Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Dr. Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat
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Kuwait should go beyond oil in Indonesia
Kuwait should go beyond oil in Indonesia. The relationship is established, the economic signals are positive, and the policy alignment on energy transition already exists. What is needed now is a shift in investment strategy from hydrocarbon expansion to future energy systems. Indonesia has stated its intentions with clarity. Minister…
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Indonesia’s vice foreign minister visits Egypt: Key takeaways
Indonesia’s Vice Foreign Minister Anis Matta arrived in Cairo on 4th February with a schedule that reflected both diplomacy and signaling. His visit did not produce a single headline agreement. Yet it offered a clear view of how Southeast Asia’s largest country sees its role in a shifting global order…
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One meeting, one shift: Indonesia’s Muslim organisations change course on the Board of Peace
Indonesia’s presidential palace hosted what looked less like a policy consultation this week and more like a ritual of elite submission. President Prabowo Subianto summoned leaders of the country’s most influential Muslim organisations to discuss Indonesia’s participation in the United States backed Board of Peace. For nearly four hours, senior…
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My response to a member of Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council on joining the Board of Peace
I write this to refute an article published by ANTARA, Indonesia’s state owned news agency, and authored by a former Chair of Indonesia’s Regional Representative Council (DPD RI) for 2009 to 2016 and a current member of the DPD RI for 2024 to 2029 from West Sumatra. I respond directly…
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The logical fallacy of Indonesia paying $1 billion to the Board of Peace
Indonesia may commit to paying $1 billion — roughly Rp17 trillion — to the U.S.-backed Board of Peace. This is not diplomacy, humanitarian aid, or peacebuilding. It asks Indonesians to fund the aftermath of destruction caused overwhelmingly by Israel and the United States, while creating no mechanism to prevent future…
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Prabowo’s claim that Gaza is improving is a dangerous lie
On 22nd January 2026, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, President Prabowo Subianto declared that the suffering of Gaza’s people had “very much decreased,” repeating the phrase three times, as if insistence could substitute for truth. He made the remark immediately after announcing Indonesia’s participation in a US-backed initiative…
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An open letter to those who defend Indonesia’s joining the Board of Peace
This letter is directed at those who defend Indonesia’s participation in the so-called Board of Peace (BoP) for Gaza. The defense of this body is not about peace. It is about disciplining outrage and making mass violence administratively acceptable. Public opposition to the Board of Peace is repeatedly dismissed as…
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Prabowo does not care about Palestine
There is no polite way to say this: Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto does not care about Palestine. Not liberation. Not justice. Not ending occupation or dismantling apartheid. What he cares about is power, prestige, and his own image on the world stage. This is what his foreign policy is all…
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Indonesia should not join Trump’s Board of Peace
Not many outlets have reported it, but Bloomberg Technoz—the Indonesia-focused platform affiliated with Bloomberg—has reported that Donald Trump has invited Indonesia to join his so-called Board of Peace for Gaza. That report gained added weight this week, when Foreign Minister Sugiono abruptly cut short his visit to the United Kingdom…
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On Palestine, Indonesia’s 2026 foreign minister’s statement repeats the two-state lie
On January 14, 2026, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jakarta, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Sugiono delivered his Annual Press Statement (PPTM 2026). He spoke of conscience. He spoke of humanity. He spoke of Palestine as a moral test for the world. He invoked President Prabowo Subianto’s instruction that Indonesia…
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Sending troops under the ISF risks making Indonesia complicit in Gaza’s occupation
Indonesia is being invited not to keep the peace in Gaza, but to help launder an injustice. The proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF), a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, is presented as a humanitarian intervention: temporary, multilateral, and necessary to stabilize a shattered territory. But stripped of its…
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What Indonesia’s silence on Iran is meant to preserve
Indonesia’s response to the unrest unfolding in Iran has been notable less for what it has said than for how narrowly it has defined its role. As demonstrations that began in late December 2025 continue across multiple Iranian cities, Jakarta has confined its public engagement to consular matters and situational…
