By leveraging data-driven frameworks like the Tropical Forest Forever Facility, Brazil and Indonesia are proving that the Global South can ditch traditional geopolitical competition and use science diplomacy to protect the world's most vulnerable ecosystems.

Securing the release of nine Indonesians, detained by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in international waters as part of a humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza, was no small diplomatic achievement for Indonesia, which has no formal ties to the Jewish state. Yet this accomplishment was not fully appreciated at home, where critics dismissed the government’s efforts as timid and pointed to President Prabowo Subianto’s silence throughout the episode.

Tokyo is not wringing its hands; it is acting to defend itself and help others secure themselves against Chinese expansionism and the US volatility.    

Before we can dream of producing Nobel laureates, we must first rescue an education system where high schoolers can barely pass basic math.

The new truth commission, which has been created independently of government, may finally deliver restitution to the nameless dead and in doing so, restore moral weight to the living.

The $20 billion climate flop: a flagship plan to phase out coal in Indonesia hasn’t shut a single power plant.

As a climate crisis and geopolitical instability collide, Indonesia must stop acting like a passive observer and leverage its massive green potential to rewrite the rules of the global carbon economy.

Most countries rely on cloud infrastructure and software platforms owned by a handful of powerful tech firms, leaving governments at the mercy of foreign corporate behemoths.

To fix high ticket prices and bridge an archipelagic nation, Indonesia must move past reactive policies and treat its aviation industry as a strategic tool for national unity.

By dismantling the state's engineered conflict narrative, the Pesta Babi documentary has terrified elites who realize that a critical, thinking Papua is an existential threat to the extraction of its wealth.

Thailand and other ASEAN members may be tempted to treat the junta’s staged transition as a way out of the impasse. But normalization would reward the main driver of Myanmar’s regional crisis.  

Customs and excise director general Djaka Budhi Utama’s name has finally surfaced in court proceedings linked to the PT Blueray Cargo import bribery case, prompting President Prabowo Subianto to call for sweeping institutional reform. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa later said the government would respect the legal process while signaling that Djaka could be removed from office if his involvement is proven in court. However, he emphasized that the case remains at an early stage and that the government would not suspend Djaka until there is clearer evidence of his involvement.

As public scrutiny mounts over President Prabowo’s 51 overseas trips, the administration’s defensive reaction has failed to mask a stark reality: the resulting diplomatic promises have yet to translate into real economic gains.

Many of the biggest winners from the current wave of AI mania lifting Wall Street to new highs aren't the multi-trillion-dollar hyperscalers, but small caps. The question now is whether that can last.

The Quad is evolving from a politically symbolic coalition into a functional strategic mechanism.

When education is weaponized to manufacture hate, classrooms become the breeding grounds for state violence, a sobering reality that demands a radical shift toward a humanizing, critical way of learning.

In a world in which the US cannot be counted on as it once was, the objective is not stability at any price, but rather stability on terms consistent with national and Western interests.

Behind the record-breaking profits of Indonesia’s industrial fishing fleet lies a predatory system of legal fictions and debt bondage that leaves the very workers fueling the industry with less than the price of a pack of cigarettes.

When a university system prioritizes metric-driven visibility over scientific veracity, AI stops being a tool for discovery and becomes a frictionless shortcut for institutionalized fraud.

Strengthening national defense has long been a priority for President Prabowo Subianto and dates back to his tenure as defense minister. There is no doubt about his administration’s focus on defense, given that the country has yet to achieve its 2009-2024 Minimum Essential Force (MEF) target. Yet the public continues to question whether the government’s efforts are genuinely aimed at safeguarding Indonesia’s sovereignty or attempts to extend military authority into civilian domains.

Fueled by the antek asing (foreign agent) rhetoric, harassment of activists and civil society organizations is sure to persist, if not escalate, in the country.

E-commerce increasingly shapes the conditions under which market participants compete. 

Sound haj governance should no longer be measured solely by how many pilgrims can be dispatched abroad each year, but also by how responsibly societies adapt to worsening environmental conditions.

When democratic institutions are dismantled in plenary chambers, the language of capital translates political overreach into economic ruin and in doing so, creates a powerful new battlefield for change.

How can an institution tasked with monitoring state power be required to obtain approval from the very executive branch it is meant to oversee?

More than a year after its establishment, Danantara has yet to demonstrate meaningful progress in restructuring state-owned enterprises (SOEs), despite mounting financial pressures, delayed consolidation plans and growing concerns over transparency. As Danantara expands its mandate, most recently into the management of natural resource exports, the debate is no longer merely about corporate governance, but about the broader direction of Indonesia’s economic management.

Multiple red lines send mixed signals. Is the country drawing them determined to assert its global power, or is it in the grip of a national paranoia?