Ben Terrall and John M.

Djamester A. Simarmata, Jakarta – Most of Indonesia's fiscal problems are inherited from previous governments, especially from the Soeharto era.

Gary LaMoshi, Bali – US President George W Bush has come and gone for his quickie summit with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, leaving his hosts to pick up the bill and th

Gary LaMoshi, Bali – US President George W Bush's scheduled 10-hour trip to Indonesia on Monday has entailed vast security preparations and logistical inconveniences and has evoked mass

Charmain Mohamed – Despite all its recent progress, Indonesia remains far from a fully functioning democracy. Religious intolerance is on the rise. Military reform is stalled.

Amy Goodman – The troops marched slowly, their US-made M-16s raised. It was Nov. 12, 1991, a day that would forever be seared into my memory, and into history.

Let's hope that the head of the Hutt River Province, His Royal Highness Prince Leonard, does not have many ardent followers in Indonesia.

The idea of heroes is far from the minds of most people these days, with so many non-heroic deeds going on around them.

The outlook is bright on this side of the world for convicted murderers, particularly those who plot to assassinate the law enforcers who punished them for other crimes.

Damien Kingsbury – On Monday, Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirayuda, will sign a so-far secret treaty intended to bring the t

Mark Forbes, Jakarta – John Howard and Alexander Downer should trumpet a new security treaty with Indonesia, but their attempts to play down elements unpalatable to some Australians – s

The Regional Investment Forum here last week presented several business-friendly provincial governors and regional officials, who fully realize that conducive policies and bureaucratic

Hamish McDonald – With the near Pacific going pear-shaped on just about every front for Canberra, let us take a look at the crisis that kicked off the year, the Indonesian province of P

James Dunn – For Prime Minister John Howard, the recent Pacific Forum meeting must have been a rather uncomfortable experience.

Andreas Harsono, Jakarta – The restoration by the US of full military ties with Indonesia, in the common interest of combating global terrorism, has been used by Jakarta's generals to f

Mario de Queiroz, Lisbon – After centuries of Portuguese colonialism and more than two decades of Indonesian military occupation, instability and violence continue to plague East Timor,

The processes of justice in Indonesia's court system continue to baffle anyone looking for consistency or punishments fitting the crime.

Jakarta – The early release from jail of the son of former Indonesian President Suharto has thrown the spotlight on what critics say is a justice system still capable of being manipulat

Bill Guerin, Jakarta – As Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono enters his third year in office, the world's most populous Muslim country is widely viewed simultaneously as one

Matthew B Arnold – With America's adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan faltering and United Nations peace-keeping missions stretched thin and struggling from Haiti to the Ivory Coast and

Tim Johnston – East Timor used to be the poster child for international intervention, but a report published this week by a group of United Nations investigators illustrates just how sh

The East Timorese Government was handed a heaven-sent opportunity this week to begin the long overdue process of healing the rifts so vividly exposed by last May's wave of violence.

Reports on violence in East Timor have tended, in the past, to be followed by inaction.

Shawn W Crispin – With Thailand under military-appointed rule, the Philippines fresh off a stint of martial law and an unresolved vote-rigging scandal and the rest of Southeast Asia und

Damien Kingsbury – The relationship between Australia and Indonesia is the most testing of Australia's foreign relations, and one which has consistently been mishandled.

If the latest opinion poll by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) is any indication, then the combined votes of all the Islamist parties in Indonesia will plunge to 9 percent in the 2

Another life was eliminated on Monday by those who have an interest in the violence in Central Sulawesi prevailing.

Goenawan Mohamad, Ubud, Bali – Pramoedya Ananta Toer is no longer with us, but such is his stature that his absence constitutes an assignment.

There is a serious problem in Indonesia that needs to be addressed: People tend to be hypocritical and distrustful of everything.

The Indonesian government recently issued a ministerial decree to implement a citizenship law passed in July.

Dili – East Timor violence could return to East Timor ahead of general elections next year, a conflict-prevention group warned Tuesday, recommending that the country's president and for

Choking once again on what has become a yearly haze, Indonesia's neighbors could be forgiven for thinking that Jakarta could care less about other countries in the region.

East Timor will need to tackle security sector reform to get back on track after deadly unrest earlier this year, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report.

Ahmad Pathoni, Jakarta – Giving jobs to some 600 military rebels whose dismissal triggered deadly violence in East Timor this year is crucial to resolving a crisis there, the Internatio

Endy M.

Debate about human rights in this country seems to be too often all sound and fury that signifies nothing.

B. Herry-Priyono, Jakarta – The recent exchange of words between former president B. J.

Four Indonesians have been arrested in the United States charged with conspiring to ship arms illegally to Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger guerrillas and customers in this country.

Helen Hill – If accurate, recent revelations by John Martinkus about East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao are disturbing but not altogether unexpected.

Dita Indah Sari, Jakarta – For more then 60 years they have lived overseas after the land where they spilled their blood denied them an entry.

Efforts to stop the unprecedented flow of hot mud in the East Java town of Sidoarjo are continuing, but truly extraordinary measures are needed to help the more than 3,000 affected fami

David O'Brien, Jakarta – The issue of continued slow recovery of the Indonesian economy and in particular the perception of Indonesia as a suitable investment destination has again hit

In communist and authoritarian countries it has been common for rulers to order historians to write official history textbooks is such a way as to dignify those in power and help ensure

Neles Tebay, Rome – The International Crisis Group (ICG) published early this month its report on Papua titled Papua: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions.

Max Lane – Several prominent Indonesian historians have come under criminal investigation for writing an official history textbook in 2004 in which they no longer insisted that the Comm

This week The Australian published an opinion piece by Mark Aarons attacking journalist John Martinkus, and New Matilda, for articles we have published on the recent violence in East Ti

Mark Aarons – East Timor remains unstable, although much calmer than in May and June when it was racked with civil strife.

A trial last week at the South Jakarta District Court passed largely unnoticed, although the court's decision indicated a seismic shift in the Indonesian judiciary.

Thousands mourned, while hundreds of other ran amok in East Nusa Tenggara on Friday over the execution of the three men convicted of leading attacks on Muslims during the 2000 sectarian

John Martinkus – Two weeks ago we revealed written orders from East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao to the rebel commander Alfredo Reinado that showed a close relationship between the