Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kami membahas konflik kecil di perpustakaan. - We discuss a small conflict in the library.

In Kami membahas konflik kecil di perpustakaan, kami suggests that the speaker and their group discussed the conflict, but the listener was not part of that group.

If the listener was also involved in the discussion, you would say:

Kita membahas konflik kecil di perpustakaan.
→ We (you and I / you and us) discussed a small conflict in the library.

What does membahas mean exactly, and how is it different from other verbs like mendiskusikan or membicarakan?

Membahas comes from the root bahas (to discuss, to examine). It usually means:

to discuss something
to talk something over in a somewhat systematic or focused way
sometimes with a nuance of analyzing or examining a topic

Rough comparisons:

membahas konflik kecil – discuss/examine the small conflict (fairly neutral, common in both spoken and written Indonesian, slightly formal/neutral)
mendiskusikan konflik kecil – discuss the small conflict (more formal, from diskusi, often used in academic or formal contexts)
membicarakan konflik kecil – talk about/discuss the small conflict (sounds a bit more like general conversation, may feel a touch more colloquial than mendiskusikan)

In everyday speech, membahas and membicarakan are often interchangeable for “discuss”/“talk about”. Mendiskusikan leans more formal.