Head-to-head: Students brave security cordons during a rally near the House of Representatives in Senayan, Central Jakarta, on Aug. 28, 2025.

Social media must be utilized as a tool of democracy

Governments must understand that TikTok, Instagram reels, memes and livestreams are not distractions, they are the pulse of modern civic life.

1 day ago

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Change of narratives and the state’s return

Prabowo’s government and its loyalists seek to redefine the protests not as genuine expressions of public frustration, but as politically orchestrated chaos. ...

1 day ago

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After mass protests will our democracy survive?

If mass protests intensify beyond control, the President can declare a state of emergency, if not martial law. ...

23 hours ago

The Latest

United States President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting on Aug. 26, 2025, in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC.

Academia

American capitalism is being remade by state power

Washington's recent move to take a 10 percent share in chipmaker Intel signals the Trump administration could be experimenting with recalibrating US capitalism, possibly by incorporating elements of state-directed capitalism.

21 hours ago

A clerk counts rupiah banknotes on May 2, 2024, at a money changer in Jakarta.

Academia

Financial inclusion or digital illusion: Rethinking Indonesia's online lending

Amid a collective movement of debtors reusing to repay illegal online lenders is emerging a new model called ecosystem lending that blends digital flexibility with banking discipline, offering a way to get back on track toward realizing the aspirational goal of financial inclusion.

22 hours ago

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

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Markets work only if the state works

Markets can only function fairly and effectively if strong institutions, impartial regulation and a capable state underpin them

2 days ago

A group of repatriated Indonesians, including 71 migrant workers, wait in line for the next leg of their journey on Aug. 9, 2025, after arriving at Batam Center International Ferry Port in the Riau Islands from Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Academia

Tariff wars reshape migration, raise risk of abuses

A phenomenon known as "replacement migration" that moves upward across the economic hierarchy is growing in transnational migrant recruitment against the backdrop of Trump's tariff war, leading to the rise of global human supply chains and creating more complex labor issues in terms of hiring practices as well as workers' welfare.

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Protesters tear down the gate of the North Sumatra Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) building during a demonstration on Aug. 26 in Medan, North Sumatra. The rally called for the removal of excessive salaries for members of the House of Representatives.

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Boiling point of rage: Mr. President, act now!

Every mass upheaval is the result of an accumulation of long-held dissatisfaction.

1 day ago

A crowd of protesters surround the burnt frame of a car outside the Central Jakarta headquarters of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) on Aug. 29, 2025, the day after a Brimob tactical vehicle ran over and killed on-demand motorcycle driver Affan Kurniawan, 21, as he was trying to flee the area of a labor protest that had turned violent.

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From tragedy to reform: Rethinking democracy and public ethics in Indonesia

The tragic death of gig driver Affan Kurniawan on Aug. 28 is more than a procedural failure, but a wake-up call that should be wielded as a lightning rod for reforms that embrace moral integrity in the pursuit of ethical leadership, citizen engagement and public dialogue toward a just democracy.

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A health worker administers an oral vaccine to a student on Jan. 16, 2024, during a municipal polio immunization campaign at elementary schools in Malang, East Java.

Academia

The high cost of cutting vaccine funding

Rather than cutting vaccine funding, governments should be looking at increasing funds to provide vaccines to the world's most vulnerable children, saving half a million lives and delivering millions in additional social benefits each year.

1 day ago

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Danantara devoid of good governance and transparency

Instead of standing as an economic fortress for the nation, Danantara increasingly resembles a sovereign weak fund: fragile, unfocused and potentially a fiscal burden in the years ahead.

1 day ago

A aerial view of the nickel smelter of PT Vale Indonesia on Aug. 2, 2024, in Sorowako, South Sulawesi.

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Global securitization of rare earths: A descent into geopolitical turmoil

The global race for critical minerals like rare earth elements has descended into a geopolitical struggle, where these once-obscure resources now loom as existential threats to national survival.

3 days ago

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Is the House still relevant, or should it be abolished?

Without the legislative body, the executive branch would lack a crucial check on its power, which would jeopardize the democratic framework.

3 days ago

The causeway linking Malaysia's southern state of Johor (top) and Singapore (botom) is seen from Singapore on April 1, 2020.

