Foreign Minister Sugiono (rear, second left) poses for a group photo with (front, from left to right) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other participants in the outreach/BRICS Plus format meeting during the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 24, 2024.

Indonesia’s entry into BRICS: Reshaping the global legal order

BRICS promotes adherence to international rule of law and contests the strategic use of international law to serve particular political preferences and power interests.

4 months ago

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Superholding for maritime SOEs: Risks and opportunities

Financial, operational, regulatory and reputational challenges will inevitably emerge as major risks in the merger. ...

4 months ago

Academia

Ending capital punishment is not a false hope

Hope could very well be the defining force behind the drive to abolish capital punishment: hope for redemption, hope for personal improvement, hope for national betterment, and above all, hope for humanity. ...

4 months ago

The Latest

Misguided solutions?: People walk near the venue of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29), in Baku, on Nov. 14, 2024.

Academia

Finance no panacea for world’s climate woes

The ‘failure’ of the biggest climate event of 2024, the COP29, may be a blessing in disguise as nature cannot simply be replaced by throwing money at it.

4 months ago

Students eat meals from the free nutritious meals program at a school in Jakarta on Jan. 6, 2025.

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Food waste dilemma behind free meals program

Without proper planning and management, the free meals program risks exacerbating Indonesia’s mounting food waste problems, undermining its lofty goals and creating unintended socioeconomic and environmental consequences.

4 months ago

United States President-elect Donald Trump speaks on Dec 22, 2024, during Turning Point's annual AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona, the US.

Academia

Trump is on a collision course with the US budget

Trump cannot repeal the laws of arithmetic when the government hits the federal debt limit, as much as he may try in the weeks ahead.

4 months ago

Making their pledge: New civil servants take their oath during an induction ceremony at Bogor City Hall in Bogor, West Java, on March 22, 2024.

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Prabowo needs bureaucratic reforms to deliver his economic agenda

The President needs an effective and strong bureaucracy to deliver his campaign pledges.

4 months ago

Republican presidential nominee and former United States president Donald Trump gestures to the crowd as sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. look on near the exit, during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, US, on Nov. 4, 2024.

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Populism and democracy: Lessons from the US and Indonesia

The narrative of victimhood and rebellion against elites mirrors trends in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, where populist rhetoric has significantly shaped political campaigns.

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People lay flowers during a demonstration in Bangkok on Oct, 15, 2024, to remember the victims of the Tak Bai massacre on Oct. 25, 2004. At least 78 unarmed Muslim protesters died of suffocation and other health conditions after they were detained with around 1,300 others and forced to lie down atop each other in military trucks, while seven protesters were fatally shot.

Academia

A package of anti-torture measures at Thailand’s doorsteps

While Thailand has progressed much by passing its law against torture and enforced disappearances, the country still has a lot to do with regard to a raft of recommendations from the UN's Committee Against Torture before it takes a seat at the Human Rights Council this year.

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Visitors walk past an Amazon booth on July 5 during the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China.

Academia

Higher education and the AI revolution in business

AI’s greatest potential for value creation lies in its integration into business processes, and the key to innovation is putting academic theory and practical application in the hands of students to solve real-world challenges.

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A truck passes through the middle of an oil palm plantation in Muaro Jambi, Jambi, on Nov. 20, 2024.

Academia

Palm plantations cannot replace forests, Mr. President

Prabowo’s claim that oil palm plantations can replace forests is fundamentally flawed when viewed through ecological, climatic and societal lenses.

4 months ago

Democracy in action: An inmate has his finger inked after casting his ballot for the 2024 presidential and legislative elections at a polling station in a prison in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Feb. 14, 2024.

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Too early to call presidential threshold removal a victory for democracy

Indonesia still needs protection against oligarchic capture while promoting fair competition, allowing a variety of candidates to compete equally.

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Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stands before a picture of the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, at Ankara Esenboga Airport on Dec. 12, 2024.

Academia

Letter to editor: Turkish ambassador responds

I would like to emphasize that there was no “walk-out” by the President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the speech by President Prabowo Subianto at the D-8 Meeting in Cairo.

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A craftsperson looks at her embroidery work on an Islamic garment at the Almira Handmade boutique in Malang, East Java, on Aug. 20, 2024.

Academia

The right decision to separate Tourism and Creative Economy ministries

The separation presents an opportunity to address challenges and unlock the full potential of each sector.

4 months ago

Eyeing the future: Flags from the Pacific Islands countries are displayed in Yaren, Nauru, on the last day of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) on Sept. 5, 2018.

Academia

The Pacific in 2025: Navigating the shared challenges

The region faces challenges of climate change, geostrategic tensions, political upheaval, disaster recovery and decolonization, plus a 50th birthday party.

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Women cool off using buckets filled with water supplied by local officials amid the drought season in Lhoknga, Aceh, on May 12, 2024.

