French President Emmanuel Macron (right) welcomes then-defense minister and president-elect Prabowo Subianto (left) upon arriving on July 24, 2024, for a working dinner at the Elysee presidential Palace in Paris.

France and Indonesia: Partners in economic sovereignty, creativity and innovation

As France and Indonesia celebrate 75 years of diplomatic relations, our two countries are entering a new phase of their strategic partnership, which is focused on strengthening the sovereignty of both our nations.

8 months ago

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How ASEAN should respond to President Trump’s rising tariffs

Southeast Asia has agency and leverage globally through ASEAN and ASEAN plus arrangements, which can play a leading role in assembling a coalition of the willing in defense of the trade rules. ...

8 months ago

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Opportunities for education amid budget tightening

We see hope in partnerships beyond the state, emphasizing collaboration with community-based organizations, industries and international entities to avert disaster and sustain education. ...

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The Latest

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Beyond retaliation: How ASEAN and Asia can turn the tide against US tariffs

ASEAN and other Asian economic policymakers should bear in mind that the cost of these tariffs will fall largely on US consumers.

8 months ago

Illustration of young workers in a start-up company.

Academia

Start-ups deferred: Entrepreneurial curriculum revisited

Business school students do not need more pressure to leap but better tools to manage parallel tracks, navigate side-income regulations and structure ventures that grow at the right pace.

8 months ago

A man holds an EU flag during a pro-Europe rally in Bucharest on March 15, 2025.

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New geopolitical order: China’s world or Europe’s?

Unless Europe launches an effort to adopt the alliance structure that the United States has now abandoned, it will find itself in a world made safe for autocracy.

8 months ago

Empty seats are pictured while Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 79th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York, the United States, Sept. 27, 2024.

Academia

Westlessness: The decline of a decades-long moral empire?

The West's actions, particularly in the Middle East and its neglect of the Global South, have fueled a deepening crisis of trust.

8 months ago

President Prabowo Subianto (center) delivers a speech on March 28, 2025, at the signing ceremony of a Government Regulation (PP) on electronic system providers governance in child protection at the courtyard of the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta. The policy, a derivative regulation of the Electronics Information and Transactions (ITE) Law, mandates that online platforms prioritize child protection over commercial pursuits.

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My personal take on President Prabowo’s achievements and challenges

There is a lack of clear explanations for new government programs and initiatives, leading to uncertainty about their implementation.

8 months ago

A cargo ship full of shipping containers is seen at the port of Oakland as trade tensions escalate over United States tariffs, in Oakland, California, the US, on March 6, 2025.

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The flawed logic of Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ and the impact on Indonesia

To call this "reciprocal" is a stretch. If anything, it is retaliatory math disguised as fairness.

8 months ago

People take shelter in temporary tents set up outdoors in Mandalay on March 31, 2025, three days after the deadly Myanmar earthquake. Myanmar declared a week of national mourning on March 31 for the country's devastating earthquake, as the death toll passed 2,000 and hopes faded of finding more survivors in the rubble of ruined buildings.

Academia

Myanmar’s quake exposes the junta’s most inhumane weapon: Silence

Any aid or infrastructure must be safeguarded from being exploited by the Myanmar military junta as tools of control.

8 months ago

Blue on blue: European Union flags flutter aloft on Sept. 12, 2024, the day European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde spoke to reporters following the Governing Council's monetary policy meeting in Frankfurt, Germany.

Academia

Rearm Europe: More of a political move than a military one

Europe’s Rearm Europe initiative faces hurdles in achieving its military goals but signals a clear political message to the US and Russia.

8 months ago

Shadow boxing?: The shadow of a Philippine Army personnel is seen cast upon crates of relief items from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the victims of super typhoon Haiyan on Nov. 13, 2013, at Villamor Air Base in Manila.

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Philanthropy in an era of declining development aid

Now more than ever, aid programs must focus squarely on proven solutions like investments in prenatal nutrition, rather than on flashy, multisectoral schemes with no immediate payoff.

8 months ago

Demonstrators take part in the Hands Off! day of action against the administration of United States President Donald Trump and Elon Musk on April 05, 2025 on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

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Trump’s tariffs: Decline of a superpower

US trade policy and the reckless flaunting of its economic power may lead to an irreversible relative decline of the US as an economic superpower and of US exceptionalism.

8 months ago

Stack 'em up: Workers move containers on Sep. 10, 2024, at the Port of Jakarta International Container Terminal (JICT), Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

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Navigating protectionism: Indonesia and fragmented global trade

The world faces a new reality where trade becomes a matter of national security and global rules are eroded as power dominates.

8 months ago

Activists and intellectuals from Voices of Indonesian Mothers hold a rally at an intersection of Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta on March 28, 2025, demanding authorities to end violence against students protesting the revised Indonesian Military (TNI) Law in cities across the country.

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'Oligarchization' blocks meaningful public participation in lawmaking

Collective action that involves all stakeholders of civil society is necessary to prevent the country's encroaching descent into an oligarchy.

