After 50 years and 15 male secretaries-general, the time has come for ASEAN to break its longest-standing glass ceiling. As Indonesia prepares to nominate the next chief, a historic opportunity emerges to prove that the region’s future is both inclusive and ready for female leadership at the very top.

As Indonesia enters the 2025–2029 strategic planning cycle, the shifting geopolitical dynamics of the Indo-Pacific demand a transition from static territorial defense to a highly mobile, networked maritime posture. The integration of the ex-Italian Navy aircraft carrier cruiser, Giuseppe Garibaldi, into the Indonesian Military is a strategic necessity as the new platform can serve as a vital anti-submarine warfare (ASW) hub and mobile command node.

The answer depends on what we mean by “fair”: short-term export survival, balanced reciprocity, or long-term policy autonomy.

Uncertainty continues to surround Indonesia’s latest trade breakthrough as President Prabowo Subianto and United States President Donald Trump prepare to formalize the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) on Thursday, following their attendance at the first US-led Board of Peace meeting a day earlier. The framework unveiled in July 2025 sets a 19 percent tariff on Indonesian exports to the US market, a rate the Indonesian government portrays as a major diplomatic victory despite its magnitude. Yet it remains unclear whether the July framework represents the final terms to be signed or whether negotiations are still unfolding behind closed doors.

Though the Supreme Court's ruling against Trump's sweeping tariffs has left Jakarta with less clarity regarding the newly signed US-Indonesia ART, it has at least opened a door to the possibility of reworking the deal so its terms are fairer.

German Ambassador to Indonesia, Ralf Beste, speaks about how Indonesia fits into European strategic thinking, and how nations with differing values can still cooperate through shared interests.

While the world’s cameras were fixed on the billion-dollar debut of the Board of Peace, Jakarta was busy building a $38.4 billion economic foundation for Indonesia’s industrial future.

The polls have ended the political uncertainty that had gripped the nation since the overthrow of the previous regime by a student-led uprising in 2024. Yet the challenges for the new government are daunting.

US rhetoric and policy signal a move from persuasion to deterrence, unsettling allies and heightening global strategic tensions.

Modern slavery is about an absence of choice: situations where workers lack the real freedom to stop working because of threats, coercion, deception or debt. 

Pandemics are coming faster and spreading more widely, threatening more lives and livelihoods than ever before.

Trade debates often begin with numbers. Yet global trade rarely turns on the numbers themselves. It turns on relative positioning.

Gaza underground fortress is the physical face of asymmetric war, a conflict where the weaker side does not need to win.

Following the resignation of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) chairman and deputy chairman, the government has formed a selection committee to seek the best candidates to lead the OJK and restore investor confidence after market turmoil triggered by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI)’s interim freeze of its February review of Indonesian stocks. The pressing question is whether any candidate will be capable of rebuilding market trust.

Sending our brave soldiers to Gaza could put them in harm’s way given the still fluid and tense situation there. 

A closer look at Israel’s internal dynamics reveals a surprising twist: The planned arrival of Indonesian troops is facing fierce opposition from hardline groups in Tel Aviv.

As Indonesia experiences a rare spiritual convergence in 2026, the overlapping seasons of Lent and Ramadan offer a powerful "spiritual laboratory" to transform individual faith into a shared national strength.

Whether it is the 40-day Lenten period of repentance leading to Easter, the month of Ramadan dedicated to the Quran and spiritual growth or the Lunar New Year’s focus on clearing out the old to welcome a fresh start, these traditions share profound themes of inner conversion and social responsibility.

In a world increasingly governed by the cynical logic of "might makes right," Indonesia is stepping forward to prove that visionary leadership and regional cooperation remain our most potent tools for reclaiming global peace.

Drawing on a rich tradition of wayang and cerita rakyat, Indonesia’s booming game industry is the new stage for local stories and values. 

Once synonymous with controversy and stagnation, Meikarta has resurfaced on Indonesia’s national housing agenda. The government plans to repurpose the site for subsidized vertical housing for low-income households, with around 30 hectares (ha) of Lippo Group-owned land reportedly provided “for free”. The arrangement raises broader questions about transparency and whose interests the policy ultimately serves.

The Foreign Ministry has drawn its red lines in Gaza, but until the government addresses the legal and financial shadows of the mandate, the case for Indonesia’s participation remains far from closed.

Southeast Asia's netizens have spoken as one against racial discrimination by some Korean creators and backed their unified voice with action, showing that the region is no lightweight when it comes to cultural inclusion or consumer power.

Thousands of people from Indonesia, China and Africa are waiting for help to return home, but the process has been slow and many are increasingly desperate.

Markets are asking Indonesia for predictable and coherent rules that distinguish temporary transition measures from long-lived assets that may face growing financing and refinancing challenges.

In the digital age, information chaos has real-world consequences, and Indonesia is fighting it handicapped.

If conservation areas are administratively interpreted as “unproductive land”, Indonesia risks engineering a policy contradiction of its own making.