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Indonesia is right to reject Israel’s recognition of Somaliland
On 26th December 2025, the State of Israel made a singular diplomatic declaration: it became the first nation in the world to recognize Somaliland as an independent, sovereign state. The breakaway region in the Horn of Africa — which declared itself separate from Somalia in 1991 but has never been…
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Indonesia issued 51 visas to Israelis. That choice has moral consequences
Indonesia has issued 51 calling visas to Israeli nationals. The information did not come from a press conference or a parliamentary debate, but from immigration intelligence data covering applications approved through 30 November 2025. According to that data, Israel ranks fourth among recipients of Indonesia’s most restrictive visa category—behind Nigeria,…
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Indonesia must speak loudly: If the US can arrest Maduro, it must arrest Netanyahu
Indonesia’s response to the United States’ military assault on Venezuela was cautious to the point of invisibility. Jakarta expressed “deep concern,” offered vague warnings about dangerous precedents, and reaffirmed respect for sovereignty. It did not name Washington. It did not condemn the attack. It did not challenge the action. Indonesia…
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As 2026 begins, Indonesia and Tunisia look to move ties forward
As the calendar turned to 2026, Indonesia and Tunisia ushered in the new year with the launch of Diplomacy Briefing 2026 in Tunis — a series of planned engagements and priorities set by Indonesia’s embassy intended to guide bilateral relations over the next twelve months. While the event itself was…
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How Indonesia navigates rising tensions in Yemen
Indonesia’s response to the latest escalation in Yemen follows a familiar diplomatic pattern. After Saudi Arabia carried out an airstrike on a weapons shipment arriving from the United Arab Emirates at the Yemeni port of Al-Mukalla, Jakarta did not comment on the strike itself. Instead, it reiterated support for Yemen’s…
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On @israellovesindonesia and Israel’s growing online campaign in Indonesia
In recent months, as I continued investigating how pro-Israel narratives are being systematically injected into Indonesia’s social media ecosystem, I encountered yet another account demanding scrutiny. Operating alongside other digital efforts to sanitize Israel’s record, this account advances normalization not through debate or diplomacy, but through relentless repetition, emotional manipulation…
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Taking stock of Indonesia–Algeria cooperation in 2025
Just days before the end of 2025, Indonesia registered a new development in its relationship with Algeria when Pertamina Internasional EP, a unit of Indonesia’s state oil company, shipped one million barrels of Algerian crude to Jakarta from the Port of Arzew. Completed on 24 December, the delivery was the…
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Indonesia’s classrooms are not sites for Zionist social engineering
The spectacle of a foreign official discussing how to “change textbooks” in a sovereign country should be recognised for what it is: an assertion of ideological dominance. Recent remarks attributed to Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun— a Miami businessman, Chabad Hasid adherent, Trump campaign donor, and now the US Special Envoy to…
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Indonesia’s incremental re-engagement with Libya
A low-profile diplomatic meeting in Jakarta this month offered an instructive glimpse into how Indonesia is refining its engagement with North Africa and the wider Middle East. The Second Indonesia–Libya Joint Committee Meeting, held on 15 December 2025, did not produce dramatic announcements or sweeping pledges. Instead, it reflected a…
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Why Indonesia’s two-state stance works in Israel’s favour
Prabowo Subianto’s appearance in Pakistan this week followed a script that has been performed too many times to count. Standing beside Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad, Indonesia’s president once again reaffirmed Jakarta’s support for a two-state solution as the answer to Gaza and Palestine. The words were familiar…
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King Abdullah’s visit to Jakarta: Key takeaways
King Abdullah II’s visit to Jakarta last week did not produce dramatic announcements, but it highlighted two converging diplomatic shifts. Indonesia was widening its engagement across the Middle East beyond its long-standing Gulf focus, while Jordan sought deeper ties in Asia to expand its economic and political options. The visit…
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Indonesia’s position on the Sudan conflict
As Sudan’s civil war continues with devastating humanitarian consequences, a quiet diplomatic conversation has begun thousands of miles away in Jakarta. Indonesia — the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, a rising economic actor, and one of the top contributors to United Nations peacekeeping forces — is considering how, and to what…