This photo taken on June 14, 2023, shows university graduates and youths attending a job fair in Yibin, in China's southwestern Sichuan province.

The vicious cycle of China’s demographics

The root problem is the relatively small number of jobs in China that provide a comfortable middle-class lifestyle, and the large number of workers vying for them

3 months ago

Academia premium

Genes and nation: Is Bhinneka Tunggal Ika becoming historical window-dressing?

If different ethnic groups in Indonesia have unique ancestries and histories, then policies that assume everyone is the same culturally, linguistically or medically are either tone-deaf and harmful. ...

3 months ago

Academia

Defense tech revolution redefines future battlefield

Unmanned systems and the AI that increasingly operates them are redefining a defense sector more often known for huge delays and cost overruns. ...

3 months ago

The Latest

This undated picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 28, 2017, shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (center, in white shirt) watching the test of a new anti-aircraft guided weapon system organized by the Academy of National Defense Science at an undisclosed location.

Academia

From trinity to today: Turning the page on nuclear testing

A return to nuclear testing would almost certainly spark a dangerous arms race, one that undermines the purposes for which the UN was founded.

3 months ago

Attendants at a gas station owned by state-owned energy holding company Pertamina serve customers in Semarang, Central Java, on Feb. 27, 2025.

Academia premium

The geopolitical realities of renewable energy

Recent global events have exposed the fragile balance between energy security and sustainability.

3 months ago

Deputy Manpower Minister and graft suspect Immanuel Ebenezer (second right) walks to a prisoner transfer van on Aug. 22 at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in Jakarta.

Academia premium

'Serakahnomics' in action and corruption arrest politics

Noel's removal suggests a dual message: a warning to Prabowo’s own political circle, and a distancing move from his predecessor’s lingering influence.

3 months ago

United States President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (not pictured) on July 28, 2025, at the Trump Turnberry golf resort in Scotland.

Academia premium

Lies, damned lies and Trump's statistics

Data is foundational to good governance, but when the reliability of official figures comes under doubt, it has far-reaching consequences for economies and democracies across the world.

3 months ago

Robotic arms made by Taiwanese company FANUC Corporation are displayed on Aug. 20 during the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show 2025 in Taipei.

Academia

AI will replace most humans, but then what?

As robotics and artificial intelligence technology races ahead, it appears that human workers will be inevitably left not just behind, but also without jobs.

3 months ago

Peru's President Dina Boluarte (left) and President Prabowo Subianto shake hands on Aug. 11 during a joint press conference following their meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

Academia premium

Indonesia-Peru CEPA: Charting a new path across the Pacific

For Indonesia, Peru offers an important gateway to the Latin American market, particularly for tropical commodities such as coffee, spices and seafood.

3 months ago

Children from diaspora families living in Pakistan perform on Aug. 17, 2025, during an event in Islamabad to mark Indonesia’s 80th Independence Day.

Academia premium

The Indonesian diaspora and the question of nationalism

Whether among the diaspora or at home, nationalism is essentially a sense of belonging and ownership defined, in part, by shared ideals and values as well as a freedom to express individual conscience on the path to an Indonesia that is just, strong, sustainable and prosperous.

3 months ago

Academia premium

Elevating ASEAN’s role in peace and prosperity

The ASEAN secretary-general needs to be vested with the capacity of a chief executive officer, allowing him or her to play a more strategic but tactical role in resolving regional issues.

3 months ago

Sense of security: A man looks out from a shop as an armed police officer stands guard following a blast at a district police station, which suspectedly was a suicide bombing, in Bandung, on Dec. 7, 2022.

Academia premium

AI and the evolution of terrorism tactics

With the help of chatbots or fabricated online personas, AI can generate personalized messages and simulate human interaction to influence and radicalize vulnerable individuals.

3 months ago

Participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit pose for a photo on Sept. 16, 2022, before an extended-format meeting of heads of SCO member states in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Academia

Can the SCO reinvigorate multilateral trade amid tariff tensions?

The SCO is not simply giving a voice to the developing world—it is fast becoming a pivot point in the reorganization of global trade geography.

3 months ago

Attendants take a selfie on Aug. 17 ahead of the annual flag-hoisting ceremony to commemorate the 80th Independence Day at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

Academia premium

Indonesia at 80: Getting China right in the rest of 2025

For Indonesia, the question now is not whether to engage with the world, but how to do so on its own terms.

3 months ago

The smelter facility of PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi.

Academia premium

Nickel downstreaming in Sulawesi, Indonesia’s fault lines

The recent earthquake in Poso should be read less as an isolated natural hazard than a stress test of the country’s current industrial model.

3 months ago

People walk past a #COP29 sign on Nov. 21 during the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in the Azerbaijani capital Baku.

Academia premium

The Global South must claim the climate mantle at COP30

As the West recedes in climate governance, it has left an opening for the Global South to step up its already growing efforts to take the lead, ensuring that the global agenda reflects its needs and priorities while holding the world accountable in protecting our planet.

