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Jakarta Post
Academia

Capped at home, China extends its aluminum dominance abroad

China's aluminum producers are increasingly turning to developing smelters abroad against a capacity cap of 45 million tonnes at home, extending the country's industry dominance further afield.

9 hours ago
Academia

Ending Southeast Asia’s never-ending haze cycle

Southeast Asia’s recurring haze is rooted in fires burning in Indonesia, but its regional impact calls for stronger ASEAN cooperation, accountability and prevention. ...

10 hours ago
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When volcanoes reshape geopolitics and ASEAN's balance of power

Superpowers and treaties shape the balance of power in Southeast Asia; until the volcanoes beneath them decide to rewrite the map. ...

11 hours ago

The Latest

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The Donald Trump shock in East Asia

The consequences of Trump’s behavior are even more serious for East Asia than they are for Europe.

12 hours ago
Academia premium

Asset forfeiture bill: The paradox of Prabowo’s anticorruption rhetoric

Prabowo promised to chase corrupt actors to Antarctica, but passing the asset forfeiture bill without democratic safeguards risks handing the state a weapon against its own people.

13 hours ago
Academia premium

Children are no longer the priority, were they ever?

When a national school lunch program turns kids into hospital patients, it’s time to ask whether our children are the priority, or just collateral damage for an economic machine.

14 hours ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: NU struggles for independence by changing chairs

The search for independence for Nahdlatul Ulama (NU),Indonesia’s largest Islamic social organization, has always been fought at its congress (Muktamar). The 35th Muktamar at Bahrul Ulum Tambakberas, Jombang, East Java, which closed on Aug. 26, was no exception.

15 hours ago
Editorial premium

Much ado about asset forfeiture

Rushing a flawed asset forfeiture bill to meet a performative political deadline won't stop oligarchs, it will just hand the state a dangerous new weapon against its critics.

15 hours ago
Academia

Asia's next leverage-driven market crash could be brewing

The recent crash of tech-heavy KOSPI rings an alarm bell for retail investors in navigating Asian equities as regulators move to rein in single-stock ETFs across the region.

1 day ago
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Celebrating literature, culture and nature at the Lake Toba Writers Festival

On the volcanic shores of Lake Toba, an unpretentious festival is keeping deep storytelling alive in an age of shallow feeds.

1 day ago
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From fuel to batteries: Trading one dependence for another

Unless it builds the supply chain to match its electric ambitions, the country risks trading its costly addiction to foreign oil for imported batteries and coal-fired power.

1 day ago
Academia premium

Who controls the data, controls the future

AI now sits inside finance, defense, health care and public administration, and it runs on two things most governments do not actually control: the data that train it and the compute that processes it.

1 day ago
Academia premium

From the Himalayas to Sumatra: Can Indonesia govern an unruly climate?

When freak disasters render historical weather data useless, Indonesia's real climate crisis isn't about predicting the next storm—it’s learning how to govern a future that no longer plays by the rules.

1 day ago
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Anak Krakatau doesn't need an earthquake to kill

Tsunami sirens are built to detect earthquakes, but Anak Krakatau can kill without one, and our warning systems are still waiting for a shake that’s never coming.

1 day ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: Destry’s balancing act: Growth, stability, BI independence

Destry Damayanti has officially been appointed as the new Bank Indonesia (BI) governor, taking on the responsibility of navigating not only monetary policy challenges stemming from global instability and domestic economic pressures, but also a growing institutional challenge under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration. The revision of the Financial Sector Development and Strengthening Law (UU P2SK) has expanded BI’s mandate toward supporting economic growth alongside maintaining rupiah stability. This raises questions over the central bank’s autonomy as a monetary authority, as greater state influence and stronger fiscal policy priorities could constrain Destry’s ability to respond effectively to exchange rate and inflation pressures.

1 day ago
Editorial premium

Fine businesses for fires

Temporary suspensions and advanced technologies won't clear ASEAN's skies from Indonesian wildfires; only prosecuting and bankrupting corporate arsonists will.

1 day ago
Academia

The anxious search of Pakistan’s power elite for regional standing

Pakistan’s power elite still dreams of returning to those days of perceived glory and reclaiming the country’s position among the leading middle powers of the Muslim world.

2 days ago
Academia

AI watermarks erase human authorship twice

Models absorb human creativity without consent, then label human-directed work as machine-made, creating a troubling double erasure of authorship.

2 days ago
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The Indonesian hex: When political rhetoric rewrites reality

The administration has erected a political hologram over Indonesia’s economic landscape. 

2 days ago
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Cybersecurity governance: From bureaucracy to real-world threats

We have the blueprints to defend our digital sovereignty, but without real enforcement power, adequate funding and urgency on AI and quantum threats, the next massive breach is already penciled in.

2 days ago
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How developing countries can do more with less

Evaluation frameworks for development projects have long been influenced by donor priorities. But foreign-aid cuts have created an opportunity for African countries to implement equitable evaluation practices, both to channel limited resources more effectively and to shape the future of global development governance.

2 days ago
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The Dec. 15 deadline keeps Indonesia’s political pressure cooking

By putting a Dec.15 deadline in writing, lawmakers didn't just defuse a street protest—they handed the public a ticking timer on their own integrity.

2 days ago
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Relentless natural disasters test Indonesia’s fiscal priorities

Indonesia can always scramble cash after tragedy strikes, but with national buffers tied up and disasters arriving back-to-back, running preparedness on a shoestring is a gamble we can no longer afford.

2 days ago
Opinion premium

Analysis: The power to seize, the need for safeguards

Street protests have reignited the drive to pass the long-stalled asset forfeiture bill. Under renewed public pressure, the House of Representatives has committed to wrapping up deliberation by year-end, nearly two decades after the reform was first tabled. The real test now is whether this self-imposed deadline will finally overcome years of legislative foot-dragging, and whether lawmakers can be held accountable if it slips again.

2 days ago
Editorial premium

Keeping it free and active

As Washington pushes allies to gang up on Beijing, Indonesia must resist the pressure and stay true to its non-aligned roots, or risk becoming the mouse deer crushed between two fighting elephants.

2 days ago
Academia

Why oil importers are learning to live with longer trade routes

Energy trade routes that optimize distance and costs may no longer be suitable for the fractured and fractious modern world, especially for major importers.

3 days ago
Academia

What a record‑shattering El Niño means for the world’s weather

This year's El Nino is forecast to be the strongest ever, compounding the effects of climate change, and it may just catalyze the world into finally abandoning fossil fuels.

3 days ago
Academia premium

From Vladivostok to Gunungkidul: Indonesia must export skills, not just workers

If Indonesia wants its global diplomacy to truly pay off, it must stop sending cheap labor into the shadows and start exporting certified talent the world will actually invest in.

3 days ago
Academia premium

Asia's natural disasters must not become financial crises

Physical hazards can quickly morph into macroeconomic shocks.

3 days ago
Academia premium

Sowing division: When the state pits citizens against citizens

When a government outsources repression to street militias, it isn't preserving order; it is waging a reckless, authoritarian war against its own people.

3 days ago

Today's ePost

Thu, September 10, 2026

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