When citizens demand accountability for forest fires

As toxic smoke returns to West Kalimantan, a landmark class action is putting Indonesia's environmental governance on trial, testing whether citizens can legally force the state to protect them from preventable disaster.

1 week ago

Finance Minister Suahasil Nazara (center left) speaks at the APBN Kita press conference in Jakarta on Sept. 19, 2026.

Academia premium

Don’t waste Indonesia’s macroeconomic opportunity

Many advanced economies that once set the benchmark for macroeconomic discipline now struggle with problems more common to emerging markets. For emerging economies with sound policies, this creates a rare opportunity to narrow the credibility gap.

1 week ago

Designing the future: Students attend a visual communication design training session on April 13, 2026, at Saint Joseph Catholic vocational high school in Jakarta.

Academia premium

What PISA keeps telling us about foundations

Indonesia’s latest PISA performance remains below the targets, but the broader trajectory contains genuine progress.

1 week ago

The newly acquired aircraft carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi (left), now KRI Sriwijaya, is accompanied by KRI Brawijaya (center) and KRI Prabu Siliwangi as they sail past Bangka waters on Sept. 17, 2026.

Academia premium

The sensible roles and harsh realities of KRI Sriwijaya

To justify its steep price tag, Indonesia’s first aircraft carrier must balance realistic support roles against the risk of becoming a costly ceremonial white elephant.

1 week ago

Smoke billows from nickel smelting plants at the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Lelilef, North Maluku, on July 7, 2024.

Academia

Indonesia’s nickel curbs struggle to convince markets

Indonesia is learning that building a dominant position in the nickel market is the easy part. Leveraging its influence over supply to control prices is proving much trickier.

1 week ago

An aerial view shows houses lying deluged in sludge after flash floods at Devighat, Bidur municipality, along the confluence of the Trishuli and Tadi rivers in Nepal's Nuwakot district on Aug. 27, 2026.

Academia premium

Nepal floods obliterate final excuses for climate inaction

A deadly Himalayan avalanche has exposed the catastrophic human toll of global climate inaction, turning Nepal’s tragedy into an urgent test of whether world leaders will finally pay climate reparations or face international legal accountability.

1 week ago

Two 'ojek' (online motorcycle transportation) drivers wait in traffic on June 24, 2026 with passengers wearing the helmets of Gojek and Grab in the Kampung Melayu Besar area of South Jakarta.

Academia premium

Labor bill must protect workers, not just employment relationships

To protect millions in an era of subcontracting and gig platforms, Indonesia’s new labor bill must ensure that basic rights follow the worker, not just the corporate contract.

1 week ago

President Prabowo Subianto and Russia's President Vladimir Putin shake hands ahead of a meeting on Thursday on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia.

Academia premium

Diversification, not alignment: Reading Indonesia's Russia tilt

By courting Vladimir Putin as a strategic counterweight to Beijing, President Prabowo Subianto is reviving Indonesia’s non-aligned doctrine—hedging against Chinese dominance by adding a risky, sanctions-heavy third pole to Jakarta's geopolitical chessboard.

1 week ago

Academia premium

When the pieces start playing themselves: AI in anarchy

As frontier AI models begin orchestrating covert operations on their own, the line between weapon and strategist collapses - leaving global order unequipped for a world where the pieces move themselves.

1 week ago

The floating panels of a solar power plant at Cirata Dam in Purwakarta regency, West Java, are seen from above on Sept. 26, 2023.

Academia premium

No industrial off-takers, no 100 GW solar

Indonesia’s 100-gigawatt solar dream won’t fail for lack of sunlight, but for lack of buyers—unless the country connects its mineral downstreaming to the national grid.

1 week ago

Balancing act: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) presides over the second and final day of the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Sept. 13, 2026, flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin (left, front), and Chinese President Xi Jinping (right, front).

Academia premium

ASEAN warms to BRICS without sacrificing centrality

Southeast Asia is not swapping geopolitical camps—it is expanding its diplomatic toolkit to ensure it never has to choose between them.

1 week ago

A customer scans Japan's unified QR code JPQR to make a payment using the Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS) on Aug. 25, 2025, at World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan.

Academia premium

Can QRIS digitize MSME credit?

The national standard for QR code payments has helped millions of small businesses move toward digital financial inclusion. The next step in this evolution is to use the data generated to enable access to financing.

1 week ago

Supriyono (center left, onstage), also known as “Botok”, an activist from Pati regency, Central Java, speaks during a demonstration outside the Senayan Legislative Complex in Central Jakarta on Aug. 27, 2026, urging lawmakers to immediately pass the asset forfeiture bill.

Academia premium

Popular discontent is justified. Authoritarianism is not the answer

The people's fight against oligarchy, corruption and foreign dependence won't be won by sliding back into authoritarianism, but by building a democracy strong enough to hold power to account.

2 weeks ago

Leaders of participating countries gather for a photograph on Sept. 13 during the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.

Academia premium

BRICS seeks to give the Global South a bigger voice

The grouping increasingly represents emerging and middle powers across regions that share common development priorities and seek a greater voice in institutions shaping global affairs.

2 weeks ago

A doctor attends to a toddler receiving a measles vaccine on March 27 at the Ibrahim Adjie community health center (Puskesmas) in Bandung, West Java.

Academia premium

AI in RI healthcare: Opportunities and risks

From the perspective of Indonesia’s national health policy, AI is an innovation. Ensuring that innovation is safe, equitable and trustworthy is a critical issue when it comes to AI in the health sector.

2 weeks ago

A woman takes a photo of an electronic display showing negative movements across the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) Composite index on Feb. 2, 2026, at the bourse’s South Jakarta headquarters.

Academia

Which ASEAN equity laggards could soon become leaders?

While AI-fuelled equity gains in North Asia have hogged the spotlight this year, select ASEAN markets have quietly staged a breakout of their own.

2 weeks ago

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.

Academia

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.

2 weeks ago

President Prabowo Subianto (center), accompanied by Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka (right), shakes hands with Papua Governor Mathius Fakhiri (left) on Dec. 16, 2025, prior to a meeting with 46 regional leaders from Papua along with 10 executive committee members of the Acceleration of Papua’s Special Autonomy Development at the State Palace in Central Jakarta.

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.

2 weeks ago

A satellite image shows black smoke rising from the Saudi Arabian East-West oil pipeline south of Medina in the Hejaz Region, on Sept. 10, 2026.

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.

2 weeks ago

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.

2 weeks 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.

2 weeks 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.

2 weeks 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.

2 weeks ago

Page: 2