Latest Opinion Articles & News Commentary

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post
Academia

Is Washington dropping the diplomatic ball?

Almost half of US ambassadorships remain vacant while political appointees outnumber career diplomats being put forward, creating a perceived void in Washington's global presence.

2 hours ago
Academia premium

Squeezed by debts and disasters, the Global South needs reparations, not more loans

As the IMF-World Bank meetings convene in Bangkok, frontline nations are calling for financial liberation from the debt traps and failed prescriptions of international financial institutions. ...

3 hours ago
Academia premium

Foreign proxy labeling as a pretext for silencing dissent

When foreign debt is celebrated as statesmanship but foreign grants to civic watchdogs are branded as treason, "national sovereignty" becomes a convenient weapon to silence dissent. ...

4 hours ago

The Latest

Academia premium

Fires and cross-border haze: What can still be done

Southeast Asia’s latest haze crisis was entirely foreseeable. As millions choke beneath toxic skies, halting the blazes today must come before the inevitable, unsparing reckoning tomorrow.

5 hours ago
Academia premium

Gibran wiped from the 2029 contest without a crisis

The court saga surrounding Gibran's credentials has essentially spelled the end of the Widodo political dynasty, not by killing it outright but by ensuring that it fades away.

6 hours ago
Academia premium

Impeachment and democratic consolidation

Can impeachment strengthen a democracy, or does it only wound it?

7 hours ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Bahlil takes on new role, questions remain over its purpose

Bahlil Lahadalia’s latest appointment as coordinating downstream and energy transition minister gives him an unusually broad mandate, as he will also retain his position as energy and mineral resources minister, though the scope of the newly established coordinating ministerial post is yet to be clearly defined in terms of authority and jurisdiction. The arrangement seems to be in line with the government’s continuing prioritization of downstream industrial development, but raises a central question: Will the new post improve coordination on Indonesia’s downstream and energy transition agenda or simply add another layer of bureaucracy?

7 hours ago
Editorial premium

A much-needed balance

The government must recognize that economic growth should not be a choice between protecting workers and giving businesses room to grow; it must accommodate both.

8 hours ago
Academia premium

Addressing sexual violence in ‘pesantren’: Is it possible?

Behind the sacred walls of Indonesia’s boarding schools, an insidious architecture of spiritual authority weaponizes devotion to silence victims of sexual abuse—and only collective resistance can tear it down.

2 days ago
Academia premium

The moral blind spot: From executions to dissent

Hanging elderly convicts and criminalizing peaceful vigils isn’t strong governance; it is a posture of institutional shame and insecurity.

2 days ago
Academia premium

Misaligned mineral policies a threat to natural resource-based view

Downstreaming raw minerals into high-purity metal is meaningless without the advanced industry to absorb it—and without aligned policy, resource nationalism risks freezing the very wealth it set out to unlock.

2 days ago
Academia premium

Nagoya’s sustainable ecosystem offers urban lessons

While megacities across Asia buckle under gridlock, pollution and unmanaged waste, Nagoya shows how disciplined urban planning and cultural wisdom can build an enduring model of sustainable living.

2 days ago
Editorial premium

Data hubs' troubled waters

The country is racing to power the global AI boom, but the unquenchably thirsty data centers it needs are already draining the water that sustains millions of lives.

2 days ago
Academia

Myanmar is a litmus test of what ‘ASEAN way’ amounts to

As ASEAN races to normalize ties with Myanmar's brutal military junta for geopolitical gain, its quiet betrayal of human rights and its own charter lays bare the hollow core of the "ASEAN way."

2 days ago
Academia

International students face Australia’s migration churn

Abolishing the temporary graduate visa would deliver a large additional blow to international education in Australia.

3 days ago
Academia premium

AI regulation is becoming a question of national security

Amid calls from AI executives to pace advancement to accommodate regulatory development, the debate could eventually arrive at an intersection between the technology’s capability and governance capacity.

3 days ago
Academia premium

Can Myanmar’s war be contained without ending it?

Myanmar risks entering a phase in which the conflict is contained without being resolved. 

3 days ago
Academia premium

Sino-American stability, without trust

While the recent Trump-Xi summit in Washington was largely successful in terms of curbing escalation, Sino-American relations are in a general holding pattern for now.

3 days ago
Academia premium

Constitutional Court’s decision: Rule of law or rule of court?

By airing doubts about Gibran’s credentials while throwing out the case on standing, the Constitutional Court has committed the ultimate judicial sin: letting its rhetoric intervene where its decree dared not tread.

3 days ago
Academia premium

Translating the tagline ‘Police alongside community’ into actions

As sweeping new powers meet persistent allegations of abuse, Indonesia’s new police chief faces a defining test: turn a modest community slogan into real accountability, or let the "no viral, no justice" reality endure.

3 days ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: The hidden costs of Indonesia’s data center gold rush

Indonesia wants to ride the global data center boom, betting that investment, skilled jobs and computing power for artificial intelligence will drive economic growth. But the cloud leaves its imprint on the ground: Data centers consume vast amounts of electricity and water and can expose surrounding communities to heat and noise. The question is whether the government will make this boom work for the public or leave communities to pay for it.

3 days ago
Editorial premium

Beyond naturalized glory

The historic FIFA ASEAN Cup triumph ended our 35-year trophy drought, but relying on naturalized stars exposes a youth pipeline that cannot afford to be left behind.

3 days ago
Academia premium

The Trump-Xi thaw offers breathing room for the world

The high-stakes summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping served as a vital de-escalation momentum desperately needed for the stability of our world.

4 days ago
Academia premium

The haze makes us angry, but our anger needs to be directed

The negative energy from anger over haze must be turned into positive action for supporting the people on the front lines battling forest fires and for bringing to account the companies found responsible for starting them.

4 days ago
Academia premium

Smoke in the air, noise online: Public response to forest fires

While thick haze chokes the skies, an online disconnect between citizens and the state reveals that Indonesia’s greatest firefighting challenge may be digital, not just environmental.

4 days ago
Academia premium

Does inclusive finance really need stablecoins?

Some 1.3 billion adults — more than half of them women — remain excluded from the formal financial system, and lower-income consumers still struggle to find and access the financial products and services they need.

4 days ago
Academia premium

Wantimpres and its million-dollar question

Prabowo’s supersize, 26-strong advisory council offers plenty of room for political accommodation.

4 days ago
Academia premium

Super Intelligence, anarchy, and the next Cold War

As Washington and Beijing race for AI supremacy across rival blocs and autonomous digital frontiers, the world isn't heading toward peace, it’s drifting into a perilous, uncontainable new Cold War.

4 days ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Free education, but at what cost?

President Prabowo Subianto wants Indonesians to enjoy free education from kindergarten through university. Few would dispute the objective of making education more accessible. The harder question is how the government will pay for it. The state has yet to fully fund a Constitutional Court order to extend free compulsory basic education to private schools, even as Prabowo adds free university tuition to a budget already carrying increasingly expensive signature programs.

4 days ago
Editorial premium

Flawed candidacy, untouchable office

Indonesia dodged a constitutional crisis on Tuesday, but only because the Constitutional Court looked the other way.

4 days ago

Today's ePost

Mon, October 12, 2026

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.