Gaspol Today: A World War Looming Before Our Eyes — What Can Prabowo Do?

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Senior researcher at LAB 45, Andi Widjajanto, says the direction of Indonesia’s diplomacy will be crucial amid the increasingly tense US–Iran conflict.

In the Gaspol! podcast, on Wednesday, 4 March 2026, Andi assessed that Prabowo Subianto’s declaration of willingness to act as mediator is a positive signal. However, he stressed that the role must be accompanied by a clear strategy.

‘Prabowo has said he is willing to be the peace broker there if he truly intends to do so, and the leverage should be sought. To seek a peace broker does not require the status of a great power,’ Andi said.

According to Andi, becoming a mediator does not require superpower status. What is needed is influence or leverage, diplomatic capital, bargaining power, and an effective communication network with the parties in conflict.

He then linked this opportunity to Indonesia’s position in the Board of Peace (BoP). The forum, in his view, can serve as an additional diplomatic instrument to defuse escalation.

Thus BoP can be used as a channel for clarification and joint consolidation, especially if there are unilateral steps that could worsen the situation.

‘Could President Prabowo request at a special BoP meeting to urge the two founding members of BoP, the United States and Israel, to attack a sovereign state without informing other BoP members? That could at least be used to seek clarification,’ he said.

If China and Russia are drawn into the orbit of the Iran conflict, the risk of global war, in his view, is no longer mere speculation.

‘I really hope that China and Russia cannot get involved in the Iran issue; that is what I would call a circuit breaker, a fuse. The fuse must blow; if it does not, we could be looking at World War III,’ he said.

As long as that fuse remains connected, escalation can still be contained.

So how far can Indonesia, under Prabowo’s leadership, play the mediator role in a world that is becoming increasingly tense?

Watch the full analysis in the Gaspol podcast airing tonight at 20:00 WIB exclusively on Kompas.com’s YouTube.