For five centuries, raw materials have flowed out of Africa and Brazil at low cost to be used as inputs elsewhere, often returning to their source countries embedded in expensive finished goods.

Rather than delivering justice to victims, authorities have normalized, and often downplayed, their suffering, frequently misclassifying victims as perpetrators.

The Constitutional Court just handed down a much-needed reality check on the country's public finances. By striking the free nutritious meal program out of the national education budget, the court drew a clear line in the sand: money set aside for education needs to go toward education. Now, the government has to figure out a transparent, long-term way to fund its flagship free meals program without taking a bite out of other vital national priorities.

Separating the free meals program from the education budget is an important first step. However, the bigger test now is whether the government will genuinely commit to using the constitutionally mandated 20 percent education allocation to address the country’s perennial education challenges.

The lasting legacy of the Iran war will likely be a renewed impetus for energy-importing nations to lessen their dependence on fossil fuels.

Deputy Statistics Indonesia (BPS) chief Sonny Harry Budiutomo Harmadi sat down with Aditya Hadi and Ruth Dea Juwita of The Jakarta Post to discuss the expanding scope of this year’s census and its implications for policymakers, investors and businesses.

For the first time, these unique ecosystems are expanding at a faster rate than they are declining.

Droughts expose who gets left behind when basic public services aren't built for everyone.

At a time of historic inequality and inadequate public investment, the kind of redistributive policies promoted by politicians on the left are badly needed.

It is true that a hefty share of public spending went into FGDs, seminars and workshops that produced little. But his own government now suffers the opposite failure of executing before it plans, then improvising the plan as the execution collapses. Yet the damage is already done, heavily. 

Some are insisting that the new governor must be independent, which usually gets defined, rather narrowly, as someone able to say no. It is worth asking whether that is really the binding condition.

The arrest of 142 suspects by South Sumatra Police has brought renewed attention to what authorities describe as one of the largest fuel embezzlement cases in the country’s recent history. Between January and July 2026, police uncovered 96 cases involving the diversion and illegal trade of subsidized fuel, with an estimated 1.4 million liters of fuel allegedly siphoned from the official distribution system.

Similar to how money can buy some peace of mind but is no guarantor of happiness, a strong economy does not necessarily lead to general prosperity.

US corporate earnings are already running almost 60 percent above trend, with rapid growth still expected for years, mostly thanks to the AI boom. But the questionable economics of new AI data centers could pop this bubble.

While the country already has a regulation on digital child protection, the rapid advent of artificial intelligence and its growing integration in children's lives requires a shared effort by all stakeholders to instill safe and responsible use, especially among vulnerable individuals.

Amid the ongoing commotion regarding the draft law on citizenship, perhaps it is time to hearken back to the wisdom of Ibu Pertiwi, our national personification, in revising our policies so they welcome back all who claim Indonesian roots with open arms.

The geographical diversification of technological innovation has remained more of a dream than a reality.

As the country rushes headlong into AI, what is being left behind is the age-old wisdom that has been a cornerstone of human civilization for millennia: When entering someone's home, we knock first to obtain their permission, and we don't barge in anyway if they turn us down.

Modern colonialism no longer arrives in wooden warships or under foreign flags. It sits in executive offices, speaks the national language and cloaks itself in the slick rhetoric of "national development." 

For most of his first two years in office, President Prabowo Subianto enjoyed a honeymoon that simply refused to end. Survey after survey showed him with approval numbers most world leaders can only dream of. That period has now ended. It was a long and genuinely good run, but the latest data from Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) confirm that political reality has caught up with him.

Increased vigilance and prevention are the best defense in battling forest and land fires.

Does foreign investment genuinely strengthen Indonesia's industrial capabilities, technological base and global competitiveness - or is it simply taking advantage of the country's large domestic market? 

The recent bilateral summit in Jakarta was a master class in Southeast Asian statecraft, where the visiting Thai premier and the hosting Indonesian president showed off their diplomatic chops in the art of political survival.

Democratic governments can pursue long-term improvements without abandoning politically salient commitments to social welfare.

Most of the world seems to misunderstand why global capital is not financing the developing world’s climate transition.

While a public service academy has a place in the education ecosystem, nurturing future leaders that can navigate the country's positioning in the global arena of technology, innovation and business doesn't require building a whole new institution.

ASEAN’s 60th anniversary next year offers an occasion for both reflecting on the progress it has made thus far and considering the transformative efforts it must undertake to fulfill one of its founder's visions: a Southeast Asia that stands on its own feet.