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Palestinian Territories

Indonesia

Economics

Politics

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is confirmed to travel to the United States on Feb. 19 to finalize a long-negotiated trade pact that slashes U.S. tariffs on Indonesian goods from 32% to 19% and requires Indonesia to eliminate tariffs on 99% of U.S. exports, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 11.

Indonesia, U.S.: Subianto To Finalize Trade Deal, Participate in Board of Peace Meeting

Israel

Military & Security

Indonesia's military says it is preparing a potential deployment of roughly 5,000 to 8,000 troops to Gaza as part of the U.S.-envisioned international stabilization force, with training oriented toward engineering, medical and reconstruction tasks, the Jakarta Globe reported on Feb. 10.

Indonesia, Gaza: Jakarta Moving Toward Deploying Thousands of Troops to Gaza

Australia

Australia and Indonesia signed a security treaty committing both countries to consult the other if either faces a threat, following talks between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, The Jakarta Post reported Feb. 6.

Australia, Indonesia: Security Pact Deepens Strategic Relationship

The value of Indonesia's rupiah fell to its weakest level since the 1998 Asian financial crisis after President Prabowo Subianto nominated his nephew, Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Djiwandono, as deputy governor of the country's central bank, the Financial Times reported on Jan. 20.

Indonesia: Central Bank Nomination Stokes Loss of Independence Concerns

China

The United States is demanding Indonesia purchase U.S.-made maritime surveillance drones and use them to publicly harden its South China Sea and Natuna Sea posture vis-a-vis China as conditions for cutting threatened tariffs from 32% to 19%, according to an Indonesian government document cited by The Straits Times on Jan. 14.

Indonesia, U.S.: Washington's Security Demands Complicate Trade Deal Finalization

Since March 2025, the Indonesian government under President Prabowo Subianto has seized more than 4 million hectares of palm oil plantations, mining concessions and processing facilities nationwide, transferring much of the land to state-owned Agrinas Palma Nusantara under a military-led task force, Bloomberg reported on Jan. 5.

Indonesia: Government Land Seizures Top 4 Million Hectares

Indonesia has formally enforced its new Criminal Code, which was passed in 2022 and replaces a Dutch colonial-era legal framework that had governed criminal law in the country for more than a century, the Jakarta Globe reported Jan. 2.

Indonesia: New Criminal Code Takes Effect, Replacing Colonial-Era Legal Framework

Global Trade

Indonesian officials said Jakarta and Washington had resolved all substantive issues in bilateral tariff talks and planned to formally sign a trade agreement in late January during a visit by President Prabowo Subianto to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, the South China Morning Post reported Dec. 23. 

Indonesia, U.S.: Jakarta Claims Trade Deal Issues Resolved, Paving Way for January Signing

Assessments

Visitors take pictures in front of an electronic board displaying falling stock prices at the Indonesia Stock Exchange in Jakarta on Jan. 29, 2026.

The episode exposes structural risks embedded in the president's governance that could threaten investor confidence -- and with it, Indonesia's economic growth and manufacturing competitiveness.

Lessons Learned From Indonesia's Market Rout

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Flight routes.

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Science & Technology

As 2026 approaches, we look back at the previous year and consider the top five patterns and trends as measured by geopolitical impact.

2025: A Geopolitical Review

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Podcasts

What is the outlook for Indonesia-Israel normalization, and what would that process look like?

Essential Geopolitics: Indonesia's Interest in Israel-Gaza

Brunei Darussalam

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Singapore

U.S. President Donald Trump (center) poses for a group photo with the leaders of (L-R) Singapore, East Timor, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Laos during the ASEAN leaders summit on Oct. 26, 2025. 

U.S.-China Relations

The summit highlighted the Southeast Asian bloc's attempts to boost internal unity and economic integration amid the U.S.-China rivalry, but it also exposed structural divides and external pressures that hinder unified action and leave ASEAN states vulnerable to coercion.

The Takeaways From the 2025 ASEAN Summit

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Bangladesh

Fire rages through the Singha Durbar, the main administrative building for the Nepal government, in Kathmandu on Sept. 9, 2025, after youth protesters set fire to the building. 

Recent events in Nepal, Madagascar and elsewhere show how digitally coordinated, leaderless protests can succeed, but eventually face even larger challenges in sustaining the momentum for change.

