Smoke rises following an explosion on March 1, 2026, in Tehran, after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran.

The perils of a power vacuum in Iran

Because power vacuums cannot be targeted by precision munitions or mapped by satellite imagery, the United States' strategic thinking systematically underestimates the danger they pose.

7 months ago

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Why the Philippines needs dedutertefication

What the Philippines needs is a genuine moral reckoning: in schools, in media, in families, in politics. ...

7 months ago

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ASEAN integration only shield against multipolar storms

As the European Union and ASEAN both face a crisis of relevance, only a bold transition from loose cooperation to deep integration can prevent middle powers from being crushed between the competing dictates of Washington and Beijing. ...

7 months ago

The Latest

A plume of smoke rises from the port of Jebel Ali on March 1 following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

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Four circuit breakers stand between the US-Iran war and World War III

Commentators reach for the most dramatic analogy: World War III. The analogy, while not absurd, overstates the probability of escalation.

7 months ago

A staff member monitors a control panel on Feb. 27, 2024, inside the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine manufacturing unit of the Serum Institute of India (SII) at its headquarters in Hadapsar, Pune, India.

Academia premium

Global health financing needs a reset

Dependence on a small number of provider countries has become a structural vulnerability, as shifts in their political and fiscal priorities reverberate across the entire system.

7 months ago

A tugboat pushes a sand barge on May 10, 2024, in the waters off the port development project of state-owned mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi.

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Reform the mining licensing system to buoy 8% growth target

To unlock the President's 8 percent growth target, the government must overhaul its centralized mining bureaucracy and replace administrative bottlenecks with a streamlined, high-compliance licensing system.

7 months ago

An electronic quotation board displays numbers of the Nikkei Stock Average on Jan. 5 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in Tokyo.

Academia

Blistering EM equity rally can't keep this pace up. Can it?

Even the most ardent EM bull must be wondering if this blistering rally can continue.

7 months ago

A crew member (left) from the OceanXplorer, a research vessel operated by the marine nonprofit OceanX, completes safety protocols with the pilot of a submersible on Jan. 12, 2026, prior to a deep-sea mission in the waters off Sulawesi Island

Academia

Who owns the ocean’s genetic wealth?

As geopolitics spreads into a new global era, developing states risk being sidelined unless they step up now to demand an equitable, inclusive seat at the High Seas Treaty table.

7 months ago

A group of demonstrators gesture on Oct. 30, 2025, as they call for better working conditions during a labor rally near National Monument Square in Central Jakarta.

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Making human rights due diligence work for social justice in Indonesia

To turn a paper tiger into a genuine catalyst for social justice, Indonesia must move beyond voluntary pledges and adopt a supported mandate that balances global trade demands with the practical needs of local businesses and workers.

7 months ago

Sights set: An Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier takes part in a counterterrorism drill on Oct. 20, 2022, in Sanur, Denpasar, Bali, ahead of a G20 Summit in Bali the next month.

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The gavel, not the gun: Rethinking TNI’s role in counterterrorism

As Indonesia deliberates the military’s role in domestic security, the priority must remain the preservation of the criminal justice system over purely kinetic solutions. Effective counterterrorism is measured not by the neutralization of threats, but by the state’s ability to uphold legal accountability under civilian oversight.

7 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto disembarks from the presidential aircraft on Feb. 17, 2026, upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews near Washington, DC.

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Prabowo leans into history on visit to the US

In Washington last week, amid headlines about trade agreements and institutional initiatives, a quieter but unmistakable theme ran through Indonesia’s February 2026 diplomatic mission: history.

7 months ago

A medical professional uses a TeleCTG device on a pregnant woman's stomach in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, on Nov. 17, 2018.

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The digital divide in basic health care: Obstacles in eastern Indonesia

In the remote regions of Eastern Indonesia, a rigid digital reporting system is forcing midwives to choose between ticking boxes and saving lives.

7 months ago

Cutting-edA technician checks a medical device on Nov. 19, 2025, during the inauguration of the Emirates-Indonesia Cardiology Hospital at the Solo Technopark in Surakarta, Central Java, A technician checks a medical device on Nov. 19, 2025, during the inauguration of the Emirates-Indonesia Cardiology Hospital at the Solo Technopark in Surakarta, Central Java. The new hospital features modern facilities and advanced medical technology for diagnosing and treating cardiovascular diseases.

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Why we keep building innovation that never innovates

It is time to restructure the current system, which is set up to keep building one technology facility after another that produces everything but actual innovation, by addressing the incentives that make repetition more attractive than real change.

7 months ago

US President Donald Trump (center), President Prabowo Subianto (from left), Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Member, and Climate Envoy Adel Al-Jubeir, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Feb. 19, 2026.

Academia

Trump’s Board of Peace meeting raises more questions than answers

The Board of Peace meeting was long on showmanship and short on substance.

7 months ago

A sign of the World Economic Forum (WEF) with mountains in the background on Jan. 20, 2025, ahead of the WEF annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

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The global retreat from climate alarmism

This retreat is good for sensible policy, because the failed alarmist approach relied on a series of persistent misrepresentations.

7 months ago

A deforested area that will be converted into a sugar cane plantation by PT Murni Nusantara Abadi, directly threatening the adjacent customary forest protected by the Kwipalo Clan, is seen in this photo taken in Mandiri Jagebob, Merauke regency, South Papua, on March 17, 2025.

