A container ship leaves the Port of Qingdao, located in China's eastern province of Shandong, on Aug. 7, 2025.

Six rules for navigating the new abnormal

As the world grapples with multiple uncertainties, those with a sense of self-preservation that are also quick and nimble will come out on top.

3 months ago

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ASEAN’s new survival strategy: Transactional deals and hard economic realities

The region is shedding its illusions about predictable superpower diplomacy and is instead embracing a strategy that is intensely transactional and fiercely pragmatic. ...

4 months ago

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The militarization of Indonesia’s cybersecurity framework

The newly completed bill on cybersecurity and cyber resilience still prioritizes the protection of national interests instead of upholding citizens' digital rights and also involves the TNI in enforcement, leading to legal uncertainty that potentially threatens democracy and the rule of law in Indonesia. ...

4 months ago

The Latest

Pope Leo XIV speaks during a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican on May 9, 2025, in this photo taken and handed out by the Vatican Media.

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The Vatican's voice of reason on AI

AI raises questions about work, inequality and the human condition

4 months ago

Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh (second left) and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles (second right) watch Australian Rear Admiral Matt Buckley (third right) and Indian Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan (third left) sign a defense agreement on Oct. 9 at Parliament House in Canberra.

Academia

Building on the Australia-India comprehensive strategic partnership

The US’ punitive tariffs on India present an opportunity for the two countries to strengthen bilateral ties.

4 months ago

China's President Xi Jinping inspects troops during a military parade on Sept. 3 marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

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Taiwan: A province of the People's Republic of China, never a sovereign nation

As the ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Indonesia, I feel it is my duty to clarify the essence of the Taiwan question and set the record straight.

4 months ago

People gather to play games at a malaria public awareness event held during Car Free Day on Dec. 9, 2023, in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), organized by the provincial administration in cooperation with UNICEF.

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Eliminating malaria: Lessons from Timor-Leste

Timor-Leste has become clear evidence that strategic investment and regional cooperation can drive progress toward malaria elimination.

4 months ago

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ASEAN turns geoeconomic turbulence into regional strategy

The summit is a chance to reaffirm ASEAN centrality in promoting open, inclusive regional economic integration amid rising protectionism.

4 months ago

Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa reacts to journalists on Sept. 11 after his first hearing with the House of Representatives’ finance commission in Jakarta.

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How high will Purbaya be allowed to fly?

Purbaya has dismantled several long-untouched practices and proved many observers wrong about the country’s fiscal stability.

4 months ago

A tempe artisan shows soybeans imported from the United States in this undated file photo.

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Supply-chain economics beats tariff politics

Trump’s tariff-first trade policies fundamentally misunderstand 21st-century supply-chain economics.

4 months ago

Academia

Motion 28 at FSC General Assembly risks stalling remedy progress

As the first country to implement FSC’s Remedy Framework, Indonesia urges members to protect credibility, justice and momentum, not add new requirements that hinder what already works.

4 months ago

Secretary-General of ASEAN Kao Kim Hourn ('left') meets with Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen ('right') on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

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Finland’s happiness rests on international cooperation

We believe in co-creation: as a relatively small nation, we cannot produce everything on our own, and we need international trade.

4 months ago

United Nations secretary-general António Guterres ('front left'), Vietnam's President Luong Cuong ('front center') and Laos' General Secretary and President Thongloun Sisoulith ('front right') pose with other leaders and delegates at the signing ceremony of the UN Convention on Cybercrime in Hanoi, Vietnam on Saturday.

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Stopping the threat of organized cybercrime

We need to strengthen legal and regulatory frameworks around the world, provide training and equipment to enforcement agencies and promote cross-border cooperation.

4 months ago

Roundup ready: A woman walks on Oct. 23, 2025 past a promotional display for ASEAN Malaysia 2025 in front of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, which is hosting the regional grouping’s 47th annual summit from Oct. 26 to 28.

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How ASEAN was reduced to a mere coworking space

ASEAN has fallen far from its original purpose, as has Indonesia from its role as the organization's natural leader, but all is not yet lost, so long as its current leaders can buck up and transform the grouping into a truly regional community.

4 months ago

All about money: A member of the Presidential Security Detail guards a large stack of rupiah banknote bundles on Oct. 20, 2025 at the Attorney General’s Office in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta, prior to the handover to the state of around Rp 13.2 trillion (US$825 million) seized from companies involved in a corruption case pertaining to illegal crude palm oil (CPO) export permits.

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Prabowo’s leadership challenge and the case for asset forfeiture reform

The forfeiture mechanism should apply within a specified timeframe, to ensure the law complements, rather than weakens, criminal enforcement commitments.

4 months ago

An Indonesian Air Force Hercules C-130J demonstrates an aerial refueling operation of T-50i aircraft during the 80th anniversary celebration of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in Jakarta on Oct. 5, 2025.

