A tame Sumatran elephant under the care of the Sampoiniet Conservation Response Unit roams a forest on Sept. 3, 2017, in Le Jeurneh village, Aceh Jaya regency, Aceh.

Deliberation and consensus needed in captive elephant debate

The recent ban on elephant rides highlights the critical need for consensual deliberation in managing a balance between the various dimensions of contemporary conservation, including animal, community and environmental welfare.

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BRICS in 2025: A stabilizer in a fractured world

As it marks its second year of full membership in 2026, Indonesia is likely to continue making cooperative contributions within the BRICS foundational principles of equality, openness and mutual respect. ...

11 hours ago

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When invention is mistaken for innovation

Until Indonesia bridges the gap between policy rhetoric and cultural reality, we will remain a nation of great ideas but few breakthroughs. ...

10 hours ago

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Solar solution: A Central Java government-owned solar-powered water pump operates on Jan. 2 in Sayung area in Demak regency. The facility was built to prevent flooding in Java’s north coast route.

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Powering the energy transition for development

We must move away from the narrow perception of the energy transition as simply a move away from fossil fuels to renewables and instead embrace its broader, transformative aim of powering sustainable economic and social development through the delivery of secure and affordable energy for all.

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Patients line up to wait for medicines from a pharmacy at Yarsi General Hospital in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, on May 14, 2024.

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Direct local elections must stand, they improve public health services

Surveys by credible pollsters indicate that the push to change the election system does not reflect the aspirations of the people, but rather those of political elites who lack popular roots.

1 day ago

The faded hand stencil that is dated at least 67,800 years old is pointed by a color palette chart held by the archaeologist during an expedition at the Liang Metanduno cave on Muna Island, Southeast Sulawesi in May 2019.

Academia

Humanity’s oldest known cave art has been discovered in Sulawesi

People were creating cave art in Indonesia 67,800 years ago, before modern humans reached Australia.

2 days ago

A Harimau medium tank (front), made by state-owned land weapons and ammunition maker PT Pindad, is parked next to Pandur II 8x8 armored combat vehicle against the backdrop of the National Monument (Monas) at Merdeka Square in Central Jakarta on Oct. 2, 2024, ahead of an event to mark the 79th anniversary of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Academia

Asian defense firms may be the surprise winners of rising geopolitical tensions

The arms game among Western countries is turning increasingly toward cheaper alternatives from manufacturers in Asia, where indigenization is trending amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.

1 day ago

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa (right) delivers a presentation on Oct. 14, 2025, during a monthly press briefing on the state budget at the Finance Ministry in Central Jakarta.

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The Purbaya gambit: Can optimism alone revive Indonesia’s economy?

While Purbaya's strategy of optimistic communication is rooted in macroeconomic theory, it would do well to remember that self-fulfilling prophecies can go either way.

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A billboard on a truck passes through Westminster on Jan. 14, 2026, urging United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stand up to Elon Musk and ban X and Grok.

Academia

How AI-generated sexual images cause real harm

Publicly bombarding women with these images exerts control over how they present themselves online.

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A man browses products on an online shopping app on June 16, 2022, in Jakarta.

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Protecting Indonesia’s youth from long-term vulnerability

Youth education that aims to build digital financial capability must be an integral part of national strategic policies on economic resilience.

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A craftswoman produces embroidered cloth on Monday, with a typical Acehnese motif at the Dekranasda micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) craft center in Aceh Besar regency, Aceh. MSMEs often struggle to scale production and maintain consistent quality, with many lacking certified processes and facing costly compliance requirements.

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Beyond credit: Rethinking KUR for real economic development

KUR must shift toward productivity-based targeting rather than merely maximizing borrower numbers.

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President Prabowo Subianto (center) operates a rice plowing machine at a field cultivated as part of a national scheme to achieve food self-sufficiency, during his visit to Telaga Sari village, Merauke, South Papua, on Nov. 3, 2024.

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Food estate projects: A new battlefield for military control

Under Prabowo, the military is no longer positioned chiefly as a protector of the people; it has been transformed into an active economic actor within the agrarian sector.

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Nickel smelter chimneys spew a column of emissions into the air above the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park on July 7, 2024, in Lelilef, North Maluku.

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Beyond the nickel boom: Indonesia needs a reality check on downstreaming

Having abundant nickel helps with one component—the battery cathode—but it does not automatically confer the ability to mass-produce quality electric vehicles.

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The first flight of the Air Force’s Rafale B, registration number T-0301, takes place in Mérignac, Bordeaux, France, on Sept. 19, 2025.

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As Rafale enters our airspace, Indonesia’s real test begins

Without discipline, diversification can produce an expensive “rolling museum” with low flying hours, low availability, and a posture that never reaches peak combat effectiveness.

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A researcher looks at the reaction of biological samples for a clinical study at Inotrem's laboratory in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, eastern France, on Feb. 08, 2021.

Academia

How academic journals profit from scientific mistakes

The academic publishing system often allows scientific errors to persist because it prioritizes profit and prestige over timely correction.

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Trucks carrying goods from Jordan move on Dec. 10, 2025, near the Allenby Bridge Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan after it was reopened, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The United Nations says the crossing is a major route for bringing food, tents and other goods into Gaza.

