The growing toll of haj pilgrims as temperatures rise has exposed another dimension in the issue of environmental injustice, where climate change is disproportionately affecting the vulnerable among the millions of Muslims who travel to Mecca each year to fulfill their religious obligation.

While this package is indeed justified to support short-term economic resilience, its design, heavily focused on demand-side relief with minimal impact on supply-side capacity or productivity, raises questions about whether this is the kind of policy we truly need.

In a world where education holds the key to national transformation, Indonesia has made great strides in recent years. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology’s Merdeka Belajar (Emancipated Learning) initiative reflects a powerful vision: to empower educators, promote critical thinking and prepare learners for an ever-evolving global landscape. However, real change requires educators who themselves evolve by stepping out of their comfort zones to lead by example.

With all the suffering Palestinians continue to endure, it seems contradictory at the current moment, even treacherous, to even think about establishing formal ties with Israel.

Insurance firms have a wide role to play in bringing climate and economic imperatives into closer alignment, adapting the tools at their disposal to safeguard both ocean health and the blue economy as a sustainable, interdependent ecosystem.

Through blue economy diplomacy, the ministry should lead Indonesia’s global efforts in sustainable fisheries management and marine conservation.

There can be no reckoning of social order without the deconstruction of systematically imposed constructs and the awakening of society at large. 

Eight months into Prabowo Subianto’s presidency, analysts and observers have noted Jakarta’s increasingly active stance on the international stage, with the new leader having conducted a flurry of engagements. Yet, questions remain about Indonesia’s diplomatic strategy. 

Trump is a weak strongman, and America’s adversaries may understand that better than most Americans.

The growing trend of de-dollarization, especially on the heels of the MOU to promote local currency use signed last month between the central banks of Indonesia and China as well as the global turmoil following Trump's tariff policy flip-flop, presents a strategic opportunity for Indonesia to strengthen its fiscal and monetary policies.

Several nations are contemplating recognizing a Palestinian state to revamp the two-state solution. However, major obstacles remain.

Jakarta cannot wait passively for Timor-Leste and PNG to “catch up”, but must proactively shepherd these nations into ASEAN’s institutional, political and economic architecture instead.

The banking sector remains resilient despite increasingly volatile global economic dynamics, though this stability requires constant vigilance and adaptive strategies.  

This is not the time to validate Israel’s security narrative, not when its policies on the ground constitute apartheid, ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

A political landscape increasingly dominated by right-wing sentiment has decimated Western aid spending, but the UK can still take greater leadership in today's global challenges, which require international cooperation by definition as well as the humanity that binds all peoples.

According to Law Minister Suparman Agtas, a politician from Prabowo’s Gerindra Party, there is little point in the government proposing legislation if it fails to ensure its completion

Globally, the traditional view is shifting and for Indonesia's banking sector, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Economic conditions now are strikingly different from when the nontaxable income amount was determined nine years ago.

The arrival of DeepSeek and robotics appears to have woken up the entrepreneurial spirit that has gone into hibernation among some businesses.

Host communities, often indigenous and marginalized, are left with nothing.

Reports suggest mining companies have exerted undue influence over authorities, sometimes even “coopting community leaders as “mouthpieces" to support destructive projects. 

By applying a one-size-fits-all carbon-pricing regime to countries with vastly different capacities, the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism undermines the principles of a just energy transition.

Headwinds from tariffs, bond yields and 'stagflation' are gathering force, but the business world of the United States could not be in better shape to face the economic storm that may be building.

Australia’s decision to turn from the United Kingdom to the United States in 1942 was born out of necessity, not sentiment. Today, echoes of that pivotal moment remind us that strategic autonomy may once again require difficult realignments.

As Indonesia moves along its path to becoming a global middle power by its centennial in 2045, it must not forget the key ingredient that will bind its aspirations into a cohesive whole: world-class intelligence capabilities.

The Indonesian economy is nowhere near a crisis. Growth has slowed marginally in recent months but is still robust and inflation is under control.

Long outdated is the notion of the ocean as the planet’s greatest “carbon sink”, as are the climate strategies associated with that perceived construct; rather, our oceans must be at the heart of global mitigation efforts, as they already are in the food security, cultural identity and economic resilience of coastal communities everywhere.