The global financial services sector stands at a turning point. After years of gradual artificial intelligence adoption, from robotic process automation to virtual assistants, we are witnessing the rise of something fundamentally more powerful: Agentic AI systems that can reason, plan and act with autonomy.

Why agentic AI is the future of financial services in Indonesia

Agentic AI systems present a new class of risks, goal misalignment, data drift, persona-driven bias and even multi-agent collusion.

8 months ago

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75 years of Indonesia and Russia relations: What is next?

With a long historical background spanning over the last century, the friendship between Indonesia and Russia is set to grow stronger in the near future. ...

8 months ago

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What is in it for Indonesia to lead ASEAN?

ASEAN, the only sub-regional grouping in Southeast Asia, is yet to prove itself as an effective dispute resolution mechanism ...

8 months ago

The Latest

Members of the Indonesian Air Force in Sukhoi fighter aircraft prepare to take off on Sept. 29, 2020 from Iswahjudi Air Base in Magetan, East Java, to take part in a military exercise at the Pandanwangi Air Weapons Range in Lumajang, also in East Java.

Academia

Indonesia’s defense industry: Between self-reliance and the illusion of imported strength

Real military power is not measured by the quantity of imported hardware, but by the ability to sustain and reproduce that capability independently.

8 months ago

Vital voices: Protesters belonging to the Society Concerned About Women's Representation carry a banner calling for greater representation of women in the legislature during a rally on April 8, 2023, in front of the Elections Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in Jakarta.

Academia

Young women building peace in the Asia Pacific

Young women’s leadership is crucial to respond to the complexity of today’s peace and security challenges.

8 months ago

People plant mangrove trees on Feb. 14, 2025, during an environmental event in Pemogan village, South Denpasar, Bali. Mangrove forests play an important role in mitigating the impacts of climate change in coastal areas.

Academia

Indonesia should not follow the West's example on climate and development

Rather than following the West’s costly policies, low-carbon innovation, climate adaptation and poverty alleviation as well as additional investments in areas like maternal and newborn health and agricultural R&D are keys to real progress and development toward climate resilience in the developing world, including Indonesia.

8 months ago

Metallic plating that reads 'Bank Indonesia' displayed on one of the buildings in the central bank headquarter complex in Jakarta on July 17, 2024.

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Is IndONIA the right anchor for floating-rate government bonds?

If Indonesia were to peg its floating-rate bonds to IndONIA, the government would in effect be subcontracting the cost of borrowing to the whimsical tides of near-term liquidity.

8 months ago

Smoke billows from a site near the Azadi Tower (left) in central Tehran, as fighting between Israel and Iran continues on June 16.

Academia

Iran-Israel ‘threshold war’ has rewritten nuclear escalation rules

Strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran may increase Tehran’s belief that attaining nuclear weapons is key to establishing a deterrence to regime change.

8 months ago

Papuan protesters hold posters that read “Immediately revoke all nickel mining permits in Raja Ampat” on June 10, 2025, during a protest march to the Office of the Southwest Papua Governor in provincial capital Sorong.

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Breaking the cycle of extractive exploitation in Papua

The public have jumped to the defense of Raja Ampat in a modern-day case of David versus Goliath, where collective resistance must be mounted as the Papuan people wield everyday environmentalism to sling against the greenwashed extractive narrative of mining oligarchs.

8 months ago

Maintenance workers clean a Garuda Indonesia aircraft on May 8, 2024, at a hangar at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, Banten.

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A moment of reckoning for our flag carrier

Reputational damage in the digital age is swift and brutal. A single social media post can dismantle years of brand cultivation.

8 months ago

A thousand deaths: Actress Ria Probo plays Mawar, victim of a gang rape that took place during the 1998 May riots.

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Fadli’s May rapes denial and the rise of New Order part II

The Joint Fact Finding Team (TGPF), formed by the government in July 1998 in response to public demand to investigate the May riots, concluded the rapes did occur.

8 months ago

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with then Indonesian president-elect Prabowo Subianto during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on July 31, 2024.

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Leadership school of Prabowo Subianto

Prabowo Subianto’s two-volume memoir, offering insight into Indonesia’s history, values and future under his presidency, is now introduced to Russian readers.

8 months ago

A health worker administers a dose of the locally made Inavac vaccine on Dec. 19, 2023, during a COVID-19 vaccination program at the Jakarta Health Office.

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The pandemic agreement: A step forward for equity and solidarity

The WHO Pandemic Agreement shows that in a world full of division and conflicts, unity remains possible, and that multilateralism can still deliver as part of the solution to global challenges.

8 months ago

Students eat lunch on the first day of the free nutritious meal program on Jan. 6 at 11 State Senior High School in East Jakarta.

Academia

Free nutritious meals: Let children grow and dream big

The free meals program has the potential to reduce poverty rates by between 1 percent and 4 percent.

8 months ago

Heavy equipment is parked on June 7, 2025, at a nickel mine on Gag Island in Raja Ampat, Southwest Papua, following the government’s order to halt mining operations over an alleged breach of environmental law.

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Recentralizing mining license should not sacrifice regional justice

Raja Ampat is a litmus test for our mineral nationalism, which requires both reforming and restructuring into a social contract rooted in justice, inclusion and shared stewardship so the nation as a whole can prosper, even as it leads the globe in green minerals.

8 months ago

Rescue teams work outside a heavily damaged building, targeted by an Israeli strike in the Iranian capital Tehran on June 13, 2025.

