Protestors wave the national flag and the Straw Hat Pirates flag from Japanese manga ‘One Piece’ during a violent protest outside the Jakarta Metropolitan Police headquarters in South Jakarta on Aug. 29, 2025, the day after ‘ojol’ (online motorcycle transportation) driver Affan Kurniawan was killed by a Jakarta Police Mobile Brigade vehicle.

The police are not even the biggest elephant in the room

One year into his presidency, Prabowo's broader agenda is evoking echoes of the "Smiling General".

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Beyond the treaty table: Advancing action on plastic pollution

The lack of a global plastics treaty does not mean that people are standing idly by: communities, businesses and governments are already moving forward with national plans to tackle the scourge of plastic pollution. ...

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AI is hollowing out higher education

Rather than a new technology, companies are promoting artificial intelligence by repackaging it again, this time by anthropomorphizing it and by default, dehumanizing our very ability to think for ourselves. ...

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The Latest

Government employees take part in a ceremony to mark the start of the work year on Jan. 2, 2024, at Tegar Beriman Square in Cibinong, Bogor regency, West Java.

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Fiscal sandbox and community transfers: A new path amid the regional transfer cut

Following the furor over the recent cut to the regional transfers scheme, the government could turn crisis into opportunity by trialing its fiscal decentralization move as a managed, monitored and measurable policy lab.

4 months ago

Fans hold up a banner in support of the Indonesia soccer team at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on Oct. 8, 2025, ahead of the team’s match against Saudi Arabia during the fourth round of the men’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian qualifier.

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Lose, laugh, move on: Turning World Cup defeat into a national habit

While losing gracefully shows strength of character, it must not become habit, lest we lose out on the lessons of defeat and let go of our ambitious dreams for chronic acceptance instead.

4 months ago

Battery power: An electric car recharges Sept. 17, 2025 at a charging station inside an apartment complex in Jakarta.

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From commitment to real execution of the green transition

Good regulation must be matched with consistent execution and solid institutions.

4 months ago

Feb. 6 is International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

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Midwives caught between law and tradition on female genital mutilation

Studies indicate that the tendency toward medicalization in Indonesia is driven by people’s belief that there is a social and religious obligation to circumcise girls.

4 months ago

Students at the University of Ankatso in Antananarivo, gather to discuss their role in the future government and the way forward following a military takeover in Madagascar. The Madagascar Army's CAPSAT unit announced it had seized power in Antananarivo on Wednesday.

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Gen Z mobilized, protests spread across the world

Young people across the world, who appear to be inspired by the Gen Z movements in Indonesia and Nepal, have continued demonstrations against their governments in recent weeks.

4 months ago

Two wrongs: A person carries looted goods past a burning police station targeted by violent protests on Aug.31, 2025 in Surabaya, East Java.

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The narrative battle of youths for Indonesia’s future

On social media, the riots were remembered less for their casualties or property damage than for the narratives that crystallized around them.

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John Hassler, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Science in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Hans Ellegren and Kerstin Enflo, member of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (left to right) sit in front of a screen displaying the portraits of the 2025 prize winners (left to right) Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt, as they addresses journalists on Oct. 13 during the announcement of the winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

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What the Nobel Prize says about Indonesia’s future growth

Prosperity depends less on how much capital you pour in, and more on whether societies can generate and spread “useful knowledge.”

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In defense of encryption

Encryption is under unprecedented threat from established democracies, which are inadvertently paving a dangerous path that the world’s autocrats are only too eager to follow.

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William Wallace Molyneaux (center, left) of the United States attends a press conference on June 5 at the Bali National Narcotics Agency (BNN) office after being arrested on drug related crimes in Denpasar. Molyneaux was arrested on May 23, allegedly carrying seven packages containing 99 pills of amphetamine, Bali's narcotics agency told reporters in Denpasar. Molyneaux has multiple charges leveled against him including distributing drugs, which carries a maximum penalty of death by execution.

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Indonesia’s draconian, irrational and inhuman drug laws

Reality shows that killing drug traffickers does not really save the lives of Indonesian drug addicts or reduce drug trafficking.

4 months ago

Safe plates: A staff member displays a free nutritious meal program meal platter on Sept. 30 during the launch of the nutritional fulfillment service unit (SPPG), at Al Amien Islamic Boarding School in Kediri, East Java.

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MBG and the moral test of nourishing a nation

Implementation must strengthen existing MSMEs—the warung, food sellers and canteen operators who understand local taste and hygiene.

4 months ago

A man unloads palm oil seeds from a pickup truck on July 10, 2024, after bringing them from a plantation to sell at a market in Sepaku, East Kalimantan.

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IEU-CEPA: A chance to reform Indonesia’s business and human rights governance

Indonesia needs a binding national standard for human rights due diligence, ensuring that companies operating in forestry, energy and extractive sectors identify, prevent, and remediate human rights violations and environmental harm.

4 months ago

Workers prepare meal packages under the free nutritious meal program at the Plaju Ulu II nutrition fulfillment service unit (SPPG) in Palembang, South Sumatra, on Oct. 10, 2025. The kitchen distributes over 3,000 meal packages for eight schools in the area.

