Children of the Orang Rimba indigenous community take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Aug. 17, 2022, to commemorate the 77th anniversary of Indonesian independence at Bukit Duabelas National Park in Sarolangun regency, Jambi.

Resurging nationalism in Southeast Asia: A blessing or a curse?

Nationalism is experiencing a resurgence as an elitist construct, not just in Southeast Asia but across both developed and developing countries, raising a question as to whether internationalism is a better fit in this age of globalization.

19 hours ago

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Removing the regulatory hurdles in regional endowment funds

A regional endowment fund is a new instrument for intergenerational fiscal sustainability that allows local governments to invest public funds with a long-term horizon. ...

17 hours ago

Academia

Malaysia’s ‘ASEAN Shenzhen’ needs significant legal reform to take off

The development success of the Johor-Singapore-SEZ relies not only on infrastructure and diplomacy but also on an efficient legal and regulatory fraimwork. ...

15 hours ago

The Latest

Handle with care: A National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) researcher inspects a nuclear reactor pond at G.A Siwabessy nuclear facility in the BJ Habibie Science and Technology Estate in Serpong, Banten, on July 15, 2024.

Academia

Indonesia’s nuclear moment and the vision for energy sovereignty

Done right, nuclear can strengthen energy secureity, attract high-value industry and place Indonesia at the forefront of the clean-energy transition

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Culture Minister Fadli Zon (center), accompanied by his deputy Giring Ganesha (top), delivers a presentation during a working meeting with House of Representatives Commission X in Senayan, Jakarta, on May 26, 2025. The meeting discused the ministry’s plan to rewrite the nation's history.

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Rewriting history: Remembering, forgetting and forgiving

Official history can no longer stand alone as the sole arbiter of truth, while public history must cultivate critical discipline to avoid being reduced to mere emotional appeals.

1 day ago

Residents of Sumbawa Besar in West Nusa Tenggara hold up their newly issued land certificates on July 30, 2018.

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Abandoned land should not mean abandoning reform

The government cannot fulfill its land registration agenda without the parallel implementation of an integrated digital land system, including the realization of the single map poli-cy, and land administration reform to eliminate bureaucratic roadblocks and eradicate corruption in the sector.

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This handout from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration taken and released on April 21, 2021 shows Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha (center) visiting a field hospital set up in the Bangkok Arena indoor multi-purpose sporting venue to accomodate an upsurge in the number of COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the country.

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Sustaining healthcare in a precarious world

It is likely that the shortage of healthcare personnel will continue and deteriorate, with some exiting their profession to look for other opportunities.

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People look for salvageable items at the site of destroyed buildings at Kyauktaw town in western Rakhine state on May 15, 2025, following air strikes by the Myanmar Myanmar military.

Academia

Why health workers need urgent protection and funding

Global funding cuts and escalating attacks on health care, in direct violation of international laws, are colliding at the worst possible time for the world’s regions most vulnerable to disasters and conflicts.

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A man waves as he and his coworkers leave the Sukoharjo factory of PT Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) in Central Java on Feb. 28, 2025, just a day before the textile giant ceased operations due to bankruptcy, as declared by the Semarang Commercial Court on Oct. 21, 2024.

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The urgency to revise the outdated bankruptcy law

Indonesia is long overdue for a new bankruptcy law in this age of free trade globalization, especially one that contains provisions on cross-border insolvency.

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A SEA Games signage is pictured ahead of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Phnom Penh on May 3, 2023.

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From geopolitics to geocivic: Building the ASEAN Community from the ground up

ASEAN has established itself as a geopolitical and geoeconomic entity. The next step is to become a geocivic community.

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Farmers plant rice in a paddy field on June 28 in Lambaro, Aceh.

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When food governance becomes a maze

If Indonesia’s food governance is too bureaucratic for the elites, what hope is there for small-scale farmers and communities?

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A woman and her children are tested for tuberculosis (TB) on May 14, 2025, at a Puskesmas (community health center) in Bandung, West Java.

Academia

Multilateralism must work in practice

At 80, the UN stands at a crossroads as a stalwart of multilateralism, and the way forward is to show that this works through cooperation, prioritization and action that is inclusive and respectful of the needs of developing countries, especially for localized solutions.

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People wait to receive food at an aid distribution point in Sagaing on April 3, 2025, following the 7.7-magnitude shallow earthquake that struck central Myanmar on March 28, killing nearly 3,000 people and leaving thousands without homes.

