Bilateral relationships as important as that between Jakarta and Canberra deserve better than the brouhaha surrounding the unilateral action by Indonesia's army chief, General Gatot Nurmantyo, in s

Yohanes Sulaiman – The Indonesian government has confirmed that it will not suspend military cooperation with Australia after a top general said earlier in the week that ties between the two nation

Theo Kalangi, Jakarta – In March 2016, a study conducted by Central Connecticut State University (CCTU) entitled "Most Literate Nation of the World" placed Indonesia as the 60th most literate natio

Heather Barr – Lawmakers in Indonesia have decided they need to make their presence felt – in the nation's bedrooms.

Many of us might have had a feeling of deja vu when the police arrested 11 people, mostly on accusations of attempted treason, hours before thousands turned up for a rally last Friday demanding the

Budi Hernawan – Despite frequent international and national exposure, torture in Papua has been continuous and systematic for half a century.

Kyle Knight – An Indonesian militant Islamist group with a well-earned reputation for harassment and violence against minorities led police to raid a gathering of men for a so-called "sex party."

Ella Fabry – Tomorrow, November 28, one of the world's newest nations, Timor Leste, will celebrate the anniversary of its declaration of independence from foreign rule.

Tim Lindsey – The controversial decision to continue criminal proceedings for blasphemy against Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama reveals deep fault lines in Indonesian society.

Esther Anderson – On 28 November, East Timorese celebrate the anniversary of the day in 1975 when their country was declared an independent nation and they raised their flag for the first time.

Asvi Warman Adam, Frankfurt – Erving Goffman (1968) suggested that stigma was any form of physical and social attributes or signs that diminish the social identity of an individual, disqualifying t

Tim Mann – Indonesian police last week declared Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or Ahok, a suspect for blasphemy, over a speech he gave in which he quoted a verse from the Qur'an.

Marco Kusumawajiya – Unlike other megalopolises across the world, and in sharp contrast to the trend of global urbanisation, more people are actually leaving Jakarta than arriving.

Timor-Leste looks forward to successful elections next year and stand ready to strengthen its relationships as a member of ASEAN.

The police's decision to name incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy case on Wednesday came as no surprise given the uphill challenge facing law enforcers

Terry Russell – Fear. It's one of the most powerful tools in politics, and the fear of foreigners is one of the most powerful fears.

Russell Dunne – The lack of love between Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, or 'Ahok', and fundamentalist Islam is not news.

Tim Mann – Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States of America. This is not the outcome Indonesians wanted.

Lies Marcoes – On 4 November, Jakarta saw one of the largest protests in Indonesian history, as an estimated 100,000 Muslims took to the streets to demand that Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purna

Sonny Inbaraj Krishnan – This Saturday marks the 25th anniversary of the Dili massacre, when 270 East Timorese – including Malaysian-New Zealander Kamal Bamadhaj – were killed when Indonesian troop

Ary Hermawan, Jakarta – Gubernatorial candidates Anies Baswedan and Agus Yudhoyono now bear the responsibility of keeping the already tense Jakarta gubernatorial race from descending further into s

Patrick M.

Esther Anderson – When Indonesian President Joko Widodo visits Australia this coming week, he may be surprised to find that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are designated official f

Ian Wilson – In a city where demonstrations are a daily almost banal occurrence, one scheduled for 4 November has left Jakarta on an uncharacteristic edge.

It might be the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese cosmology but where Indonesians are concerned this might as well be the Year of the Horse.

Dr Budi Hernawan – Since the United Liberation Movement for West Papua was established in December 2014 in Vanuatu, Papua's international diplomacy has gained a new momentum.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The nation has refreshed calls for a resolution to the murder of prominent human rights activist Munir Said Thalib aboard a Garuda Indonesia flight in September 2004, sad

Sidney Jones – If anyone wonders why Indonesia has been ineffective in curbing extremism, the anti-Ahok campaign provides an object lesson.

Andhyta Firselly Utami – 'Being a young, female Indonesian myself, I expected myself to celebrate Nara Masista Rakhmatia's UN General Assembly speech. Instead, I was gravely disappointed.

Ken Setiawan – Last week, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) confirmed strong suspicions long held by the Indonesian human rights community.

Steven Schubert – Donald Trump would provoke instability and world disorder if he becomes the US president, according to Nobel Peace Prize winner and former president of Timor-Leste, Jose Ramos-Hor

The latest visit by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo raises both hope and worry. Can he win over the hearts and minds of people in Papua and West Papua?

Esther Anderson – It is now more than 50 years since Indonesia took over what had been briefly declared as independent West Papua in 1961.

Maire Leadbeater – Something remarkable happened this year at the United Nations General Assembly.

Twelve years ago the prominent human rights defender Munir Said Thalib was assassinated aboard his flight to the Netherlands, with investigators blaming juice laced with arsenic.

I met Eka (not her real name) in 2014. After traveling for hours on pothole-filled road, I finally reached her village in Cianjur, in West Java.

Hipolitus Yolisandry Ringgi Wangge – Indonesia's stance on Papua at the UN General Assembly in New York last month recalled its firm denials of human rights abuses in East Timor in the late 1990s.

Imanuddin Razak, Jakarta – The Indonesian Military (TNI) is celebrating its 71st anniversary on Wednesday in a modest but solemn manner. TNI commander Gen.

Bhatara Ibnu Reza, Sydney – For the past two months the Indonesian Military (TNI) has promoted a number of officers who were involved in past crimes to key positions in strategic state institutions

Mungo MacCallum – It may sound unpatriotic, but I could not help cheering when the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague brought down its decision last week against Australia.

Taufiq Hanafi, Leiden, The Netherlands – In the preface to the textbook Sejarah Nasional Indonesia (Indonesian National History, 1990), historian and former education minister Nugroho Notosusanto d

Hao Duy Phan – On April 11, 2016, Timor-Leste initiated compulsory non-binding conciliation proceedings against Australia under Annex V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLO

Budi Hernawan, Jakarta – In an unprecedented move, seven UN member states from the Pacific raised their concerted voices on Papua during the prestigious 71st session of the UN General Assembly in N

Hamish McDonald, Gleno, East Timor – As we drive along a potholed road leading out of this little town into the cool highlands of East Timor, Peter Dougan stops to look at coffee berries laid out t

Australia must meet Timor-Leste halfway over their disputed sea border and the lucrative oil and gas reserves that lie beneath, writes Ines de Almeida.

Development of the Greater Sunrise gas field is the key to the economic future of Timor-Leste, but an almost two-decade-long maritime territorial dispute with Australia could see ordinary Timorese

The government, House of Representatives and General Elections Commission (KPU) are testing the conscience of voters who will elect their leaders in the simultaneous regional elections scheduled fo

Wang Hui – The disputes between Australia and its smaller neighbor East Timor over maritime boundaries could serve as a useful lens for others to see through the double standard of some Western cou

Wu Qiang, Beijing – The still fledgling Southeast Asian nation of Timor-Leste has taken Australia to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague over their maritime boundary dispute.

Su Hao and Wang Zheng – The South China Sea disputes should be resolved between China and other claimants, but countries from outside have intervened, making the regional situation more sophisticat