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Prabowo prioritizes human development, so why isn't Indonesia happy?

While investments in human capital are essential for long-term growth, they do not address Indonesia’s pressing short-term challenges: Low productivity, a weak job market and the lack of formal employment.

4 months ago

Protesters attend a demonstration on Sept. 1 in front of the Balikpapan Representative Council in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

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Civil society under pressure after August protests

Nearly 1,000 suspects have been named in the riots, including high school students. Police have seized books they claim are subversive to justify the arrests.

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Vendors and visitors at a traditional market in Medan Labuhan District, Medan, North Sumatra, carry on with their usual activities amid ankle-deep floodwaters on Oct. 13, 2025.

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The hidden reality of informal employment statistics

Jobs are being created, but many remain unprotected and unworthy of the term “decent work.”

4 months ago

A general view of the city skyline of Jakarta on Oct. 30, 2021.

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How facility management can drive green transition

Inefficient energy use in buildings represents a substantial obstacle toward national climate objectives, thus underlining the importance of effective facility management.

4 months ago

Members of the Kasepuhan Cisungsang indigenous community carry newly harvested rice to be placed in a leuit or rice barn during a Seren Taun traditional ceremony in Cisungsang, Lebak, Banten, on Sept. 29, 2025.

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Better together: Building 'Four Betters' in agrifood systems

Threats to agrifood systems, ranging from climate shocks to conflict, can unwind years of progress against hunger.

4 months ago

People carry placards on Oct. 2, 2025 during a protest against the government’s free nutritious meal program, in Jakarta. Increasing numbers of people are questioning the program’s efficacy and safety following mounting food-poisoning incidents.

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Safer food for a better future: Lessons from the free meals program

There can be no better food without safer food, and no better future if the health of our people is compromised.

4 months ago

Police officers from the Operation Cartenz Peace conduct a patrol in Bintang Highlands regency, Papua Highlands on Sept. 21, 2023.

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The politics of labeling in Papua: How narrative control perpetuates conflict

In Papua's conflict dynamics, civilian victims frequently become subjects of competing labels depending on which party controls the narrative.

4 months ago

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado speaks to supporters while holding up electoral records during a rally in Caracas on Aug. 28, 2024.

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Machado’s peace Nobel revives the prize’s old dilemmas

The Venezuelan opposition leader is the latest in a long list of controversial Nobel peace laureates that illustrate the committee's complex reasoning behind whether to choose a model of change or a model for change.

4 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto speaks on Sept. 23, during the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York City.

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Prabowo’s second year and the changing economic landscape

Prabowo’s populist, project-driven, fiscally expansionary approach has been unfolding in a fragile institutional setting.

4 months ago

China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang (from left), President Prabowo Subianto, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Bahrain's National Security Advisor Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa and South Africa's Deputy President Paul Mashatile attend a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 20, 2025.

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Why the Eurasian security architecture is important for Indonesia

A secure Eurasian continent will inevitably radiate waves of stability to other parts of the world.

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Traders arrange their textiles in Cipadu, Tangerang, Banten, on Oct. 7, 2025

Academia

The world’s $600 trillion balancing act

Global wealth accumulation this century has far outstripped economic growth, and the performance of that US$600 trillion of savings over the next decade rests heavily on how the gap is closed, a productivity boost or sustained inflation.

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President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya walk through a narrow alley in the Gerenceng community of Denpasar on Sept. 13, 2025, to meet residents affected by severe flooding in Bali’s provincial capital.

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Climate finance beyond paper: Can Bali turn promises into actions?

The recently launched Bali Climate Financing Platform introduces a new model for translating road maps into implementation and if successful, it could be emulated in other provinces to safeguard regional economies toward building climate resilience.

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Pramoedya Ananta Toer's childhood home is filled with rows of books and various illustrations on several bookshelves.

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From Jakarta to Florida: Why democracies still fear books

Democracies like Indonesia and the US treat books as potential dangers, especially those that question dominant narratives.

4 months ago

Protesters demonstrate demanding justice for drug war victims, after the arrest of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, in Quezon City on March 11, 2025.

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Two political forces and the Philippines’ future

For the 2028 election option, the anti-Duterte forces lag behind the pro-Duterte group in preparations because of the absence of a clear successor candidate that they can collectively rally behind.

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This aerial handout photo taken on Dec. 22, 2024, and released on Jan. 31 by Auriga Nusantara shows deforestation at an area on Gag Island in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua province.

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Alleged British links in Papua’s crisis

UK banks, energy giants and arms exporters are at the heart of one of the world’s least-known human rights and environmental crises, research has revealed.

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The app icons of six Indonesian unicorns (clockwise from top left), e-commerce platform Tokopedia, on-demand transportation company Gojek, digital wallet OVO, parcel and courier service company J&T Express, e-commerce platform Bukalapak and online travel agency Traveloka, are displayed on a smartphone menu, in this illustration created on Aug. 3, 2021.

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The maturing of Indonesia’s tech scene

Over the past decade, Indonesia’s digital landscape has evolved beyond its initial premise as "dinosaur" corporations slowly caught up with nascent disruptors, pointing to a future that will be defined by those that possess both youthful agility and mature resilience.

4 months ago

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