The Jakarta Police and the Indonesian Military announced conflicting findings regarding the acid attack on rights activist Andrie Yunus, highlighting the rivalry between the two institutions.
Politics
Reports by Indonesian police show that there has been a consistent trend of Chinese nationals attempting to reach Australia through Indonesia as an alternative to “zouxian”, or “walking the line” – the illegal migration route through Central America to the US via the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama.
On 19 February, US President Donald Trump and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto met in Washington to sign the “Implementation of the Agreement Toward a New Golden Age for the US-Indonesian Alliance.” The term “alliance” sits uneasily with Indonesia’s law on foreign relations, which mandates a non-aligned foreign policy.
After meeting with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles on Thursday, Sjafrie said that trilateral security arrangements would be developed with Indonesia, Australia and Japan, as well as between Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea, according to the Reuters news agency.
Nearly 18 months into his five-year term, Prabowo Subianto is positioning himself as a South-East Asian leader of consequence, thrusting Indonesia into the spotlight on both sides of the geopolitical divide.
In February 2026, Australia and Indonesia signed a landmark bilateral Common Security Treaty. The deal enables Indonesia and Australia to consult each other in the event of unfavourable challenges to either country and, if appropriate, consider measures to be taken, either individually or jointly.
At the core of this agreement lie ideas that weave security and shared prosperity into one connected vision. The treaty focuses on making security talks and teamwork stronger than ever before.
Gender equality and rights have become one of the most visible casualties of this shift. During Trump’s first term, and markedly in the second, these issues were framed as threats to national sovereignty and traditional values.
Australia-Indonesia Centre industry fellow and author Jemma Purdey said the treaty indicated any concerns Indonesia held about the AUKUS arrangement were in the past. President Prabowo has faced criticism at home for appearing to abandon the nation’s long-held foreign policy of non-alignment.
While there are no figures on the number of middle-class activists, many academic papers have been written on the rise in new types of activism in the last two or three years. Indonesian academics and civil society organisations have termed these types of activism as “gerakan rimpang”, or “rhizomatic movements”.
Investors were particularly jittery about Djiwandono’s appointment, which was made while the rupiah was under pressure against the US greenback. Critics, meanwhile, questioned Kadir’s appointment to the Constitutional Court.
The spark was a warning by the index provider MSCI over the “opacity” of shareholding structures, with a threat to downgrade Indonesia to the status of a frontier market. For investors this was a final straw after a year of increasing concerns over the Prabowo government’s fiscal and political record.
Minister Burke and Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs, H.E. Djamari Chaniago, co-chaired the 11th Ministerial Council Meeting on Law and Security on 28 January.
Head of the Political Research Center (PRP) at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said Indonesia and Australia, as middle powers, face similar challenges in navigating China’s growing economic, political, and military influence. This can directly impact security and defense policies, as well as regional stability.
Indonesia should tread carefully before deepening ties with Russia, analysts said, after President Prabowo Subianto made an unplanned visit to Moscow this week, raising questions about the diplomatic and economic costs of closer engagement – including how Washington could respond.
A U.S. trade agreement reached with Indonesia in July is at risk of collapsing because Jakarta has backtracked on several commitments it made as part of the deal, a U.S. official said on Tuesday.
