Even though it has the largest population of Muslims in the world, Indonesia’s founding principles have ensured equality for all of the country’s ethnic and religious groups since it was created in 1945.
But Jakarta’s divisive gubernatorial election illustrates that these ideas are now at risk, argues Alexander R. Arifianto, and the Christian Chinese incumbent governor’s loss shows how Indonesia’s diversity is the biggest casualty of this highly polarising election.
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Darren Whiteside/Reuters
Alexander R Arifianto, Nanyang Technological University
The election was a referendum on the future of Indonesia’s ethno-religious diversity and pluralism.
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Politics + Society
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Andrey Shcherbak, Higher School of Economics, St Petersburg
The Kremlin wants to build strong alliances with "pro-Russian" forces in the West. In France's upcoming election, Putin is placing his bets on two right-wing candidates for president.
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Julita Lemgruber, Universidade Candido Mendes; Leonarda Musumeci, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Though police violence is widely tolerated in Brazil, not everyone believes in 'eye for an eye' as official state policy.
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Environment + Energy
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Eelco Rohling, Australian National University
Global warming and carbon emissions, left unchecked, could cause rising sea levels and displace almost 200 million people. But we can still prevent the worst case scenario if we act now.
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Health + Medicine
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Salome Maswime, University of the Witwatersrand; Gwinyai Masukume, University of the Witwatersrand
Many women in African countries who are medically required to have caesarean sections aren't able to access them due to weak health systems and a lack of resources.
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