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Israel-Iran clash: Navigating the black swan of a regional war

Current volatile dynamic could spiral into a black swan event, where an unforeseen escalation triggers global chaos, defying risk models.

8 months ago

Unfolding conflict: Displaced Palestinians stand outside tents on June 15 as they watch trails of Iranian missiles targeting Israel, from Rafah's Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip.

Academia

Netanyahu’s twin war goals: Can he defeat Iran’s nukes and regime?

There are few clear paths to an immediate end to the fighting between Israel and Iran. And what comes after the war could be even more concerning.

8 months ago

An artisan paints an eco-friendly idol of elephant-headed Hindu deity Ganesha made with mud, jute and bamboo to reduce water pollution during the immersion rituals ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, at a workshop in Hyderabad, India, on Aug. 28, 2024.

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Political changes don’t weaken the case for green business

No amount of shock-and-awe policy disruption in one country compares to the disruption caused by climate change.

8 months ago

Record stockpile: A worker carries government rice aid on March 3, 2024, at the warehouse of state-owned food logistics company, Bulog, in Talumolo village, Gorontalo city, Gorontalo.

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Rice market mechanism anomaly and Bulog’s role

There are systemic issues in the national food supply chain management. High production has not been matched by adaptive absorption and distribution capacity.

8 months ago

Tufts of altocumulus clouds are suspended on Feb. 18, 2025, in the skies above the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

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‘ASEAN paradox’ haunts Southeast Asia’s integration

As ASEAN seeks to further economic cooperation, it must also address the lingering political and security issues in the region to avoid the emergence of a contradictory condition akin to the "Asian paradox".

8 months ago

A US Navy officer walks past fighter jets parked on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham during a media tour in Port Klang, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, on November 26, 2024.

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NATO carrier presence raises Indo-Pacific tensions

The deployment of carriers serves as a stark reminder of how easily tensions could escalate into armed conflict. Yet amid these challenges, diplomacy must remain the priority.

8 months ago

Dozens of workers rally on Feb. 18, 2022, outside the Manpower Ministry on Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta to demand it cancel a ministerial regulation stipulating a minimum age of 56 for people to start withdrawing from their pension funds.

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Going beyond pension to strengthen the social security system

The country's social security system, now over 20 years old, might need reforms for an across-the-board upgrade to reflect contemporary conditions and trends, such as an aging population and a shift from traditional, family-based elderly care, as well as inclusion of a growing informal sector.

8 months ago

Papuans hold placards reading “revoke all nickel mining permits in Raja Ampat immediately“ during a protest march to the Southwest Papua Governor's office in Sorong, West Papua, on June 10.

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From Aceh to Papua, greed threatens the nation

The pattern is simple: find land, exploit it, suppress resistance, reward the cronies.

8 months ago

United States President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington, DC, the US, on June 12.

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The mirage of geoeconomics

The US does not have the power to inflict significant economic damage on China.

8 months ago

Steel coils are seen in a yard at ArcelorMittal Dofasco's steel mill on June 9, in Hamilton, Canada, after United States President Donald Trump signed an order to double tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from 25% to 50%, affecting top steel partners, including Canada, Brazil and Mexico.

Academia

US trade war enters precarious slow grind

It may be less turbulent than this past spring's drama, but no less worrying for investors.

8 months ago

People hold a hunger strike during a protest at the Senayan legislative complex in South Jakarta on Aug. 14, 2023, demanding that the House of Representatives pass the bill on protection of domestic workers.

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It’s time to recognize domestic workers as essential

The President's public pledge last month to prioritize passage of the bill on protection for domestic workers presents an unheralded opportunity to break the cycle of invisibility and injustice and recognize domestic workers as an essential force in the economy.

8 months ago

Save the best for last: Pupils of Maitreya Wira Dumai elementary school in Dumai, Riau, eat fruit after finishing their free nutritious meals on Jan. 7, 2025.

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Discouraging dissent for love of the nation?

Prabowo's free meals program comes packaged in the state rhetoric of love for the nation and if this is truly so, perhaps accountability should also be a key ingredient.

8 months ago

Sufficient nutrition: Hokeng Jaya village chief Gabriel Namang feeds a toddler during the launch of a nutritious food supplement provision program to fight stunting in children, in East Flores regency, East Nusa Tenggara, on May 9, 2022.

Academia

How Indonesia’s ‘kader’ are cutting childhood stunting

With the right support, community health workers can help Indonesia turn the tide on stunting and set an example for the world.

8 months ago

Overlooked: Workers ride motorbikes on the morning of April 18 to enter Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), a major nickel processing and smelting hub, in Lelilef Sawai, Central Halmahera, North Maluku. The home of the Hongana Manyawa indigenous tribe in central Halmahera was once a breathtaking kaleidoscope of nature that provided sanctuary and sustenance, but it is being eaten away by one of the world's largest nickel mining projects, as Indonesia exploits vast reserves of the metal used in everything from electric vehicles to stainless steel.

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Outrage over Raja Ampat nickel mining: Between virality and solidarity

Sharing posts about Raja Ampat becomes a way to show that one is environmentally conscious, politically aware or simply follows the current controversy.

8 months ago

City landmarks: A Commuter Line train speeds through a low-income residential area, as high-rise buildings, including those belonging to national banks, stand out in Jakarta on June 27, 2023.

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Commons over quotas: Refocusing the housing policy from the periphery to the core

As it stands, the government's housing policy is essentially displacement masquerading as development, and needs a complete overhaul by shifting the focus to low-income residents and their communities as agents, equal partners and coproducers of housing solutions, not mere beneficiaries.

8 months ago

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