Worldwide Gen Z Protesters May Be Disappointed With Their Success

A protest in front of police headquarters Aug. 31 in in Surabaya, Indonesia. Mass protests are poised to continue absent unlikely and large government concessions, but President Prabowo Subianto's position will remain secure.

While mass protests are poised to continue absent unlikely and large government concessions, President Prabowo Subianto's position will remain secure. 

Unrest in Indonesia Will Continue, but Not Dislodge the Government

Argentina

Bolivia

Brazil

Uruguay

United Arab Emirates

The Geopolitics of Trade

Mercosur is increasingly opening its markets in pursuit of free trade agreements with partners around the world, particularly as U.S. protectionism shifts global trade dynamics.

The Geopolitics of Trade: What Changing Trade Dynamics Mean for Mercosur

Snapshots

Containers are unloaded from a ship at a terminal of Tanjung Priok Port, the main seaport in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Jan. 24, 2025. 

In exchange for a lower U.S. tariff rate, Indonesia accepted significant concessions, including purchasing commitments and regulatory changes, that risk limiting its long-term autonomy and industrial policy goals.

To Avoid Steeper Tariffs, Indonesia Reaches High-Stakes Trade Deal With the U.S.

The impending full implementation of sweeping U.S. tariffs threatens to significantly disrupt export-driven ASEAN economies, which is driving countries to seek alternative trade partners.

The Geopolitics of Trade: U.S. Tariffs Give Impetus to ASEAN Trade Diversification

France

French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press briefing during his trip to Singapore on May 30, 2025. 

Energy

The deals reached with Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam expand France's role in Southeast Asia amid shifting global trade and defense dynamics, a welcome development for a region increasingly pinned between the U.S. and China.

Macron's Southeast Asia Tour Deepens French Footprint in the Region

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto speaks during an economic event in Jakarta on April 8, 2025.

The president's efforts to consolidate power via welfare populism and security-minded governance could face challenges if economic headwinds strengthen, especially amid looming U.S. tariff threats.

How Subianto Is Making His Mark on Indonesian Politics

The flags of the countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, are seen on display.

Malaysia's chairmanship will be pivotal in navigating security risks as well as those from U.S. trade restrictions, potential Chinese economic coercion, and supply chain realignments that threaten ASEAN's cohesion and strategic autonomy.

Previewing Malaysia's 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship

The geopolitical foundation of modern Indonesia is the seas and ports that integrate the country's islands that stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. Of Indonesia's more than 17,000 islands, about 6,000 are populated by more than 300 ethnolinguistic cultures. The Dutch first consolidated large parts of modern Indonesia by the 19th century, and maintaining political unity of its culturally diverse islands poses the nation's primary geographic challenge. Indonesia's main island, Java, is home to about 60 percent of the country's population, with its largest ethnic group being the Javanese. Java is also Indonesia's agricultural heartland, producing coffee, sugarcane, rubber and rice. A spine of east-west volcanic mountains runs along the southern reaches of the island. These mountains orient Java's population to the north, toward the Java Sea. The Java Sea is the core of Indonesia, with the Karimata Strait, the Makassar Strait and the Flores Sea linking the main island of Java to its outer islands, stretching from Sumatra to Sulawesi to western New Guinea. These islands have been critical sources of oil, natural gas, copper and tin. Indonesia's disconnected landmasses and vast maritime stretches present difficulties and limitations to centralized control, as seen with the independence of East Timor in the 1990s and ongoing separatist concerns in Aceh and Irian Jaya. Holding this island nation together has required a strong central authority to balance regional aspirations and national interests &mdash; although it has tried to balance tight control with empowerment of regions in recent decades. Ultimately, Indonesia is burdened by the conflicting requirements of managing the populations of each island while expending resources to control its maritime core.

SITUATION REPORTS

Indonesia, U.S.: Subianto To Finalize Trade Deal, Participate in Board of Peace Meeting

Indonesia, Gaza: Jakarta Moving Toward Deploying Thousands of Troops to Gaza

Australia, Indonesia: Security Pact Deepens Strategic Relationship

Indonesia: Central Bank Nomination Stokes Loss of Independence Concerns

Indonesia, U.S.: Washington's Security Demands Complicate Trade Deal Finalization

Indonesia: Government Land Seizures Top 4 Million Hectares

Indonesia: New Criminal Code Takes Effect, Replacing Colonial-Era Legal Framework

Indonesia, U.S.: Jakarta Claims Trade Deal Issues Resolved, Paving Way for January Signing

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