Academia

The UK must not sacrifice human rights for economic growth

We find it troubling that the partnership purports to protect the environment, when in Papua, these military-dominated monocultures are riding roughshod over local communities.

7 months ago

United States President Donald Trump, President Prabowo Subianto, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Cabinet Member and Climate Envoy Adel Al-Jubeir, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi attend the inaugural Board of Peace meeting on Feb. 19 at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C.

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A tactical win, not a strategic settlement: The new RI-US deal

The Indonesia–US tariff deal is a pragmatic adjustment in an era of managed globalization.

7 months ago

A number of teachers attend an appointment ceremony as civil servants on July 5, 2023, at Tegar Beriman ground in Cibinong, Bogor regency, West Java.

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A contract teacher and the crisis of justice

When legality becomes stratified by class, democracy collapses into oligarchy.

7 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto greets members of the Indonesian student diaspora on Jan. 18 at the hotel where he was staying in London.

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What we owe each other: Scholars, the state and development

The controversy surrounding LPDP scholarship recipients reveals a fundamental flaw in Indonesia’s development strategy: a narrow focus on physical presence over strategic influence. To compete globally, Indonesia must shift from a framework of geographic compliance to one of borderless contribution.

7 months ago

Top diplomats and senior officials from Southeast Asian countries take a group photo on Jan. 29, 2026, during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Cebu City, the Philippines.

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The Philippines faces a defining year for ASEAN

As 2026 ASEAN chair, the Philippines is expected to assume a more proactive role in sustaining dialogue among member states, minimizing the risk of miscalculation and helping to prevent tensions from escalating.

7 months ago

SDN 05 Batang Anai students take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Jan. 5, 2026, the first day classes resumed after the year-end holiday break at the elementary school in Padang Pariaman, West Sumatra.

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Child suicide exposes Indonesia’s mental health gap

Signs of suicidality, defined as the risk of suicide as indicated by suicidal behavior or ideation, are increasing among the nation's youth amid socioeconomic pressures and limited mental health support.

7 months ago

Workers construct Red and White Cooperatives (KDMP) outlet on Jan. 27, 2026, in Wae Kelambu, West Manggarai regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Several villages are reportedly struggling to establish the new cooperatives, citing limited land and insufficient funding as major obstacles.

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Promise or performance? Weighing the macroeconomic footprint of cooperatives

While Indonesia’s Red and White initiatives aim to revitalize cooperatives as constitutional cornerstones of the economy, empirical data reveals a sector struggling to translate scale into growth. True economic sovereignty will require shifting the focus from administrative expansion to high-value productivity and human capital reform.

7 months ago

Buildings light up during sunset on Dec. 20, 2023, in Jakarta.

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Why digital transformation must be on the leadership agenda

In companies that succeed, adoption is driven from the top down and reinforced from the bottom up, making digital tools integral to daily decision-making and execution.

7 months ago

Graft suspect and Pati Regent Sudewo (center) is escorted by Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) staff on Jan. 20, 2026, after a questioning session at the KPK headquarters in Jakarta.

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The authoritarian trap: Why Prabowo’s cure may deepen corruption

As Indonesia's corruption score falls to 34, the President suggests authoritarianism might help. His own fiscal policies prove otherwise.

7 months ago

Delegates wait for the start of a meeting on Feb. 17, 2026, the first day of the third round of Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks mediated by the United States in Geneva, Switzerland

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Letter to editor: Russian ambassador responds

Russian Ambassador Sergei Tolchenov defends Moscow’s Ukraine actions as lawful and security-driven, questions UN voting claims and says Russia prefers negotiations.

7 months ago

Police guard the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on Jan. 9, 2026.

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The economics of the US Supreme Court's tariff ruling

The US Supreme Court did the right thing by ruling that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 (IEEPA) “does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”

7 months ago

Workers unload fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from a truck on Oct. 29, 2025, in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.

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Indonesia should negotiate tariffs for stability, not speed

Other major trading partners like China, Japan, or South Korea, would have grounds to question whether Indonesia is granting discriminatory treatment inconsistent with MFN rules.

7 months ago

State-owned electricity firm PLN workers work on a transmission tower to resume power supply after an outage which affected several provinces on Sumatra Island in this undated picture.

Academia premium

ASEAN’s power grid: The next investable infrastructure opportunity

Forget policy aspirations, the ASEAN Power Grid is transforming into an "electricity supercycle" that represents Southeast Asia’s most consequential and investable infrastructure play of the decade.

7 months ago

Human rights activist and Kamisan (Thursday) silent protest initiator Maria Catarina Sumarsih (center) stands under an umbrella during a rally outside the State Palace in Jakarta on Dec. 4, 2025. During the 889th edition of Kamisan, activists demanded several points, including stopping the criminalization of human rights defenders and fair resolution of past gross human rights violations.

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The monk who shattered denials over state-sponsored rapes, killings

The impunity of the 1998 criminals is the overarching feature of almost all state-sponsored violence in Indonesia’s past and recent history.

7 months ago

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LPDP furor: Rethinking service beyond returning home

Rethinking the LPDP return requirement isn't just bureaucratic housekeeping - it's about whether Indonesia wants to lead on the world stage or stay home.

7 months ago

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