Using a rubber-tired gantry crane, port workers load export-bound containers onto a vessel flying the Portuguese flag on June 24 at the Tanjung Mas port in Semarang.

Indonesia’s trade deal with the US needs ASEAN and more

Bilateral deals may offer tactical wins, but durable stability will come from joint rules, shared mechanisms and sustained regional coordination.

3 months ago

Academia premium

The Sino-American battle for brains

Beijing's ongoing efforts to develop and deliver quality higher education and Washington's assaults on universities and international students could leave long-lasting, far-reaching impacts beyond the lecture hall vis-à-vis the great power rivalry between the two countries. ...

3 months ago

Academia premium

The silent threat to Indonesia’s budget sustainability

The seemingly positive fiscal trajectory hides a deeper vulnerability: the growing burden of debt servicing, which is steadily consuming a significant portion of the government’s revenue and narrowing its fiscal space. ...

3 months ago

The Latest

A technician helps a man put on a prosthetic limb donated by the government to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3, 2024, in Banda Aceh, Aceh.

Academia

How can inclusion work if it leaves people out?

With the rise of digital financial services, people with disabilities face challenges and gaps when they attempt to access financial products.

3 months ago

A visitor looks at the chassis of an electric vehicle (EV) on July 18 at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show 2024 in Tangerang, Banten.

Academia premium

Sodium batteries: The second chance we shouldn’t miss

The government's tunnel vision as regards our vast nickel reserves vis-à-vis the country's EV ecosystem development is blinding it to an equally efficient, effective and more eco-friendly energy alternative that is beginning to gain global ground: sodium-ion batteries.

3 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announce the 'political agreement' of the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) on July 14 in Brussels.

Academia

Europe and Southeast Asia champion multipolar global order

More opportunities are needed for ASEAN and the EU to engage in strategic discussions on common interests, ranging from trade and climate action to the complex situation in the South China Sea.

3 months ago

Strategic cooperation: French President Emmanuel Macron (fourth left), his wife Brigitte Macron (fifth right), President Prabowo Subianto (third left), Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah (fourth right) and members of the French government attend the annual Bastille Day military parade on Monday at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.

Academia premium

Guns, goals and growth: Indonesia, France boost defense ties

In the wake of global tensions, Indonesia must be able to enhance its independence and long-term resilience, which can be achieved through partnerships with major powers like France.

3 months ago

United States President Donald Trump addresses the nation, alongside US Vice President JD Vance (left), US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second right) and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth from the White House in Washington, DC on June 21, following the announcement that the US bombed nuclear sites in Iran.

Academia

The ever-evolving 'Trump doctrine' and the fight for US strategy

There is growing divisions within the administration over the future use of US military force.

3 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) announce the "political agreement" of the Indonesia-EU Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (IEU-CEPA) on July 14 in Brussels, Belgium.

Academia premium

Indonesia–EU CEPA: A strategic leap toward global trade leadership

By investing in green infrastructure, renewable energy and eco-friendly production as a consequence of the IEU-CEPA, Indonesia can transform its economy while meeting global expectations.

3 months ago

A welder works on July 15, 2025, at a steel structure fabrication factory in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, East China.

Academia premium

Demystifying China’s manufacturing success

The vast expanse that is China is a significant part of how it achieved technological success at such low prices, but this achievement is also linked to the delivery of high-quality education, encouragement of local-foreign ventures as well as the nurture of horizontal domestic competition.

3 months ago

Biofuel researcher Dibyo Pranowo stands in front of the prototype of a biodiesel reactor he invented as he shows drupes (left) and kernels of ‘kemiri sunan’ (Sunan candlenut) on Jan. 16, 2019, at the Agriculture Ministry’s research center in Sukabumi, West Java.

Academia premium

Research priorities and belated awareness

Indonesia's academic culture needs to grow up and fly the coop, as it were, by adapting proven frameworks and methodologies and implementing an evidenced-approach that matches our local contexts to establish our own research ecosystem; one that is free from overdependence on external validation.

3 months ago

A researcher shows mosquitoes collected at a research center in Yogyakarta in this photo released on June 10, 2021, by the World Mosquito Program.

Academia premium

Hiring rebels as an option for downstreaming research

"Rebel" researchers, those who resist regulation and constantly push themselves beyond limits, have proved to stimulate world-class innovations.

3 months ago

A woman walks past a candidate list at a polling station during a revote in Surabaya, East Java on Feb. 24, 2024, following logistical problems which affected some ten polling stations across the city during the Feb. 14 presidential and legislative elections.

Academia premium

Making space for electoral innovation to realize democracy

Electoral regulations should impact the reform of representational and accountability systems, improve the quality of public deliberation and increase access to information.

3 months ago

This photo shows the DeepSeek app on a mobile phone in Hong Kong on Jan. 28, 2025.