Academia

We need to totally ban solar geoengineering

For today’s youth and future generations, such interventions threaten to be as catastrophic as climate change.

4 months ago

This aerial picture taken on Aug. 4, 2021, shows a housing complex in Jakarta.

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How Indonesia can deliver three million homes

As noble as the goal may be, history provides a cautious reminder.

4 months ago

A man opens a digital bank app on July 4, 2024 in Jakarta.

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Envisioning the banking technology landscape of 2025

It is highly likely that the 2025 national banking landscape will adopt a pro-technology and pro-market stance.

4 months ago

Sri Lankans stand in a line to withdraw cash from an ATM from the Bank of Ceylon while the bank is closed during a strike against a huge tax increase in Colombo on March 1, 2023.

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The urgency of global debt reform

The outlook for emerging and developing economies appears increasingly bleak.

4 months ago

Major commodity: A truck passes through the middle of an oil palm plantation in Muaro Jambi, Jambi, on Nov. 20, 2024.

Academia

Prabowo reinvigorates the development of oil palm plantations

The President’s statement marks a turning point for Indonesian palm oil after years of moratorium on the issuance of new permits and licenses of oil palm plantation development since 2011.

4 months ago

A woman takes a look at instant foods on offer in a supermarket in Cikutra, Bandung, West Java, on Sept. 3, 2024.

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Turning food waste into Indonesia’s opportunity for change

Millions of Indonesians remain food insecure while food waste accounts for nearly 8 percent of national greenhouse gas emissions.

4 months ago

Game changer: Constitutional Court Chief Justice Suhartoyo (center), accompanied by his deputy, Justice Saldi Isra (second left), Justice Enny Nurbaningsih (left), Justice Arief Hidayat (second right) and Justice Guntur Hamzah, presides over a hearing in Jakarta on Jan. 2, 2025.

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End of threshold regime: Toward substantial democracy?

The court's decision will minimize the dominance of big or ruling parties in determining the course of the presidential race, which has disadvantaged smaller parties.

4 months ago

Democracy in action: An official holds a ballot during vote counting for the 2024 presidential election at a polling station in Banda Aceh, Aceh, on Feb. 14, 2024.

Academia

Southeast Asia’s human rights and democracy: A reflection

Democracy in Southeast Asia endures but remains perilously fragile.

4 months ago

Delicate diplomacy: Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and his wife Le Thi Bich Tran arrive at the Modern Art Museum (MAM) to attend the first session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Nov. 18, 2024.

Academia

How Vietnam’s ‘bamboo diplomacy’ treads a fine line between the West and Russia

Vietnam's foreign policy is underpinned by four principles: Not engaging in military alliances, not supporting any country against another, not allowing foreign military bases on its territory and not using force or threatening to use force.

4 months ago

Envisioning a just society: Volunteers help a person with disability into a shuttle service in Jakarta in this undated photo.

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Invisible desires: Disability and sexuality in our midst

Absent in the public discourse is a frank and insightful discussion of the intersection between disability and sexuality.

4 months ago

Voices for Earth: A group of climate activists demonstrate in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, the Netherlands, for climate justice on Dec. 2, 2024. For the first time, a major climate case has begun at the court to determine what legal obligations countries have to protect the climate.

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ICJ submission: A chance to save the Earth

While Indonesia supports the continuation of the ICJ advisory opinion proceedings, its written submission appears cautious.

4 months ago

Boys will be boys: Children play online games on their mobile phones along the roadside in Jakarta on Nov. 27, 2024.

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Between 'Roblox', radicalism and AI: Parenting in the digital minefield

Today’s generation of digital natives live in the "Third World" of the metaverse, where online interactions feel as real as face-to-face conversations, and our job as parents is to help guide our children in this digital playground so it remains a creative, safe place of interaction, and not a gateway to radicalization.

4 months ago

Veteran journalist Atmakusumah Astraatmadja (right) shows off his new book Pers Ideal untuk Masa Demokrasi (The Ideal Press for Democracy) on Monday, while posing with former Press Council chairman Bagir Manan (left) at the National Library of Indonesia in Jakarta.

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Farewell Atmakusumah, press freedom prodigy

In his Magsaysay Award acceptance speech in Manila on Aug. 31, 2000, Atma stated that despite press bans carried out by presidents Sukarno and Soeharto, “the spirit of press freedom and freedom of expression never dies.”

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A voter places his ballots into a ballot box on Nov. 27 at a polling station in Sitaro, North Sulawesi, during the 2024 simultaneous regional head elections in 37 provinces and over 500 regencies and municipalities.

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Prabowo's leadership: Balancing centralization and the future of Indonesia’s democracy

Prabowo's big-tent leadership approach hearkens the pre-Reform top-down governance model and signals a regression toward centralized authority, leaving a question as to whether he can rise to the challenge of strengthening Indonesia's pluralistic, inclusive democracy toward sustainable governance.

4 months ago