Representatives of the Awyu and Moi indigenous communities protest on May 27, 2024, in front of the Supreme Court building in Jakarta. They called for the country’s highest court to revoke the permits of palm oil companies that are set to operate in Papua, which could potentially clear approximately 300 square kilometers of primary forest.

Land mafia and the urgency of agrarian reform

Many Indonesians have become victims of land mafia.

7 months ago

America's revised Greenland obsession

Greenland lies across the most direct routes from Russia to the populous east coast of the US, and is the closest territory in the Arctic to both the Russian and the European heartlands. ...

7 months ago

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World War II in Europe: A war remembered – and repeated

When facts are manipulated, when the aggressor dresses itself in the symbols of justice and when war crimes are paraded as heroism, the world must pay attention. ...

7 months ago

The Latest

Crying out: Students display placards reading “Return the soldiers to the barracks“ during a protest on March 24 against a revision to the Indonesian Military (TNI) Law in Surabaya, East Java.

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The conundrum in exercising ‘polite’ criticism

It is indisputable that politeness is instrumental in social life. Nonetheless, some exceptions and conditions may justify impoliteness to some degree.

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A person rides a scooter past the Surakarta Palace in Surakarta, Central Java, on July 30, 2024.

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The real monarchs of the republic

What if the real threat to democracy in Indonesia lies elsewhere? Not in the palaces of monarchs long deprived of state power, but in the everyday workings of dynastic political families.

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The Sistine Chapel is seen on the eve of the conclave on Tuesday at The Vatican.

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Popes have been European for centuries, is it time for one from Africa or Asia?

Why, in a global communion of 1.4 billion faithful, has the modern conclave not looked beyond Europeans for a new pope? And what would need to change for it to do so?

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A journalist takes photos on April 16 of a kitchen supplying the free nutritious meal program, officially known as Nutrition Fulfillment Service Units (SPPG), in Kalibata, South Jakarta. The kitchen has temporarily ceased operations due to limited funding.

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Overhaul of the procurement mechanism for the free meals program

Universal free lunches can reduce social stigma, ensuring all students feel comfortable receiving meals without economic or health-related discrimination.

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A voter casts his ballot in the general election at a polling station in Singapore on May 3, 2025. Polling stations opened on May 3 across Singapore as voters began casting their ballots in an election seen as the first real test for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his long-ruling People's Action Party.

Academia

What we can expect from Singapore as the PAP tightens grip

The three opposition parties could forge a sort of entente, a united strategy to challenge the mainstream narrative being shaped by PAP.

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The Euro currency sign is seen in front of the former European Central Bank building on Dec. 11, 2024 in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany.

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From dollar hegemony to euro opportunity?

We seem to be approaching a new “Kindleberger gap.” The existing hegemon appears to be self-destructing, as it refuses to supply global public goods, and there is no clear candidate to fill its shoes.

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Traffic congestion is observed at Kilometer 150 of the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in Mekarjaya, West Java, on April 5, 2024.

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Beyond inflation: Paving the way for fairer toll road tariffs

When toll roads become increasingly vital to connectivity, reconciling tensions between the interests of toll road investors and operators vis-a-vis those of users is a contentious issue to address.

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Quality control: A worker monitors production on Aug. 2, 2024, at the nickel smelter of PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, South Sulawesi.

Academia

How Trump’s tariffs could hit developing economies

Our simulations confirm what economists have been asserting for years: Trade wars do not have winners.

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A police officer walks in front of the Constitutional Court building on Feb. 4, 2025, in Jakarta.

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A breakthrough for freedom of expression in Indonesia

Does the recent Constitutional Court's ruling truly safeguard the digital rights of Indonesian citizens, or is it merely symbolic progress in a system still riddled with ambiguity?

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This combination of pictures created on April 09 places in contrast Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) in Beijing on Feb. 6 and United States President Donald Trump in Washington, DC on April 8.

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Washington and Beijing need to have a talk

Given the urgency of the situation, what is standing in the way of negotiations between the US and China?

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Familiar faces: Heads of state pose for a family photo on Dec. 14, 2022, at the European Union-ASEAN summit at the European Council headquarters in Brussels. The two regional groups met to bolster ties.

Academia

ASEAN needs both an EU FTA and zero-emissions community

ASEAN needs to conform to the EU’s trade policy, which is rules-based and bound by its commitments to sustainability, labor rights and democratic values.