Academia premium

AI: China’s unbeatable new export

China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.

3 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) and Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba inspect the guard of honor at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, on Jan. 11.

Academia premium

Prioritizing agriculture in the Indonesia-Japan partnership

It will be a more strategic discussion if Indonesia is open to discuss what steps Japan took to transform its economy from a farming base into an advanced economy.

3 months ago

Activists and supporters of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) hold placards on June 25 as they condemn United States strikes on Iran during a protest in New Delhi.

Academia premium

Letter to Editor: Indian embassy responds

The Indian Embassy responds to the a remarks on India’s position on Palestine in an opinion piece published on July 14.

3 months ago

A person opens the home page for Grok on social media platform X on a computer in Jakarta in this photo illustration created on April 16.

Academia

Human development in the age of AI

AI raises urgent questions about equity, agency and the role of human values in shaping our digital future.

3 months ago

Iranians leave Turkey through the Razi-Kapiköy border crossing, north-eastern Turkey on June 18. Flights to Iran were suspended on June 18 after Israel launched an attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities, sparking a deadly confrontation.

Academia premium

The curious case of strikes on Iran, a threat to the rules-based global order

There was no instant or overwhelming necessity for self-defense to justify Israel's attack on Iran.

3 months ago

A Palestinian mother and her daughter rush for cover on July 4 during an Israeli strike in the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip.

Academia premium

Israeli soldiers’ voices, a tool for peace?

The voices of conscientious scholars and IDF members have been drowned out in the domestic and global pro-Palestine and pro-Israel public opinion war.

3 months ago

Fishermen carry baskets on March 25, 2024, to their vessels in Labuan Bay in Pandeglang, Banten, to move their catch to a fish market.

Academia premium

Rethinking ocean finance

Humanity is not investing nearly enough in ocean sustainability.

3 months ago

Industry in crisis: Workers leave a PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) factory on Oct. 24, 2024, in Sukoharjo, Central Java.

Academia premium

Bold reform and decisive policies to rejuvenate the textile industry

To restore industry competitiveness, what’s urgently needed is not just legislation, but also targeted action.

3 months ago

A student washes a semiconductor chip diced from a wafer at the Inter-university Semiconductor Research Center at Seoul National University in Seoul on April 30.

Academia

Building resilience in ASEAN’s semiconductor supply chain

ASEAN must invest heavily in semiconductor-focused infrastructure, including cleanroom facilities, wafer fabrication facilities and advanced packaging tailored for AI, automotive and next-generation computing.

3 months ago

The front page of The Jakarta Post newspaper with a photo of the Francis Scott Key Bridge following its collapse after being hit by the container ship Dali in Baltimore, Maryland, the United States on March 26, as seen in a photograph taken on March 27, 2024 in central Jakarta.

Academia

Social media domination in Indonesians’ news consumption

Trust in news is falling as more and more people turn away from TV, print and online news sources.

3 months ago

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right), accompanied by United States President Donald Trump (center), attends a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 7 in Washington, DC.

Academia premium

Middle East politics and the hazards of the US' principled realism

Trump’s current foreign policy on the Middle East is not only driven by military might, but it is determined by technology, investment and transactional pragmatism.

3 months ago

Tech effect: A student collects data for electronic voter identification on Jan. 24, 2024, at SMA Kartika XIX-1 senior high school in Bandung, West Java. The Bandung administration reached out to high school students to achieve its target figure for first-time voters registered for the 2024 general election.

Academia premium

Why governing algorithmic politics in electoral law matters

Today, political consultants employ generative and predictive AI to process voter data and tailor campaign materials to support candidates.

3 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto looks on during the first plenary session of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 6. BRICS leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday are expected to decry United States President Donald Trump's “indiscriminate“ trade tariffs, saying they are illegal and risk hurting the global economy.

Academia premium

Trump’s letter makes BRICS a strategic bet for Indonesia

BRICS, though not a replacement for existing alliances, must be used as leverage.

3 months ago

A general view of the opening session of the first National History Seminar, held on Dec. 14, 1957, in Yogyakarta.

Academia

Revising history: A return to an incomplete narrative?

The rewriting of national history is a calculated move to bolster an increasingly authoritarian government, as it relies solely on scholars and historians with ties to those in power.

3 months ago

Then defense minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) speaks with Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape on Aug. 21, 2024, during their meeting in Port Moresby.

Academia premium

PNG’s ASEAN bid: Rhetoric versus reality

In addition to challenges posed by Indonesia, PNG's longstanding ambition to join ASEAN encounters substantial hurdles, chiefly stemming from domestic issues.

3 months ago

Academia premium

What the RI² flags might really be telling us

Yellow or red flags in the Research Integrity Risk Index (RI²) received by Indonesian universities should not be seen as punishment but as a systemic signal that deserves thoughtful interpretation and reform.

3 months ago