Emancipated voice: A student recites a poem on April 21, 2026, during a poetry reading competition involving 16 top elementary schools to mark Kartini Day in Badung, Bali.

Kartini’s spirit: AI and the quiet reinforcement of gender roles

In viewing the design, development and deployment of artificial intelligence, Kartini’s legacy reminds us that direction is a vital part of progress.

15 hours ago

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The silent challenge for women CSOs in eastern Indonesia

When rigid "one size fits all" accounting meets the complex realities of Eastern Indonesia, the very rules designed to ensure transparency risk silencing the marginalized voices they were meant to empower. ...

15 hours ago

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Beyond Bandung: The urgent task of decolonizing the mind

Seventy years after the historic Bandung Conference, the struggle for true independence has moved from the map to the mind. We must dismantle the "captive mind" and reconstruct a global knowledge system grounded in inherent human dignity. ...

16 hours ago

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Farmers thresh harvested rice on Feb. 18, 2026, in Martubung subdistrict, Medan, North Sumatra.

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Asia's next harvest is already being decided

Nine out of ten ships that once passed through the Strait of Hormuz are not going anywhere. The consequences are already shaping Asia's next harvest and the one after that.

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The floating panels of a solar power plant at Cirata Dam in Purwakarta regency, West Java, are seen from above on Sept. 26, 2023.

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Indonesia has power, it’s time to harness it

Indonesia's energy transition challenge is no longer about resources or policy, but execution.

1 day ago

Police officers stand guard on Aug. 19, 2025, during a rally organized by university students in front of the East Java Regional Council (DPRD) in Surabaya, East Java. The Surabaya Police deployed nearly 700 personnel to safeguard the rally, during which protesters called for the government to scrap its controversial national history book project and push for protection for freedom of expression.

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The boundary of dissent: Between treason and expression

When the state begins to mistake verbal dissent for a physical attack, the line between national security and authoritarianism effectively vanishes.

1 day ago

Two men walk past a billboard referring to the Strait of Hormuz on April 15, 2026, in Vanak Square, Tehran.

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The costs of Iran's permanent revolution

The room for maneuver of the ruling elite in Tehran is currently being hemmed in by a confluence of rigidity, fracture, decay and war, the very dynamics that have historically led to the erosion of revolutionary regimes and their incipient end.

1 day ago

A child carries an item scavenged from a pile of trash on Jan. 20 on a public road in Pasar Minggu, Jakarta. Garbage-choked streets, overloaded landfills and fear of trash avalanches haunt greater Jakarta, as the world's most populous metropolis grapples with a waste crisis.

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From commitments to delivery: Why systems, not slogans, will define sustainability

The sustainability challenge is no longer about defining goals. It is about building systems capable of delivering them.

1 day ago

People ride past a destroyed house on Feb. 1, 2026, after flash floods in Kuta Lintang village, Blangkejeren district, Gayo Lues regency, Aceh.

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To strengthen climate resilience, focus on social protection

The idea that the climate crisis is diverting global attention and funding away from the eradication of poverty and hunger perpetuates a dangerous misconception of both problems.

1 day ago

Workers walk with their luggage out from a suspected scam center compound on Jan. 15 in Sihanoukville.

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Inside the economics of Southeast Asia’s scam centers

At the core of scam compounds is a system of paid but forced labor.

1 day ago

Victims of a fishing boat fire are evacuated to the Belawan Port in Medan on April 7. The fire killed three fishermen and five others were missing while 13 fishermen were rescued by a nearby fishing vessel.

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Waiting for Godot: The case for ratification of ILO convention on work in fishing

For decades, Indonesia has led the world in defining the law of the sea and the rights of its workers. Now, as the 2026 ratification deadline for the ILO Convention 188 looms, the nation must decide if it will remain a global trendsetter or leave its millions of fishers waiting for a "Godot" that never arrives.

1 day ago

A nickel smelting and processing site operated by PT Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) is seen in the background of Lelilef Sawai village in Central Weda district, Central Halmahera regency, North Maluku on Feb. 20, 2025.

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The 5 percent growth trap: Indonesia’s narrow path to 2026

If policymakers continue to prioritize stability without addressing the root causes of capital inefficiency, Indonesia will not escape from the 5 percent growth trap.

2 days ago

Pakistani lawyers (right) shout slogans next to ruling party leader Daniyal Aziz (left) against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif outside the Supreme Court building during a hearing on the Panama Papers case in Islamabad on July 17, 2017, after the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) presented a final report of the investigation probing allegations of money laundering against Sharif and his family.

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The deafening silence on offshore wealth

A decade later, the verdict is damning. The world was warned. Lawmakers blinked. And the system endured.

2 days ago

A banner reading “We stand with Andrie against militarism” is displayed by human rights activists affiliated with the Justice for Victims Solidarity Network on April 2 during the 902nd “Kamisan” protest across from Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. The demonstrators called for a thorough investigation into the acid attack against Andrie Yunus, urging the formation of a joint fact-finding team and demanding that those responsible be tried in a civilian court.

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Dysfunctional opposition and the sedition charge

The August 2025 protests were a sign of public pressure building, but mass mobilization without leadership or clear direction can easily tip into chaos that only benefits those already in power.

2 days ago

Ships and boats lie idle on April 20, 2026, in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman.

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Opening Hormuz is the easy bit, restoring oil flow is the real challenge

Even if the guns fall silent, flows through the narrow waterway will take months, and possibly years, to recover to pre-war levels.

2 days ago

The Dabancheng wind power plant in Urumqi in China's western Xinjiang region operates amid haze on July 14, 2021.

