Prabowo Highlights Global Conflicts, Points to Impact of Divided Elites

President Prabowo Subianto has assessed that the ability of a country’s elite to work together is a determining factor in a nation’s progress. Conversely, he stated that countries whose elites remain in constant conflict risk losing the opportunity to develop and may even descend into warfare.

This was conveyed by Prabowo during the National Symposium of the 2026 Indonesian Science, Technology, and Industry Convention (KSTI) at the JCC, Senayan, Jakarta, on Friday (26/6/2026).

"From what I have learned from thousands of years of history, nations whose elites can cooperate are the ones that rise. Nations whose elites are always unable to cooperate cannot reach their potential. This is what history teaches," Prabowo said.

Prabowo then touched on various ongoing conflicts in several regions of the world as an illustration of the impact of division. He highlighted the war in Ukraine, which has been ongoing for years and has caused a massive number of casualties.

"To this day, let us look, look at the news about what is happening in Ukraine, in Europe. If we look, the race is the same, the ethnicity is the same, the religion is also largely the same, yet the war results in tens of thousands of deaths every month. And the war in Ukraine has lasted longer than the Second World War," he said.

Beyond Ukraine, Prabowo highlighted conflicts in Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, and Myanmar. He noted that the destruction in Gaza has reached an extremely severe level.

"We see what is happening in Gaza, in Palestine, in Lebanon. Ninety per cent of Gaza is flattened. The impact is perhaps similar to Hiroshima or Nagasaki. Lebanon is now like that, Iran, all the Gulf states, Yemen. We just watch it every day," he said.

"The war in Afghanistan, the war in Balochistan, the war in Myanmar is increasingly… The war between the Thai and Cambodians," he continued.

Prabowo assessed that these various conflicts serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining unity within the country. According to him, one of the root causes that often triggers conflict is the inability of elites to build cooperation.

"Ladies and gentlemen, amidst all this, the key is, among other things, elites who cannot cooperate. So, ladies and gentlemen, I think we need to reflect on the matter of statecraft," he said.