New technological systems do not protect human rights by default.

Beijing’s military parade came amid closer coordination with Russia and North Korea, and against a backdrop of intensifying Sino-American rivalry.

Air pollution erodes competitiveness, undermines education when haze shuts schools and weakens human capital by imposing lifelong health burdens.

Comprehensive reform of the legislature guided by the principle of transparency, with an overarching aim to break the link between wealth and policymaking, is key to restoring the spirit of public service and welfare and regaining the people’s trust.

The seeming success of the government’s repressive tactics, by granting the police and military freedom to use force during recent massive rallies, will likely embolden President Prabowo Subianto.

While the burden sharing scheme was an apt instrument during the COVID-19 pandemic, it now risks becoming a fiscal dominance policy, blurring the line between fiscal and monetary policy, accelerating depreciation, eroding market trust and undermining the central bank's independence.

Prior to his appearance with Putin at last week's Victory Day event, Xi signaled a new chapter in Beijing's energy diplomacy by signing a bilateral agreement on a new pipeline in defiance of Washington's attempt to isolate Moscow, setting the stage for sharper tensions in the China-US great power rivalry.

Though the recent protests evoked a darker chapter in the nation’s history, they also mark a departure, and the question is whether the state response will, too.

The wave of demonstrations that began over legislators' pay and perks expanded during its second week into a collective civil movement, bringing together women, workers, students and LGBTIQ+ to fight on the front lines for their right to engage in political life for a democracy in which they are seen, heard and accepted.

Decision-making requires framing the problem correctly, surveying the terrain, updating data and information sources accordingly and settling on a model to evaluate competing choices.

With its low price, intense effects and highly addictive nature, yaba is one of the most commonly abused stimulants in Southeast Asia, and its spread shows no sign of slowing.

When power is exercised without public oversight, the risk of abuse and inequality increases.

There are parties who are deploying state-sponsored influencers and cybertroops to spread disinformation and could delegitimize the 17+8 movement.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has found the police are the state institution most frequently accused of human rights violations.

A government that relies too heavily on security forces and foreign symbolism without addressing domestic grievances may find its legitimacy steadily eroding. 

A woman who confronted a group of riot police last week has inadvertently elevated pink to the color of resistance, reminding us of the significant influence Indonesian women wield when they step outside their prescribed identity of mother-wife to embrace the role of activist ibu.

The recent protests have evoked memories of the 1998 Jakarta riots, but it remains to be seen how underlying interests related to the police-military rivalry and the oligarchic elite will play out against the demonstrators' anger over genuine socioeconomic and political concerns.

As envisioned, the digital euro will be useless for corporate transactions, and it will probably not play a significant role in liquidity management or wholesale payments.

There have been effectively three waves of famine in Gaza since spring 2024. First weaponized 18 years ago in the Strip, these hunger games could have been preempted several times. Why weren’t they?

Wasteful perks for officials, riot police suppressing citizens, and education budget cuts are not only failures of policy, they are failures of privilege, of leadership and of moral clarity.

Influencers, students, and community voices collectively shape public opinion and, beyond that, provide effective and innovative policy literacy tools more effectively than the government or any lawmakers.

The latest incident of police brutality, which led to the death of an ojol driver last week, shows that comprehensive reform of the National Police can no longer be postponed amid the persistence of brutality and their increasing authority as an apparatus that shields privilege and power.

Central bankers are the high priests of high finance. That is because they control high-powered money, commonly known as the monetary base, or the sum of currency in circulation plus commercial bank deposits with them. 

The Tianjin summit suggests that Modi and Xi did not seek reconciliation, but stabilization, learning from the US-Soviet detente during the Cold War.

Indonesians have long tolerated hardship with patience. But there is a limit when public trust erodes.

Governments must understand that TikTok, Instagram reels, memes and livestreams are not distractions, they are the pulse of modern civic life. 

Prabowo’s government and its loyalists seek to redefine the protests not as genuine expressions of public frustration, but as politically orchestrated chaos.