TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


Loyalty over expertise: The patronage problem at the heart of Prabowo's foreign policy

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Two factors have placed Indonesian foreign policy in this uncomfortable position: the president's deep-seated distrust of the foreign policy establishment, and his inability — or unwillingness — to separate loyalty from expertise in assembling his foreign policy team.

When silence speaks: Indonesia and the future of the e-commerce moratorium

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Ultimately, the issue is not simply whether Indonesia supports or opposes the proposed e-commerce tariffs moratorium. It is also about how Indonesia navigates a changing global trade landscape where rules are now increasingly shaped outside traditional multilateral forums.

Meta restricted Indonesian news outlet for acid attack coverage. Disguised repression of independent media?

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The Indonesian government has repeatedly tested the boundaries of its authority by introducing measures that appear to expand its influence over the information ecosystem, often under the banner of combating disinformation.

Talking Indonesia: 'kramat' and the politics of Indonesian history

In this week's episode, Tito Ambyo chats with Panggah Ardiansyah, a research associate at the University of Sheffield's Digital Humanities Institute, whose research challenges us to read Indonesian antiquities through Indonesian epistemologies.

Danantara and the return of the 'jago' economy

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The 'jago' economy is the mode of economic governance that the Prabowo Subianto administration seems to be institutionalising through Danantara, the huge sovereign wealth fund it established in 2025.

Indonesian prisons are going green. Here’s how to make it work.

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For the Correctional Services Roadmap 2025-2045 to have any real prospect of producing greener, safer and more effective prisons, an urgent rewrite is needed.

The president who cried wolf? Why Prabowo’s anti-foreign rhetoric is dangerous

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By crying ‘foreign interference’ at every challenge to his authority, Prabowo risks eroding the credibility his government needs to face real external threats. 

Talking Indonesia: Papua, development and politics from below

In this week’s episode, Dr Jemma Purdey chats with Rassela Malinda, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne who lived and worked with indigenous communities in Papua and whose research gives us rare insights into their struggles from below.

Can Indonesia survive energy crisis as Iran war sends oil prices through the roof?

This is the moment of truth for the Prabowo administration. Poor policymaking could turn the energy crisis into a severe cost-of-living crisis, triggering social unrest and political instability. The government urgently needs a robust strategy to cushion the economy from internal and external pressures

Loyalty over expertise: The patronage problem at the heart of Prabowo's foreign policy

, ,
Two factors have placed Indonesian foreign policy in this uncomfortable position: the president's deep-seated distrust of the foreign policy establishment, and his inability — or unwillingness — to separate loyalty from expertise in assembling his foreign policy team.

When silence speaks: Indonesia and the future of the e-commerce moratorium

, ,
Ultimately, the issue is not simply whether Indonesia supports or opposes the proposed e-commerce tariffs moratorium. It is also about how Indonesia navigates a changing global trade landscape where rules are now increasingly shaped outside traditional multilateral forums.

Meta restricted Indonesian news outlet for acid attack coverage. Disguised repression of independent media?

,
The Indonesian government has repeatedly tested the boundaries of its authority by introducing measures that appear to expand its influence over the information ecosystem, often under the banner of combating disinformation.

Talking Indonesia: 'kramat' and the politics of Indonesian history

In this week's episode, Tito Ambyo chats with Panggah Ardiansyah, a research associate at the University of Sheffield's Digital Humanities Institute, whose research challenges us to read Indonesian antiquities through Indonesian epistemologies.

Danantara and the return of the 'jago' economy

, ,
The 'jago' economy is the mode of economic governance that the Prabowo Subianto administration seems to be institutionalising through Danantara, the huge sovereign wealth fund it established in 2025.

Indonesian prisons are going green. Here’s how to make it work.

, ,
For the Correctional Services Roadmap 2025-2045 to have any real prospect of producing greener, safer and more effective prisons, an urgent rewrite is needed.

The president who cried wolf? Why Prabowo’s anti-foreign rhetoric is dangerous

, , ,
By crying ‘foreign interference’ at every challenge to his authority, Prabowo risks eroding the credibility his government needs to face real external threats. 

Talking Indonesia: Papua, development and politics from below

In this week’s episode, Dr Jemma Purdey chats with Rassela Malinda, a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne who lived and worked with indigenous communities in Papua and whose research gives us rare insights into their struggles from below.

Can Indonesia survive energy crisis as Iran war sends oil prices through the roof?

This is the moment of truth for the Prabowo administration. Poor policymaking could turn the energy crisis into a severe cost-of-living crisis, triggering social unrest and political instability. The government urgently needs a robust strategy to cushion the economy from internal and external pressures
NEWS & EVENTS

TALKING INDONESIA PODCASTSee all


EDITOR’S PICKSSee all

Military-cleric alliance may fuel new anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Indonesia

21 July 2026/by Rafiqa Qurrata Ayun, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/rafiqa/

Indonesia’s economic centralisation under Prabowo

7 July 2026/by Norman Joshua, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/normanjoshua/

Is Jakarta turning into Gotham? How viral crime panics become pretext for expanding military visibility

23 June 2026/by Ian Wilson, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/ian/

Prabowo’s foreign stooge myth: Are Indonesians buying it?

26 May 2026/by Djayadi Hanan, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/djayadi/, Yoes C Kenawas, https://indonesiaatmelbourne.unimelb.edu.au/author/yoes/

Indonesia at Melbourne is supported by:

Melbourne Law School Asia Institute Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society Indonesia Forum Faculty of Arts Indonesia Democracy Hallmark Research Initiative

Indonesia at Melbourne

Room 726, Level 7, 185 Pelham St,
The University of Melbourne
Parkville 3010 VIC Australia

Phone: +61 3 83448581

Email:  indo-at-melb@unimelb.edu.au

Date created: 1 July 2015

Editor: Ary Hermawan

Editorial board: 
Professor Tim Lindsey
Dr Tim Mann
Aron Corbett

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated.

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