OPINION

It is interesting to follow the discussions in the US Senate Judiciary Committee for the confirmation of a new Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; Judge Kitanji Brown Jackson has been proposed to fill in the seat of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, who will retire soon.

The political ruckus caused by the election postponement issue raised by Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia at the beginning of 2022 had relatively subsided when the Government, the House of Representatives and the General Elections Commission (KPU), on January 24, 2022, unanimously decided the general election is to be held on Wednesday, February 14, 2024. The KPU then issued Decree No. 21 of 2022 on the 2024 General Election Ballot Day.

Sometimes ago I wrote an op-ed piece entitled “The New Silk Road, a Potent Weapon of China”. I posted scenario with the rise of China, using the New Silk Road as a case study, one that could arouse American concern as a serious competitor in the superpower race, as interpreted by Professor Graham Allyson’s reference to the “Thucydides Trap”, with a question of whether a war might be brewing between the superpower (the USA) and the People’s Republic of China, a new emerging superpower. As detailed in Professor Allyson’s book, out of 12 historical “traps” he referenced, 8 ended in war. In fact, no one was eager to see war declared between Sparta and Athens; nevertheless, it was what became known as the “Peloponnesian War” in ancient Greece (431 to 405 BCE) that inspired the notion to a Greek General and Historian of the dilemma, a “Thucydides Trap.”

Being invited to the state palace, sixteen MotoGP racers, fancy and neatly dressed, attended the invitation; Marc Marquez, Joan Mir, Alex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Maverick Viñales, Alex Marquez, and Takaaki Nakagami had the opportunity to take photos with President Jokowi.

Last month, when Vladimir Putin sat in the Kremlin and was thinking about the possible consequences of his ordering the invasion of Ukraine, invariably his past military adventures and the West’s reactions to them weighed heavily in his final calculus on whether or not Russian forces should be given the green light.

Article 18 Paragraph (4) of the RI Constitution of 1945 stipulates that the Governor, Regent, and Mayor, each being the regional head of the province, the regency, and the township, respectively, shall be elected democratically. The term “democratically” was then interpreted by Law No. 1 of 2015 concerning the Election of Governors, Regents, and Mayors to mean that “the selection of regional heads and deputy regional heads shall be performed by direct election by the people, or a Regional Election”.

Indonesia’s National Resilience Institute, known locally called Lemhanas, has a new Head: Andi Widjajanto. Frankly, he came as something of a surprise, since his name had not previously been circulated much in domestic defense/strategic communities, after the position was vacated by retired Lieutenant General Agus Widjojo, who became the Indonesian Ambassador to the Philippines. A much-mentioned candidate for the vacant post was retired Navy Admiral Marsetio, former Indonesia Navy Chief of Staff (TNI AL).

Our country has come to terms with staple food issues within society until recently. Starting from a cooking oil shortage that led to its price to soar, the surging price of soybeans forcing tofu and tempeh industry out of business, chilies, cooking gas, beef and now sugar is unavailable anywhere.

It was several weeks ago in my op ed in this news weekly, discussing the Russian military incursion into Ukraine, I quoted an observation of Professor Mearsheimer, one that sounded like a warning to President Biden and US allies, that a superpower should not be cornered.

The current news blitz covering the military incursion into Ukraine, a new “ad hoc” republic calved off from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the decision to take military action by Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, now raises the possibility of Russia menacing its neighbor, and anyone else who cares to confront Russia, with nuclear weaponry.

If there is to be some sort of deal that ends the war in Ukraine, then it must be one that Russia’s Putin, Ukraine’s Zelenski and the West can all agree upon.