IndonesianTalk.com — Yusran Hadromi and a Diplomatic Career Measured by Legacy JAKARTA — A diplomat’s career is often measured by the positions he or she has held: secretary, counselor, chargé d’affaires or ambassador. Others are remembered for treaties signed, negotiations concluded or crises successfully navigated. Yusran Hadromi appears to measure his career differently. After three decades in the diplomatic service, the 29 August 1969-born diplomat says what matters most is not necessarily reaching the highest position, but leaving a legacy — through ideas, relationships and initiatives that continue to have an impact after an assignment ends. “More toward legacy and ideas,” is how Yusran describes his approach to his long career. Positions change. Countries of assignment change. Offices are eventually handed over to someone else. What remains, he believes, is the footprint left behind. That footprint does not always come in the form of major diplomatic agreements. Sometimes it is an Indonesian…
Political Elites, Disaster and the 2029 Election: Between Image-Building and a Wounded Public
IndonesianTalk.com — Political Elites, Disaster and the 2029 Election: Between Image-Building and a Wounded Public YOGYAKARTA — Indonesia’s disaster season shows little sign of easing, with thousands of people affected by floods, landslides, forest fires, extreme weather and other hazards. Yet as communities struggle with recurring disasters, the attention of much of the country’s political elite appears increasingly focused on the 2029 elections. Official data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), as of Sept. 7, recorded 1,730 disasters across Indonesia since the beginning of the year. Forest and land fires accounted for the largest share, with 627 incidents, followed by floods with 543, extreme weather with 324, landslides with 105 and droughts with 101. There were also 14 tidal floods and abrasion incidents, 13 earthquakes and three volcanic eruptions. The figures have renewed questions about whether disaster management has become a political priority — or remains largely a matter of…