3 months ago

A seller promotes her product on Dec. 11, 2023, through a live streaming platform at Tanah Abang Market in Central Jakarta.

Academia premium

Tightening digital tax rules in sweeping VAT overhaul

More than a bureaucratic adjustment, this overhaul signals a strategic realignment of Indonesia’s economic policy in the digital age.

3 months ago

A technician walks on March 26, 2024, between solar panels that partially provide electrical power to the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta.

Academia

How Muslims are powering environmental action across the world

In a time of mounting ecological challenges, all sources of wisdom are vital – including Islamic teachings that offer guidance for living in harmony with nature.

3 months ago

A woman walks along a railroad track on Oct. 14, 2022, past a shantytown near Kampung Bandan Station in Ancol, North Jakarta.

Academia premium

The new face of poverty: Digital exclusion deepens gender inequality

The digital divide is a major contributor to the feminization of poverty in Indonesia, especially when digitalization leaves behind single mothers who are just scraping by.

3 months ago

A worker installs the battery of a Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric car on April 6, 2023, at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Indonesia (HMMI) assembly plant in Cikarang, West Java.

Academia premium

The nickel dilemma: A false binary between geopolitical power and a just transition

To promote the nickel-based EV battery industry Indonesia needs to cut bureaucratic layers and channel commitment into action, investing in innovation, building capacity and ensuring readiness for the future.

3 months ago

Academia

Bridging Law and Technology: The Growing Importance of Privacy Compliance Automation Tools

Many organizations in Indonesia, from small enterprises to large corporations, are facing challenges in implementing the Personal Data Protection Law (PDP Law), which transition period ended on 17 October 2024. One key reason for this is the general lack of familiarity with this relatively new regulation.

4 months ago

Drivers for ride-hailing companies rally in Jakarta on May 20, 2025, in a mass protest for better pay and work conditions.

Academia premium

Fixing governance in Indonesia’s start-up economy

Indonesia must face an uncomfortable truth: our oversight system has failed, and our governance culture remains dangerously thin.

3 months ago

United States President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands at the end of their press conference on Aug. 15, 2025, following the US-Russia summit on the Ukraine war at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

Academia premium

Donald Trump’s peace in our time

The US-Russia Alaska summit sent a clear message to European leaders: They are on their own and as such, Europe must now emerge as a superpower in its own right.

3 months ago

Children of the Orang Rimba indigenous community take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Aug. 17, 2022, to commemorate the 77th anniversary of Indonesian independence at Bukit Duabelas National Park in Sarolangun regency, Jambi.

Academia premium

Resurging nationalism in Southeast Asia: A blessing or a curse?

Nationalism is experiencing a resurgence as an elitist construct, not just in Southeast Asia but across both developed and developing countries, raising a question as to whether internationalism is a better fit in this age of globalization.

3 months ago

A worker arranges pufferfish skins to dry at a small enterprise site in Banda Aceh on Nov. 4, 2024.

Academia premium

Removing the regulatory hurdles in regional endowment funds

A regional endowment fund is a new instrument for intergenerational fiscal sustainability that allows local governments to invest public funds with a long-term horizon.

3 months ago

A vessel is seen opposite the Marina Pier in front of Batam island (background) on May 2, 2020, in Singapore.

Academia

Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs significant legal reform to take off

The development success of the Johor-Singapore-SEZ relies not only on infrastructure and diplomacy but also on an efficient legal and regulatory framework.

3 months ago

Handle with care: A National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) researcher inspects a nuclear reactor pond at G.A Siwabessy nuclear facility in the BJ Habibie Science and Technology Estate in Serpong, Banten, on July 15, 2024.

Academia

Indonesia’s nuclear moment and the vision for energy sovereignty

Done right, nuclear can strengthen energy security, attract high-value industry and place Indonesia at the forefront of the clean-energy transition

3 months ago

Culture Minister Fadli Zon (center), accompanied by his deputy Giring Ganesha (top), delivers a presentation during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission X in Senayan, Jakarta, on May 26, 2025. The meeting discused the ministry’s plan to rewrite the nation's history.

Academia premium

Rewriting history: Remembering, forgetting and forgiving

Official history can no longer stand alone as the sole arbiter of truth, while public history must cultivate critical discipline to avoid being reduced to mere emotional appeals.

3 months ago

Residents of Sumbawa Besar in West Nusa Tenggara hold up their newly issued land certificates on July 30, 2018.

Academia premium

Abandoned land should not mean abandoning reform

The government cannot fulfill its land registration agenda without the parallel implementation of an integrated digital land system, including the realization of the single map policy, and land administration reform to eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks and eradicate corruption in the sector.

3 months ago

This handout from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration taken and released on April 21, 2021 shows Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (center) visiting a field hospital set up in the Bangkok Arena indoor multi-purpose sporting venue to accomodate an upsurge in the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the country.

Academia

Sustaining healthcare in a precarious world

It is likely that the shortage of healthcare personnel will continue and deteriorate, with some exiting their profession to look for other opportunities.

3 months ago

Page: 22