By The Way

Editorial: Indonesia’s Foreign Policy Shrinking at the Top, Expanding at the Bottom

Thousands of young people stood in a long line outside Kasablanka Hall in South Jakarta on Saturday morning. They had travelled...
Editorial Omong-Omong Editorial Omong-Omong
4 min read

Editorial: In the Country’s Foreign Policy, Prabowo is Indonesia

If Louis XIV of France once personified his country with the legendary claim “L’État, c’est moi”, or “I am the state”,...
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4 min read

Editorial: Prabowo Doesn’t Need to Be Another Soeharto

Soeharto becoming a national hero seems unreal. His acts were so devastating to the nation that calling his name in a...
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4 min read

Editorial: When the World Hails Bandung, Indonesia Forgets

The room was packed, with scholars from across the region and Philippine students patiently listening and enthusiastically asking questions on the...
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4 min read

Editorial: ‘Revolusi’ Versus Indonesia’s Attempt to Rewrite History

As I gazed at David Van Reybrouck talking about the struggle of Indonesian freedom fighters at a session discussing his superb...
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4 min read

Resisting Voices of Ubud Writers and Readers Festival 2025

Expressing her anger upon discovering that President Prabowo Subianto’s government had attempted to manipulate history through its efforts to rewrite the...
Abdul Khalik Abdul Khalik
4 min read

Draconian AI vs Humane AI at Ubud Writers Festival 2025

The Ubud Writer & Reader Festival (UWRF) positions itself at the forefront of global and regional discussion on artificial intelligence when...
Abdul Khalik Abdul Khalik
3 min read

Stories That Hold the Universe: Inside Ubud Writers & Readers Festival 2025

Organizing a literary festival is never easy, because it’s the least commercial of all festivals. Holding it consistently for several years...
Abdul Khalik Abdul Khalik
4 min read

Editorial: How High Will Purbaya Be Allowed to Fly?

Replacing a globally respected figure like Sri Mulyani Indrawati seemed nearly impossible. For two decades and three presidents, she was synonymous...
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4 min read

Editorial: How ASEAN Was Reduced to Mere Coworking Space

When US President Donald Trump totally took all the credit over the conflict resolution between Thailand and Cambodia, and treated the...
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5 min read