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Building ASEAN’s future through shared SEZs

The Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), launched in 2024, offers a preview of what deeper cooperation could look like.

4 days ago

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

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How Islamic finance can drive energy transition

Green and sustainable sukuk can drive significant capital into large-scale carbon reduction projects and other crucial sustainability efforts.

4 days ago

The Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (back), is seen from Ukedo fishing port in Namie, Fukushima prefecture on Aug. 24, 2023. Japan began releasing wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean on Aug. 24 despite angry opposition from China and local fishermen.

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Nuclear power: Secure it with proven technology

Until thorium shows it can produce reliable electricity at scale, Indonesia’s sovereignty requires us to treat it as research, not as our energy backbone.

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Residents pass by the headquarters of state asset fund Danantara on July 1 in South Jakarta.

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Government taps into the patriotism of business groups

Patriot bonds are not conventional securities. They are designed less to maximize investor return than to rally support for the national agenda

5 days ago

A man tries on artificial intelligence glasses on July 29 during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center in Shanghai, China.

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The tradeoffs of AI regulation

American firms could cause global harm before European regulators catch up

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Pigeons fly during the flag-hoisting ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Independence Day on Aug. 17 at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta.

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Why the Dutch have to recognize Indonesian independence from Aug. 17, 1945

The Dutch army had not just incidentally, but structurally applied extreme violence against Indonesians during the Indonesian war of independence between 1945 and 1950.

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India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping looking on along the East Lake on April 28, 2018, in Wuhan, China.

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Tianjin test: Modi to meet Xi amid fragile reset

China remains inextricably embedded in Indian supply chains despite the years-long stand-off between the two militaries.

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A customer scans a Quick Response Indonesia Standard (QRIS) code to settle a transaction on April 24, 2024, at a coffee shop in Sukabumi, West Java.

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How Indonesia’s banks can break free from legacy constraints

Despite the country’s rapid digital adoption in recent years, a significant percentage of the banking system continues to operate on legacy infrastructure developed decades ago.

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This undated US Air Force file photo released on June 20, 2019, shows a photo of an RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. A US spy drone was some 34 kilometers from the nearest point in Iran when it was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile on June 20, 2019, a US general said.

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Can kamikaze drones claim the right of sea lane passage?

As drone warfare expands, Indonesia must decide whether its archipelagic sea lanes are open corridors or off-limits to weapons.

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A child stands in the middle of a crush of people jostling for food aid at a charity kitchen in the southern city of Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip on Aug. 21, 2025, a day before the United Nations declared a famine in the Palestinian territory.

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Palestine: A brief history of a foreknown war of extermination

Israel's ongoing campaign in the Gaza Strip stems from decades of history dating back to the 1948 uprising, and is essentially a continuation of the Zionist regime's aim to eliminate the Palestinian presence between the sea and the river.

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People with disabilities serve in the flag-hoisting squad during a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Independence Day on Aug. 17, in Gorontalo, Gorontalo Province.

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Why the Dutch have to recognize Indonesian independence from Aug. 17, 1945

The Dutch government-sponsored Indonesia investigation independence, decolonization, violence, and war in Indonesia, 1945-1950.

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Several journalists hold banners demanding fair pay and calling on media companies to protect sexual violence victims during a march to commemorate International Labor Day in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on May 1, 2025.

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Quality journalism is the only savior for news outlets

In the digital and AI age, news outlets in Indonesia, as elsewhere, may never regain their glory days of wealth and resources but, by focusing on quality, they can still be a source of reliable information essential to the good functioning of democracy.

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A visitor strolls on a footpath dissecting a mangrove forest on Dec. 7, 2024, at Angke Kapuk Nature Park in North Jakarta.

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Climate resilience is a strategic investment

For emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs), investing in resilience is not a luxury, it is an imperative.

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Protesters try to block a police water cannon vehicle during their demonstration on Aug. 25 demanding the dissolution of parliament on a street in front of the House of Representatives building in Jakarta.

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The Hunger Games in the making in Independence Month

Indonesia initiated sweeping reforms in 1998 not only because of high prices but because symbols of extravagance amid suffering made the pain unbearable.

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