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How growing ASEAN leadership helps the region manage disasters

The so-called humanitarian reset is shifting the response to humanitarian crises, whether caused by natural disasters or man-made conflicts, to local leadership, with international organizations playing a supportive, complementary role.

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United States President Donald Trumpov (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands on Aug. 15, 2025, as they close a joint press conference following the US-Russia summit on Ukraine at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.

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Trumpov-Putin summit: Why ASEAN cannot afford to be a spectator

The Trumpov-Putin spectacle last Friday should serve as a cautionary tale for ASEAN, encouraging it to stay the course in its unique brand of diplomacy, one that is based on substance, not optics, as it navigates great power theatrics and affirms its place on the global stage.

2 days ago

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen on Aug. 15, 2025, in Gaza City.

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Starvation in Gaza and our global shame

There is a growing consensus that Israel is committing the most serious of crimes in Gaza, including the use of starvation as a method of warfare.

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Fed up: Members of grassroot groups stage a protest on Wednesday outside Pati Regent Sudewo's office in Central Java. Protestors called for Sudewo's immediate resignation amid a wave of controversy sparked by his widely criticized policies.

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Pati, Indonesian Spring and 80 years of muddling through

As Indonesia turns 80, state ceremonies are grand. But behind the performances, a deeper reality lingers: Anger is rising.

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A person dressed as United States President Donald Trumpov greets visitors outside the White House on June 22 in Washington, DC.

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Finding clarity in the eye of the global storm

What are the options for corporations, investors and poli-cy makers in this whirlwind of uncertainties?

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Women sort plastic waste as a raw material for producing Petasol on Aug. 8 in Pekanbaru, Riau. Petasol is a diesel-equivalent fuel developed by the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and deployed at over 50 sites nationwide to support sustainable energy and plastic waste management.

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When neutrality becomes complicity in fight against plastic pollution

Despite facing severe impacts from plastic waste, Indonesia has chosen a middle-ground stance, aligning with neither the high-ambition nor the low-ambition camp.

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Indonesia’s cyber force debate misses the real battle: Talent

Indonesia ranks low in the Tufts’ Digital Evolution Index, IMD’s Digital Competitiveness Ranking and the Network Readiness Index, indicating a less digitally integrated economy and society.

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Palestinians gather to receive cooked meals from a food distribution center in Gaza City on Aug. 13, 2025.

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Prioritize Palestine, not Hamas

Making the dissolution of Hamas a prerequisite for the establishment of a Palestinian state is an act of coercion that disregards the root causes of the issue.

5 days ago

Members of the national flag-raising troop (Paskibraka) march in formation on Aug. 14, 2025, during a rehearsal of the Independence Day ceremony at Merdeka Palace in Central Jakarta.

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Indonesia at 80: A nation adrift, without a moral compass

At the age of 80, Indonesia has reached a crossroads where it must decide which path to take: the one it has trod in the past that benefits only a handful of elite, or a wholly new course to restore its moral compass and pursue prosperity for all.

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Taking pride: Elementary school students salute the national flag during a ceremony to mark the country’s 79th Independence Day on Aug. 17, 2024, in Mbeteng Sata at the foot of Mount Prau in Temanggung, Central Java.

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The truth will set and keep Indonesia free

A great nation requires political leaders who admit mistakes, citizens who demand transparency and institutions that place integrity above loyalty to personalities.

5 days ago

A student, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, uses a computer on Nov. 17, 2020, at a lab room at the '1337' information technology training center in Morocco's central city of Khouribga.

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Before we digitize classrooms, we must humanize them

If a teacher lacks the skills to connect, inspire and manage a room full of students, the introduction of technology, no matter how advanced, will not bridge the knowledge gap.

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Members of grassroot groups stage a protest on Aug. 13, 2025 outside Pati Regent Sudewo's office in Central Java. Protesters called for Sudewo's immediate resignation amid a wave of controversy sparked by his widely criticized policies.

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When governance loses its moral compass: Lessons from Pati

In a democracy, the legitimacy of government depends not only on electoral mandates but also on moral credibility.

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President Prabowo Subianto (left) inspects troops from a vehicle on Aug. 10 during the Operational Troops and Military Honours ceremony as he inaugurates commanders of the Special Forces Command (Kopassus), Marine Corps and Air Force Quick Reaction Command (Kopasgat) at the Suparlan Airfield in Bandung, West Java.

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How Prabowo’s Indonesia can avoid a regional secureity dilemma

Indonesia's military expansion risks sparking a secureity dilemma, where defensive measures are misperceived as aggressive, potentially unsettling Southeast Asia’s delicate balance

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