With the United States' global authority waning, Europe distracted, China asserting itself and Russia desperately seeking legitimacy, the geopolitical stage is more open yet more volatile than ever. On this stage stands Prabowo, a man who has long waited in the wings, always desiring to be seen, to speak, to lead.

In his moment of arrival, Prabowo finds himself surrounded by leaders remarkably similar to himself: Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Narendra Modi. These are leaders with controversial pasts, complex moral records and a deep appetite for spectacle. They project strength while eroding institutions and craft their personas in post-truth realities. For a man like Prabowo, the world has never felt more familiar.

What might have disqualified Prabowo in a more rational, democratic era, such as his military dismissal, allegations of human rights abuses and past authoritarian flirtations, now seem less significant. In fact, these are increasingly common features of power. It's as if the world has conspired to lower the bar just in time for him to step over it.

Prabowo’s recent diplomatic moves illustrate this strange fortune. Faced with an invitation to the G7 summit in Canada, a gathering of the Western club still clinging to its fading moral authority, he chose instead to meet with President Putin in Moscow. He turned his back on the world’s old order, opting for a photo with a wartime president now indicted by the International Criminal Court.

This was not a calculated realignment, nor a bold new doctrine. It was impulsive, perhaps even instinctive. But it was not meaningless.

In that moment, Indonesia declared, perhaps accidentally, that it would no longer sit quietly in the waiting room of global politics. It would knock on any door it chose, East or West, open or closed.