A member of a civil society movement holds a banner reading “Suharto is not a hero“ during the Kamisan (Thursday) rally opposing the government's plan to grant former president Soeharto national hero status near the State Palace in Central Jakarta on Nov. 6, 2025.

Democracy doesn’t need heroes

Democracy itself is anti-heroic. Progress does not come from the benevolence of a single messiah but from the collective operation of an impersonal system.

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Why climate finance is not enough

If the Global North is no longer willing to meet its funding promises, it can still demonstrate good faith through another form of solidarity: sharing the knowledge, technology and intellectual property that underpin the green transition. ...

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Today’s heroes are building Indonesia’s digital future

Today’s heroes require the same sort of courage that defined Indonesian independence, but this time to carve out the nation’s place in the global digital economy. ...

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The Latest

President Prabowo Subianto (second left) stands among other world leaders (from left) Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, United States President Donald Trump Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as they gather for a photo op on Oct. 13 during the 2025 Gaza Peace Summit, also known as the Sharm el-Sheikh summit after the Egyptian city that hosted the event.

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Mediating in a broken world: How Indonesia can make a difference

Indonesia’s "free and active" foreign policy, its laissez-faire mediation style as well as its cumulative experience, from the national revolution to the post-tsunami Aceh peace process, might succeed in helping to resolve geopolitical conflicts in Southeast Asia as well as the Middle East amid the global breakdown in the rules-based order.

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Former Constitutional Court chief justice Jimly Asshiddiqie (second left), former coordinating political, legal and security affairs minister Mahfud MD (center), Coordinating Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Services Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra (left), National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo (second right) and former National Police chief Idham Aziz attend the inauguration of members of the Police Reform Acceleration Commission on Friday at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

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Police reform: Turning resistance into a path for transformation

The real transformation of the National Police lies in nurturing a professional culture built on accountability, empathy and trust.

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Farmers collect paddy during harvest time on Dec. 9, 2021, at a rice field in Candipuro district, Lumajang, East Java.

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Agriculture at the heart of security

While many factors have contributed to rising food insecurity, the most important is conflict.

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More languages in schools: President Prabowo Subianto ('right') and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attend a press conference on Oct. 23 after their bilateral meeting at the presidential palace in Jakarta. During their bilateral meeting, Prabowo said he plans to add Portuguese to foreign language education in Indonesia, while the sector also prepares to make English a compulsory subject in schools.

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From Portuguese to ‘gratis’: Prabowo’s double-edged language politics

Skepticism toward state paternalism, visible in online critiques of the free nutritious meal program rollout and in discussions about Prabowo’s ASEAN diplomacy, reflects a generation less easily swayed by spectacle.

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A member of civil society movement groups holds a banner reading “Soeharto is not a hero“ during a Thursdays (Kamisan) rally on Nov. 6 opposing the government's plan to grant former president Soeharto a national hero title near the presidential palace in Jakarta. Former president Soeharto, who died in 2008 aged 86, ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for more than three decades after grabbing power in 1967 following a failed military coup.

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Heroes are not saints: Rethinking the National Hero Law

Soeharto resembled Dhritarashtra, the blind king who fathered the Kauravas. Dhritarashtra’s failure was not in what he did, but in his permissiveness.

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A Palestinian youth walks past the rubble of destroyed buildings on Nov. 2, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City.

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The Netanyahu Cabinet’s complicity in the Gaza genocide

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted Israel’s prime minister and his former defense minister for the Gaza atrocities. Several other cabinet members have contributed to these crimes, but none have been charged.

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A man collects used items including plastic bottles on Sept. 2, 2025 at the Cipeucang landfill, where the local administration plans to build a waste-to-energy plant to burn waste and generate electricity, in South Tangerang, Banten.

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Time to rethink what we mean by responsible investing

Could arms manufacturers soon become an everyday investment in ESG funds?

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Canberra Grammar School (CGS) students join an Indonesian language class on May 17, 2022, attended by Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Siswo Pramono.

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Bahasa Indonesia at a crossroads: Emblem, ecology and policy

Language policy is not a matter of imposing the top-down dos and don’ts about how language is used, but one of active engagement with diverse language users.

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

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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.

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Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa (left) and Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Perry Warjiyo give a press conference on the results of a meeting of the Financial System Stability Committee (KSSK) on Nov. 3 in Jakarta. Purbaya has urged banks to channel funds into the credit market, instead of buying BI Rupiah Securities (SRBI) or government bonds (SUN), to accelerate economic growth.

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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.

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A worker cleans chairs at the main hall of the Merdeka Building on April 16, 2025, in Bandung, West Java. The building was the venue for the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference, also known as the Bandung Conference, where 29 Asian and African countries convened in the spirit of anti-colonialism.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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,

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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The health workforce equity challenge in Asia

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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