Medan Wise
English Premier League soccer legend Dennis Wise visited Medan recently and I was fortunate enough to host him during his stay.
For those of you...
Global Recovery from the Pandemic Creates a Surge in Palm Oil Demand
By Dupito D. Simamora
As the world recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, the palm oil industry, together with other commodity-producing industries, is experiencing a pleasant...
The Way Forward: Steps Necessary to Preserve Democratic Norms, Institutions
Defenders of democracy should work to ensure that elections are not delayed or canceled and that elections planned in 2021 in Malaysia should be...
A Tough Year for Democracy in Southeast Asia
2018 was a brutal year, in many ways, for civil society activists, rights advocates, and democratic politicians throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodia’s government transformed from...
The China-India Border Dispute Can Give ASEAN Leverage In the South China Sea
By Zikri Basir
China is going through a tricky and challenging period. Last year China was already in the midst of what observers regard as...
The Emperor Has No Clothes: Are We the April Fools?
On Friday 31st January 2020, 'The Times' newspaper ran a story about UK health officials scrambling to trace people who had come into contact...
Indonesia Faces a Huawei Quandary As US-China Rivalry Keeps Simmering
By Muhammad Jasuma Fadholi
The dynamics of the relationship between the two world powers, the United States and China, in the months ahead will be...
Climate Change: Will Indonesia Be Just a Bystander or a Leader?
By Dino Patti Djalal
In the midst of the Covid-19 storm that continues to engulf the world, we must be careful not to lose sight...
Najib, Malaysia’s Next Steps in Fighting Corruption, and Lessons for Indonesia
Last week, the Malaysian government arrested former prime minister Najib Tun Razak on charges of corruption and criminal breaches of trust, in allegations related...
COVID-19: Freedoms under Assault
I read an article printed in the Jakarta Post: "Politics of pandemics. How online ‘buzzers’ infect Indonesia’s democracy, jeopardize its citizens".
The article basically takes the...
Is Palestine Not Indonesia’s Business? It Depends on Jokowi’s Kind of Realism
Former Head of BIN, Hendropriyono, said that Palestine is not Indonesia's business. But, it all depends on Jokowi's kind of realism.
What Do the Australian Elections Mean for Canberra’s Policies Toward Indonesia and the Rest...
In elections last month, Australia’s Liberal-National coalition won a surprising victory, defying pollsters who had almost uniformly predicted that the Australian Labor Party would triumph. The...
How Much Is the Dollar Value of a Human Life?
346 people died in two Boeing 737 Max plane crashes, one in Ethiopia and the other in Indonesia. Their families got a total of...
Democracy Is Rule by Majority Otherwise Inequality Prevails
By Zakiah Nuril Zafirah
In the United States presidential election of 2020, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. came out as winner, having gained some 81.2 million...
Government of the People
On the 18th April 2020, a piece appeared in "Science" magazine, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) the world's largest...
Popular News
The Myanmar Coup Is a Naked Grab For Power, but the...
By Rizal G. Buendia
Similar to practically all Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar (also known as Burma) experienced decades of authoritarian or semi-authoritarian rule as well...