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Indonesia’s defense future lies in interoperability

The real challenge for modern armed forces lies in making these systems fully operational: equipping them with trained crews, effective maintenance, full armament and doctrinal integration.

4 months ago

Pakistani naval forces take part during the fifth Multilateral Naval Exercise Komodo 2025 in Denpasar, Bali, on Feb. 18, 2025.

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Pakistan–Indonesia at 75: Friendship, progress and shared future

It is a moment to look ahead and chart a path toward an even stronger partnership for peace and prosperity.

4 months ago

People crowd around various vehicles on July 23 at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) 2025, which drew 485,569 visitors over its 11-day run from July 24 to Aug. 3 at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD City in Tangerang, Banten.

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Indonesia’s national car dream: Symbolism or strategy?

Indonesia has tried, and failed, to develop a native car brand over the decades, and attempting to revive this developmental model in the current era of energy transition with a globally connected supply chain risks ending in the same fate: merely a flag-waving vanity project.

4 months ago

United States President Donald Trump looks on during an event in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, on Sept. 2, 2025.

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How authoritarians twist language into weapons

As populist strongmen rise across democracies, Camus’ warnings against the corruption of truth and language feel newly relevant.

4 months ago

A student shows a school meal he received as part of the free nutritious meal program on Sept. 15 at the Nurul Islam Klakah integrated Islamic elementary school (SDIT) in Lumajang, East Java.

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When school lunches become a battlefield

A policy that should be as uncontroversial as “feed children well” has been turned into a stage for point-scoring, institutional turf wars and media skirmishes.

4 months ago

Delegates talk next to a Banshee target UAV drone at Swedish company Mildef's stand at the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) fair at the ExCeL center, in east London, on Sept. 9, 2025.

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Drone defense gap sparks industry surge

Events have also shown enormous capacity gaps when it comes to wider air defense, including antiaircraft rockets to shoot down incoming missiles.

4 months ago

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim delivers a speech on July 29 at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.

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Principled diplomacy: Anwar engages Trump at ASEAN Summit

Trump’s presence at the ASEAN Summit is not about endorsement or approval of his policies. It is, instead, a moment of strategic diplomacy.

4 months ago

A general view shows diplomats attending the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) during the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' meeting at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Malaysia, on July 11, 2025.

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Securing the ASEAN economy in an oversecuritized world

Daily conversation in ASEAN now revolves around how to walk a fine line between avoiding overdependence and co-optation by any major power for their own agenda.

4 months ago

Attendees tour stands at the GTC Paris NVIDIA booth on June 12 at the VivaTech technology start-ups and innovation fair at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, in Paris.

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Are we in a financial bubble?

Financial bubbles are notoriously difficult to define in real time – until the moment they burst.

4 months ago

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Bridging science and diplomacy for global leadership

Uniting science and diplomacy is needed to create lasting global impact.

4 months ago

Cabinet ministers under President Prabowo Subianto take their oaths of office during a swearing-in ceremony at the State Palace in Jakarta on Oct. 21, 2024. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)

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Patronage or expertise: Indonesia’s bureaucracy at a crossroads

Every regime born of electoral democracy proclaims its faith in meritocracy, a system that values competence over connection, and professionalism over political convenience, but Indonesia tells a different story.

4 months ago

An elementary school student receives a COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 18, 2022, in Surabaya, East Java.

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Beyond fire brigades: Financing prevention, not panic

The world needs development banks and financial institutions to move from post-disaster reimbursement to pre-disaster readiness.

4 months ago

A deforested area that will be converted into a sugar cane plantation by PT Murni Nusantara Abadi, directly threatening the adjacent customary forest protected by the Kwipalo Clan, is seen in this photo taken in Mandiri Jagebob, Merauke regency, South Papua, on March 17, 2025.

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The South's survival manifesto, 50 years on

At Cocoyoc, postcolonial nations challenged the West’s obsession with growth. Fifty years later, Brazil’s forest initiative revives that original call for justice and survival.

4 months ago

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (right, standing) and President Prabowo Subianto shake hands on July 9, 2025, during the Brazil-Indonesia bilateral meeting at Planalto Palace in Brasília.

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Brazil and ASEAN: Together for a prosperous and peaceful future

Ahead of the 47th ASEAN Summit on Oct. 26 in Kuala Lumpur, the Brazilian president shares his views about areas in which his country and the regional grouping can cooperate toward building a sustainable future of prosperity and peace.

4 months ago

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A blueprint for a stronger, more relevant ASEAN

What could pass to history as the “Anwar Doctrine” could be a reminder that the Asia Pacific is a true engine of multipolarism, not a disruptor of it.

4 months ago

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