Fulfilling the ILO’s promise of defending workers’ rights will require more than another declaration or incremental institutional reform: There must be a concerted global effort to create an enabling environment for all workers and their organizations to operate across borders as easily as capital does.

Political stability at the elite level has not yet translated into improvements in the economy, public services and the quality of governance. 

Indonesia cannot restore foreign investor confidence with emergency price supports or rhetoric. It must prove the integrity of its markets through independent verification of ownership and true liquidity.

State asset fund Danantara plans to take several state-owned enterprises (SOEs) public in 2027, but whether the listings will attract investor interest remains uncertain. The companies have yet to be identified, and Danantara has pledged to conduct rigorous reviews before determining which are ready to enter the stock market. The key question, however, is whether the selected companies can offer sustainable returns and adequate investor protection, or whether the IPOs will serve primarily as a fundraising measure, leaving investors exposed to losses rather than potential capital gains, as previous cases suggest.

Jakarta’s historic market rout isn’t the work of foreign conspirators, but a self-inflicted wound born of concentrated ownership and regulatory inertia that political defiance cannot heal.

Behind the veneer of administrative procedure, Indonesia’s legal system continues to sacrifice ancestral lands to state-backed megaprojects, reducing constitutional rights for Indigenous peoples to little more than a paper tiger.

Arrmanatha inherits an institutional legacy, but his real test is whether he can restore the ministry’s authority in shaping Indonesian foreign policy.

Even as Asian crude imports head toward recovery, soaring logistics costs due to the Middle East war are cutting into refiners' margins, prompting them to seek solutions that would put pressure back on Gulf producers.

As the post-war order fractures into a volatile new world disorder, Malaysia must abandon diplomatic complacency and master the art of strategic autonomy—or risk becoming collateral damage in the next great-power shock.

Holding those behind Indonesia’s forest fires truly accountable means looking past the individuals striking the matches and following the corporate paper trail straight to the parent companies profiting from the burn.

By dismantling the shield of military courts for ordinary crimes, the Constitutional Court's landmark ruling reclaims civilian supremacy and demands an end to institutional impunity in Indonesia.

For nearly four months wildfires have ravaged Indonesia, exposing acute, systemic failures in government response and law enforcement. While the ongoing dry spell has exacerbated the crisis, suspected corporate land clearing by burning points to a deliberate, recurring practice that authorities have repeatedly failed to halt.

When a government responds to choking toxic haze with bizarre boasts about "exporting oxygen," it reveals a broken communications machine that breeds distrust while lives hang in the balance.

Political debate should do more than make us feel heard. It should help us change what needs to change.

If the latest cabinet reshuffle says anything about their relationship, it is safe to say it is going downhill and that they are in for another political showdown.

As markets plunge and public trust evaporates, President Prabowo’s grand gamble on state-led capitalism is colliding head-on with harsh fiscal and political realities.

To achieve Golden Indonesia 2045, the nation must look beyond headline GDP growth and fundamentally transform its economy through higher productivity, competitive industries and quality jobs for all.

MSCI isn’t questioning whether investors can pull their money out of Indonesia—it's questioning whether the market's prices are real, leaving regulators racing to prove that multi-trillion-rupiah fines punish the manipulators rather than the investors caught in the crossfire.

With MSCI threatening to reclassify Indonesia as a standalone market, Jakarta's credibility will not be saved by issuing more rules, but by proving it has the muscle to enforce them.

State-owned lender Bank Mandiri (BMRI) recently issued US$750 million in perpetual bonds, an uncommon instrument among Indonesian corporates, with an initial annual distribution rate of 7.35 percent. The issuance is intended to strengthen the bank’s capital base by bolstering its Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital and supporting business expansion. However, it has also fuelled speculation that BMRI, along with other Himbara banks, may be facing mounting financial demands from their involvement in financing government programmes.

Anwar Ibrahim's high-stakes gamble to normalize ties with Myanmar's junta chief may win cheap points at home, but it threatens to shatter ASEAN's united front and abandon the Rohingya to peril.

Behind the facade of regular elections and court battles, the country has quietly traded democratic governance for a militarized cartel, begging the real question: Who can still say no to the President?

Trading traditional consensus building for high-stakes presidential dealmaking, Prabowo has transformed Indonesian diplomacy into a high-wire act of transactional multi-alignment where soaring global ambition collides with mounting geopolitical risks.

To survive his sinking popularity and an unruly coalition, President Prabowo is reviving New Order-style remilitarization, turning the TNI into his political shield at the peril of military professionalism.

Greatness is not declared from a podium, and as state control replaces market discipline, Indonesia’s vital signs are heading the wrong way.

Two years in, the President's flagship free meals program is cannibalizing regional budgets, stoking food inflation and risking systemic economic fallout for the sake of political ambition.

Indonesia isn't undergoing an economic boom under Prabowo, it is running a state-funded illusion on an off-budget credit card that is about to max out.