By pursuing rapprochement with Min Aung Hlaing, Southeast Asian leaders risk trading democratic credibility for empty concessions from a crumbling regime.

Nearly a century after the Youth Pledge, Indonesia’s demographic promise will not be fulfilled in speeches, but in whether its economy can offer millions of waiting young people their critical first job.

To save Indonesia from a humiliating market downgrade, policymakers must abandon defensive rhetoric and deploy the painful, proven audit blueprint that rescued the nation’s banks in 1998.

Indonesia does not lack spokespersons. What it is missing is diplomacy as the center of gravity of its foreign policy.

Last Friday was a Black Friday for Indonesian stocks. A market sell-off wiped out US$65 billion in value and sent the Indonesia Composite Index (IDX) plunging 11.6 percent, its steepest drop since 1998. The market did not crash because corporate fundamentals suddenly weakened, but because investors punished regulators for turning a blind eye to market abuses and acting only after MSCI forced their hand.

Unless Indonesia tackles its worsening corruption and regulatory chaos at home, joining the high-standard CPTPP will deliver mere diplomatic prestige rather than real economic gains.

Weaponizing gas pipes and subsea cables won’t clear Southeast Asia’s skies; genuine leadership means putting out the fires together before burning down ASEAN unity.

From an audacious anti-colonial pledge to a global language fighting for relevance abroad, Indonesian proves that a national tongue is never just spoken—it must be continually fought for.

From the trenches of Ukraine to the skies above Jakarta, the rise of cheap, weaponized drones is upending modern warfare, and forcing a high-stakes rewrite of global aviation law.

Developing the full potential of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor is becoming a major priority for Russia’s cooperation with international partners in the Arctic.

The Nobel Peace Prize is controversial by nature, but this year's awarding is even more controversial.

From lingering forest fires to sluggish COPs, ASEAN’s best hope for an enduring climate legacy is to give everyday people a seat at the decision-making table.

When choking transboundary haze pushed Singapore and Indonesia to the brink of an economic and diplomatic standoff, pragmatic leadership proved that following the money trail—not nationalist rhetoric—is the key to clearing the air.

As Indonesia continues to grapple with spreading wildfires and recurring haze, scrutiny has increasingly shifted toward corporate culpability, driven by investigative reports linking vast networks of foreign investors and multinational firms to the blazes. With Jakarta’s domestic response perceived as largely muted, neighboring ASEAN member states have begun mounting diplomatic pressure and pursuing independent investigations into the entities allegedly responsible for the transboundary haze choking the region.

A fractured world can no longer afford an architecture where five states hold the power to paralyze the collective security of 193 nations.

Indonesia’s next great crime-prevention weapon isn't a heavier badge or a faster patrol car - it’s a generation of digitally savvy teenagers trained to outsmart scams, bypass brawls and defuse radicalization from the palm of their hand.    

How does Indonesia sustain digital economy growth into lasting competitiveness on the global stage?   

Commentators should drop the Thucydides Trap because it is both banal and dangerous.

ASEAN doesn’t need a new treaty to end the haze choking Southeast Asia. 

Indonesia might think it is diversifying its weapons suppliers, but it is buying from the very same financial architecture in New York that grades its markets and sets the price of its defense.

Special climate and energy envoy Hashim Djojohadikusumo, President Prabowo Subianto’s younger brother, has revealed a proposal to distribute free smartphones to social assistance (Bansos) recipients, but Coordinating Economy Minister Airlangga Hartarto has denied its existence. The conflicting statements have raised questions about how the initiative came to be announced, particularly as the government pursues a separate program to open bank accounts for 200 million people.

Jakarta’s bold plan to revamp historic districts will only succeed if City Hall modernizes their streets without evicting the living culture and roadside traders who gave them a soul.

Now that major trading partners are seeking to put up more barriers, Beijing may need to rethink its cautious approach to direct household stimulus.

At a defining moment for global justice, the European Union and Indonesia are proving that defending universal human rights demands more than shared values: It takes a decade of sustained dialogue, bold reform and united action.

From elevating ties to an unprecedented strategic partnership five years ago to tackling shared regional challenges, Australia and ASEAN continue to prove that our collective security and economic future are inextricably intertwined.

When multilateral forums succumb to political theater and procedural breaches, the genuine legal principles of decolonization and sovereignty risk being lost to ideological distraction.

By choking off gas to Singapore to fuel the domestic industry, Jakarta is gambling that resource nationalism can build real economic muscle rather than simply leave stranded promises in its wake.