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ASEAN must learn from China's energy foresight

As recent reporting makes clear, Beijing's long-running emphasis on energy security has given it a stronger buffer against external shocks.

2 days ago

An Indonesian Military (TNI) soldier stands guard on April 16, 2026, next to case files related to the acid attack on Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) deputy coordinator Andrie Yunus at a Military Court in Jakarta.

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The constitutional challenge: Addressing the architecture of military impunity

Indonesia’s "architecture of impunity" transforms personal vendettas into institutional shields, allowing military personnel to bypass civilian justice. By exploiting legislative loopholes and expanding into civil governance, the TNI risks dismantling the very constitutional safeguards designed to ensure democratic accountability.

2 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (left) speaks to United States President Donald Trump during the signing of the US-Indonesia Agreement on Reciprocal Tariffs (ART) in Washington, DC, on Feb. 19, 2026. The trade deal locks in tariff rates and non-tariff barriers to commerce between Indonesia and the US.

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Three lessons from history: Understanding US trade pact ‘traps’

The ART may look like a diplomatic win for Indonesia, but history warns of a hidden "American trap." From dismantled French giants to eroded Mexican sovereignty, these three case studies reveal how Washington uses legal fine print to turn partners into subordinates.

3 days ago

A China-backed high-speed railway train connecting Jakarta and Bandung called “Whoosh“ is parked on Oct. 2, 2023, at Halim station in East Jakarta

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The geopolitics of infrastructure

Ports, power grids, rail corridors, data centers and critical-mineral supply chains are no longer just “projects.” They are the operating system of sovereignty.

3 days ago

Fishermen unload their catch from a boat in Fitu fishing village in Ternate, North Maluku, on Sept. 15, 2025.

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Blue economy: Empty promises for Indonesia?

While Indonesia’s Blue Economy Road Map promises a sustainable future, a widening execution gap threatens to leave coastal communities behind in favor of elite industrial interests.

3 days ago

President Prabowo Subianto (top, center) speaks at a United Nations General Assembly meeting organized by France and Saudi Arabia in support of a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel as world leaders arrive for the 80th session of the UN’s General Assembly on Sept. 22, 2025 in New York City, the United States.

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Leadership that mirrors the world: The UN’s next great test

The selection of the next secretary-general is also a moment to confront an undeniable truth: half the world’s population are women and girls, yet global leadership rarely reflects that reality.

3 days ago

Containers are loaded and unloaded at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta on Feb. 4, 2026.

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A canal could rethink Indonesia’s supply chains

The Cikarang Bekasi Laut was built to carry water. But it has always had the potential to carry something more.

3 days ago

A Papuan woman carrying a drip looks on with her child on Jan. 25, 2018, at a local hospital handling measles and malnutrition patients in Agats, Asmat regency, South Papua. Around 800 children were sickened by a measles-and-malnutrition outbreak in South Papua at the time. AFP/ Bay Ismoyo

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Kartini’s struggle: What the Republic owes to Papuan women

Often caught in the crossfire, Papuan women are pressured by separatist groups for food and shelter while their homes are simultaneously utilized by security forces.

4 days ago

A police officer walks past posters highlighting Pakistan's mediation of Iran-United States peace talks, at the Red Zone area in Islamabad on April 18, 2026.

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A new security architecture for the Middle East

The current crisis is driven not by a single dispute but by the convergence of four fault lines: the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s nuclear program, the absence of a regional security architecture addressing missiles and proxy warfare, and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

4 days ago

A farmer applies dry fertilizer on a paddy field in Sawit, Boyolali, Central Java, on March 1, 2024.

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The coming food crisis will not look like the last one

Today’s risk begins upstream in global energy markets and flows through fertilizer production into the agricultural system, affecting not only current prices but also future harvests.

4 days ago

Signage of an AI data center is displayed at the Mobile World Congress (MWC), the world's biggest mobile fair, on March 3, 2025, in Barcelona, Spain.

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Harnessing AI through a global finance hub

Indonesia has the AI opportunity and there is now global capital actively seeking to fund exactly that transformation.

4 days ago

A fisherman pulls his boat out to the sea on March 20, 2024, across waste that covers much of Kedonganan Beach in Badung, Bali. Kedonganan is one of Bali’s worst polluted beaches with plastic materials.

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The net-zero fantasy: Renewables alone won't save Indonesia

Indonesia’s path to a net-zero society is being choked by more than just carbon emissions; it is drowning in a sea of plastic and a lack of local infrastructure. While President Prabowo pivots toward renewables, true sustainability will remain a fantasy until the political will at the top translates into accountability for the polluters on the ground.

4 days ago

President BJ Habibie announces his Reform/Development Cabinet, which comprised 20 members of the previous lineup and 16 newcomers. Habibie vowed to build a clean and independent government when he announced the new cabinet on May 22, 1998, at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta. JP/Alex Rumi

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Lack of transparency in national history: The Habibie case

Habibie’s greatest service was transforming Soeharto’s authoritarian regime into a democracy.

4 days ago

Motorcycle riders line up at a gas station on March 9 in Surabaya, East Java.

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From strategic dependency to strategic diversification: The energy shock moment

Despite its resource endowment, Indonesia remains structurally dependent on imported fuel, particularly refined petroleum products sourced largely from regional hubs.

5 days ago

Smoke rises from the Thai bulk carrier 'Mayuree Naree' near the Strait of Hormuz after an attack on March 11, 2026.

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Fossil-fuel investments are a fiduciary risk

The global fallout from the United States-Israeli war against Iran war demonstrates once again that for investors, fossil fuels are not just another commodity exposure, but a geopolitical liability.

5 days ago

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