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Aid remains a tool for control, not relief, in Gaza

Without a dramatic improvement in basic living conditions, the International Stabilization Force will not be able to deliver stability for desperate people in Gaza.

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A China Coast Guard vessel draws alongside the Indonesian Navy ship KRI Usman Harun as the latter moves to intercept Chinese fishing boats on Nov. 1, 2020, in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the North Natuna Sea.

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The House must act on the Indonesia–Vietnam EEZ deal

Absence of clarity on the boundary in question raises legitimate questions about the government’s political will and institutional urgency.

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A worker cleans a room on Sept. 8, 2025, at the Wisma Danantara Indonesia office in Central Jakarta. In its first six months of operation, Danantara recorded several important achievements, including securing US$10 billion in funding, equivalent to Rp 163.18 trillion, from a consortium of 12 foreign banks.

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Indonesia does not need more SOEs, but better rules

SOEs are often defended rhetorically as a counterweight to large, ethnic-Chinese-owned conglomerates, the “taipan”.

3 days ago

Commuters arriving from the suburbs on a commuter train are seen leaving the Manggarai Station on Nov. 8, 2024, during the morning rush hour in Jakarta.

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More jobs, less value: Indonesia’s labor efficiency gap

When unemployment declines and employment rises, labor market conditions are commonly perceived as improving. This interpretation is not incorrect, but it remains incomplete.

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Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin (left), Foreign Minister Sugiono (second left), Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (second right) and Turkey’s National Defense Minister Yasar Guler attend a joint press statement on Jan. 9, 2026, after the Indonesia-Turkey Joint Meeting of Foreign and Defense Ministers in Ankara.

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Indonesia’s ‘diplomacy of resilience’ and the missing rights agenda

As the initiator of the Bali Democracy Forum and the 2026 president of the United Nations Human Rights Council, Jakarta should continue to champion the protection of rights and democratic principles.

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A container is loaded onto a truck on Aug. 29, 2023, at the Tan Vu container port in Hai Phong, Vietnam. The administration of former United States president Joe Biden sought to boost economic ties with Vietnam as Washington looked to reduce reliance on China.

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Beyond bamboo diplomacy: Vietnam’s era of national rise in a volatile world

The 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam, convened in Hanoi on January 19, marked a significant strategic pivot regarding the country's development. By formalizing the concept of an "Era of National Rise," the Congress signaled a decisive transition from a period of historical accumulation to a new phase driven by critical structural breakthroughs.

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A farmer guides his boat on Oct. 12, 2025, through solar panels installed as part of the Rawa Pening floating solar photovoltaic plant in Tuntang, Semarang regency, Central Java.

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Energy security needs public consent to succeed

While public support for clean energy is strong in principle, it weakens quickly when new infrastructure appears close to home.

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Mock-ups representing the cryptocurrency Bitcoin are arranged in a pile, in this illustration created on Nov. 25, 2024.

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Navigating a new chapter for crypto assets, safely

As the number of crypto investors and transactions continues to grow rapidly, Indonesia must move equally swiftly to implement the OECD's CARF to ensure a safe domestic ecosystem founded on transparency.

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Urban farmer Hasanuddin, 60, waters sweet potatoes on Nov. 9, 2025, in an urban farming site beneath the Bekasi-Cawang-Kampung Melayu (Becakayu) toll road in Makassar district, East Jakarta.

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How to feed ten billion people

Meeting the nutritional needs of a growing population requires not just a radical increase in food production but also a more equitable distribution to ensure that no one is food-insecure.

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Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his annual policy address on Jan. 14, 2026, at the Foreign Ministry in Central Jakarta.

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The volatility of a 'multiplex' world and the structural dangers of a global order

If the world order is indeed akin to a multiplex, then Indonesia needs to adopt compartmentalization as our foreign policy stance.

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Grok and the limits of national law in a borderless digital world

Effective control over AI systems cannot be achieved without shared norms, shared responsibilities and shared enforcement mechanisms.

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Border Security Force (BSF) personnel patrol on May 26, 2025, along the borderline fence at the India-Bangladesh border in Golakganj, Dhubri district in India's Assam State.

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Neighborhood First: How India is shaping regional prosperity

India’s foreign policy is guided by the philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World Is One Family), which prioritizes strong, mutually beneficial ties with immediate neighbors through cooperation.

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A variety of vehicles, including buses and freight trucks, stand in line on Dec. 24, 2025, at the Cikupa Tollgate in Tangerang regency, Banten.

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Jakarta’s roads are rewriting the global infrastructure playbook

The Asian model of infrastructure financing and development blends both public and private players in a layered, nuanced and more flexible system.

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United States President Donald Trump applauds after delivering remarks on Jan. 6, 2026, at a House Republican Party retreat in Washington, D.C.

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America’s retreat from multilateralism and its global impact

The decline of multilateralism presents an opportunity for Global South countries to step up and engage actively in reshaping the world order.

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Foreign Minister Sugiono delivers his annual policy address statement on Jan. 14, 2026, at the Foreign Ministry in Central Jakarta.

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Indonesia turns to post-normative diplomacy

The change in Indonesia's foreign policy from its long-standing "free and active" doctrine to resilience signals a paradigm shift in the country's worldview amid the current global leaning toward hegemonic power.

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