The presence of the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) Private Airport in Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi, has sparked controversy after Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin asserted that the facility operates without proper state oversight. The issue appears to reflect a broader debate among state institutions, revealing friction between figures from the previous administration and the current government.

The state's disaster response in Sumatra only shows that victims of the floods and landslides have had their the rights to life, health and protection denied during emergencies.

As tensions rise between Tokyo and Beijing, ASEAN and Taiwan must balance economic integration with the political realities imposed by China’s growing assertiveness across Asia.

A constructive collaboration between Indonesia and Norway on many issues in the global arena could serve as a distinctive model of cooperation among middle powers.

For a nation that calls itself the world’s largest archipelago, Indonesia has never built the industrial architecture needed to transform its maritime identity into maritime power.

Extreme rain wasn’t the only cause of Sumatra’s deadly floods. Years of forest loss, eroded soils and weakened watersheds turned a storm into a tragedy, one that could repeat.

The Sumatra flooding and landslides necessitate a review of the risk factors noted in next year's state budget, as natural disasters pose massive economic losses both locally and nationally.

AI has become the center of a new world order, and we have entered the AI Triad, which consists of the politicization, securitization and weaponization of technology. 

Last month, President Prabowo Subianto skipped the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, undermining his claim to be a champion of multilateralism as well as his chances of assuming the vacant leadership of the Global South. 

We need not only tougher laws and regulations on the use and conversion of forest land by plantation and mining companies, but also tighter supervision and credible enforcement of these rules.

Islamic home financing in Malaysia needs urgent form, as in its current iteration, it is failing too many buyers when projects stall or collapse.

ASF may not infect humans, yet its impact runs deep.

Setting up a national council for financial health, as the President has announced, is the first step in improving financial well-being for all Indonesians, whose experiences will also inform efforts toward ensuring financial health as a global challenge.

Reducing material consumption, especially in developed countries, remains the most effective way to protect vital ecosystems and prevent the long-term harms that extraction inevitably causes.

The country still has time to choose between pursuing the current extractive course to benefit the few or changing course toward equitable development to benefit the many, but the clock is ticking. 

The President must declare the Sumatra floods and landslides a national disaster so the state can mobilize its vast emergency response apparatus and afterward, learn crucial lessons from this incident for future policies and actions.

On Nov. 25, flash floods triggered by Cyclone Senyar struck Sumatra, severely damaging Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra. Two weeks later, more than 3 million people had been affected, with 1 million displaced, 836 dead, 518 still missing, and some 2,700 injured as of 16.00 Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Dec. 4.

Foreign investors need assurances that their long-term investments will be protected from arbitrary decisions or bad-faith actors.

Indonesia needs to reform its disaster management system so it is designed with vulnerable groups at the center, or we will continue to see the same established cycle of response with each disaster that strikes.

In the previous four constitutional amendments, many articles were written in haste, compromises were born of fear and decisions were made in backrooms shielded from public scrutiny.

Planetary threats require planetary governance.

Indonesia is crisscrossed by global data routes yet lacks a unified mechanism to govern what happens beneath its own seas.

Patrick Walujo has stepped down as CEO of GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GoTo), a move that appears to open the way for accelerated acquisition talks with Grab. Several major GoTo backers—including SoftBank, Provident, and Peak XV—were reported to have pushed for his removal, believing he had resisted the proposed takeover. The company has since announced its chief operating officer, Hans Patuwo, as the leading candidate to replace Patrick. The leadership transition comes at a sensitive moment for GoTo, amid persistent merger rumors that have reportedly drawn the attention of the Palace.

Reputation now sits at the heart of how the public understands corporate power and responsibility.

It is high time we throw out the misleading narrative that Indonesians lack reading interest; rather, the issue is more about whether the country has the systems and facilities in place to nurture reading.

Indonesia possesses the capacity not merely to catch up with the West, but to forge its own distinctive path forward.

Governments and experts need to consider both the frequency and size of floods to better prepare for future ones.