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A scientist monitors a control panel inside the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine manufacturing unit of the Serum Institute of India (SII) at its headquarters in Hadapsar, Pune, on Feb. 27, 2024.

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Can Indonesia eliminate cervical cancer by 2030?

The incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer remain alarmingly high in Indonesia.

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Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (center) poses for a group photo with ASEAN finance ministers and bank governors on April 10, the last day of the 12th ASEAN Finance Ministers and Bank Governors meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

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Collective action to avoid a world trade war

We are on the precipice of a world trade war. Active and strategic economic diplomacy will be needed to avoid it.

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Students react to their teacher on April 14, 2025, at SMAN 70 Jakarta state senior high school in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.

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Revising history to legitimize ruling regime

The new, government-commissioned reference on national history presents several problematic issues in its arrangement and content, lending it the appearance of a revisionist exercise that aims to legitimize the current regime.

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Making his way: A farmer harvests salt on March 17, 2024, in the Talise area of Palu, Central Sulawesi.

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Red-White cooperatives neither essential, nor strategic for now

Is this program essential and strategic now for rural development? The simple answer is no.

7 months ago

United States President Donald Trump delivers a speech on April 29 marking his 100th day in office at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center in Warren, Michigan.

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One hundred days that shook US foreign policy

Trump 2.0 is an activist, imperial presidency, both at home and abroad.

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A man walks past a demonstration by environmental action group Greenpeace about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster outside the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in Jakarta on April 26, 2010 marking the 24th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear accident in Ukraine and to denounce Indonesia's plans to use nuclear energy.

Academia

Nuclear technology without integrity is a risk, not progress

Nuclear energy does not tolerate ambiguity, discretion or improvisation; it requires inflexible regulation, full procedural discipline and long-horizon accountability.

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Residents of Sayung village in Demak regency, Central Java, exchange Idul Fitri greetings on April 10, 2024 amid a flood that hit their neighborhood.

Academia

Keys to human flourishing: Faith and relationships outweigh wealth

Richer developed countries score higher on financial security and life evaluation but poorer nations more than make up for this on meaning, purpose and relationships.

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Living spirit: A military honor guard leads the parade with various flags of participating countries on April 24, 2015, during ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Asian-African Conference in Bandung, West Java.

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Why culture still matters in the Global South’s fight for justice

Seventy years after Bandung, the spotlight often falls on its political legacy, but what is often forgotten is that the Bandung Spirit was never merely political, but also profoundly cultural.

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People watch a commuter train on Oct. 20, 2023, as it passes their makeshift homes built along a railway in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

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Beyond statistics: Establishing a poverty line that reflects true hardship

While international lines are useful for comparison, they can be misleading if used as the basis for local poverty assessments.

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Russian activists take part in an “Immortal Regiment“ march on Saturday to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the “Great Patriotic War", the Soviet victory over the Nazis in World War II, in Washington, DC.

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80th anniversary of victory over Nazism, preservation of historical truth

Today Nazism is once again rearing its head in Europe.

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A newly inaugurated fuel manufacturing plant is seen on April 9, 2009, in the central province of Isfahan, Iran.

Academia

Can Washington finally resolve the Iran nuclear stalemate?

Iran may be willing to agree to a ceiling on uranium enrichment in return for sweeping sanctions relief and the right to retain its existing nuclear infrastructure.

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An activist looks out from an inflatable polar bear costume while holding a sign with a symbol representing nuclear energy as she participates in an action called “Spreading Awareness with a Smile: The Banana Radiation Campaign“ on Nov. 16, 2024, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku.

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How Indonesia can lead in revitalizing the NPT

As a non-nuclear country, Indonesia can strategically reinforce its leadership not only in disarmament advocacy, but also in championing development-oriented cooperation under the NPT framework.

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Internet first: A student learns German through the Duolingo app at home on June 26, 2020, when schools were closed to contain the spread of COVID-19. Access to the internet was the key to pandemic-induced online learning.

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Charting an inclusive AI future for Indonesian youth

Young people need to understand how AI systems function, whose interests they serve and how they can take part in shaping their development.

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Voice of freedom: Mech Dara, an award-winning Cambodian journalist who was arrested on charges of inciting social unrest, speaks to members of the media on Oct. 24, 2024, as he leaves Kandal provincial prison on bail in Phnom Penh.

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Trump to deal press freedom in Asia a big blow

In the Asia-Pacific region, accessing independent and fearless news about regimes that are doing their best to stifle and destroy any form of free press is at risk of becoming more and more challenging.

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