8 months ago

Kitchen staff prepare assemble lunch trays at a caterer in the West Java city of Bogor on Jan. 6, 2025, the first day of President Prabowo Subianto’s flagship free nutritious meal program.

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Restoring free meals program as a child nutrition initiative

Considering that the free meals program has minimal socioeconomic impacts in the short term, it would be better to revert the program to its original design as a policy on improving child nutrition, which would have positive effects in terms of cost, food quality and fiscal management.

8 months ago

United States President Donald Trump unveils his new tariff policy on April 2, 2025, in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, DC.

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Trump's tariffs will accelerate US economic decline

Redistributive taxation, while it is not easy to craft or implement, can encourage innovation and the equitable distribution of growth benefits, whereas Trump's tariffs will only undermine the US' competitive edge and do harm.

8 months ago

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An LLM for ASEAN, by ASEAN

A truly collaborative LLM reflecting the region’s diverse linguistic and cultural landscape has yet to emerge.

8 months ago

Breathe easy: Health workers administer a chest X-ray to a toddler on Feb. 22, 2025 at a Puskesmas (community health center) in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, under a free TB screening program provided by the city’s health agency.

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When exchange rates decide who can get medical treatment

Because when exchange rates dictate the cost of medicines, they also quietly influence who can get medical treatment and who cannot.

8 months ago

A truck passes through the middle of an oil palm plantation in Muaro Jambi, Jambi on Nov. 20, 2024.

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Tariffs, tensions and turning points: A strategy for ASEAN sovereignty

The paradox of economic interdependence and strategic anxiety underscores ASEAN’s urgent need for unity and legal clarity.

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Business as usual: Trucks haul freight on Feb. 26, 2025 at the container terminal of Batu Ampar Port on Batam Island, Riau Islands province.

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Think carefully before maneuvering through US tariffs

Indonesia must tread carefully with a political economy approach to trade diplomacy following US tariffs, maintaining mutually beneficial partnerships and avoiding impacted countries from turning into adversarial competitors.

8 months ago

Members of labor organizations protest against the government’s decision to increase subsidized fuel prices, outside the House of Representatives building in Jakarta on Sept. 6, 2022.

Academia

The weaponization of tariffs and the new era of coercive trade

Authoritarian-leaning governments are likely to instrumentalize these trade pressures to justify greater repression.

8 months ago

A man uses his phone on March 6, 2025, while waiting for customers at a clothing shop in Tanah Abang Market in Jakarta.

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A fragile moment, a firm future: Why Indonesia's economy can endure

History often reminds us that it is in these periods of turbulence that a country’s economic maturity is truly measured.

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Offering assistance: An official explains to a taxpayer the use of the citizenship identity number as their taxpayer identification number on March 3, 2024, at Palangka Raya tax office in the Central Kalimantan capital city.

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MSME tax limbo: Government inaction fuels uncertainty

Indonesia's micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are grappling with mounting uncertainty as the promised extension of the 0.5 percent final income tax rate remains unfulfilled.

8 months ago

United States President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs on April 2, 2025, during an event in the Rose Garden titled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, DC.

Academia

New modeling reveals full impact of Trump’s’ tariffs, with the US hit hardest

Two different models indicate that in the long run, Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs stand to do more harm to the US than any of the countries it aims to target; nonetheless, they don't bode well for either international trade or the global economy.

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Technicians inspect rooftop solar panels on Aug. 2, 2023, at Claro Hotel Makassar in the South Sulawesi provincial capital.

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Building a sustainable future: Asia’s path in a transforming world

Climate risk, energy security and food resilience are regional challenges that require cooperation. True sustainability can only be achieved through joint action.

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Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's frigate JS Kumano docks at Tanjung Priok Port in North Jakarta on May 9, 2023. The Mogami-class frigate was on a deployment to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore to strengthen cooperation and exercise with navies in those countries.

Academia

Japan and ASEAN: Moving beyond symbolism to real strategic depth

Despite the constraints of Article 9 of its pacifist Constitution, Tokyo has found creative ways to support ASEAN’s defense capabilities without violating its non-military principles.

8 months ago

Activists hold umbrellas and posters that read “No country without its people. Listen to our voice!“ during the 856th Kamisan rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta on March 20, 2025.

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How Aristotle can save us

Aristotle offers a framework that is strikingly relevant for this age of moral confusion and civic fragmentation.

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United States President Donald Trump calls on a reporter to ask a question during a cabinet meeting at the White House on March 24, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Academia

Oil markets take risky bet on Trump's threats on Russia, Iran

Oil diplomacy could become a hallmark of Trump's second term in office, but energy markets have mostly shrugged off his recent whirlwind of threats against Iran and Russia.

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Negotiating AI's future: Participants attend the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit on Feb. 10 in Paris.

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Two models for agentic AI

Despite all the commentary and hype around agentic AI, many big questions remain unaddressed, the biggest being which type of AI agent the tech industry is seeking to develop?

8 months ago

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