Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

A Panel Analysis of Current Options for a Renewed Oyu Tolgoi Agreement

By Julian Dierkes Since the Dec 13 announcement of a RioTinto offer to write off government debt, relatively little discussion has followed in the Mongolian public. As I mentioned in a previous post, the MPP response has been almost enthusiastic. … Continue reading

Posted in Erdenes Mongol, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Public Opinion, Public Policy, Research on Mongolia, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Rio Tinto/Turquoise Hill Offer on Debt Forgiveness for Oyu Tolgoi Stake

By Julian Dierkes On the morning of December 13, PM Oyun-Erdene “unveiled” an offer he received from Rio Tinto/Turquoise Hill that appears to be intended to form the basis for a new agreement to jumpstart underground development at Oyu Tolgoi. … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Erdenes Mongol, Foreign Investment, JD Mining Governance, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Public Policy, Sovereign Wealth Fund, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

A More Constructive Longterm Interaction Between Rio Tinto and Mongolia

By Julian Dierkes In a previous post, I gave my sense of where the re-negotiations regarding the OT Agreement are heading and how I see this as a step in a repeating cycle. I have also pointed to a quest … Continue reading

Posted in Education, EITI, International Agreements, JD Democratization, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Search for (Oyu Tolgoi) Perfection

By Julian Dierkes I have recently shared my perspective on the negotiations of a (new) OT Agreement. Below, I want to highlight one of the aspects that I see as bringing about this cycle, an aspect that is also prevalent … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Governance, JD Mining Governance, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Party Politics, Politics, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

2021 Oyu Tolgoi Negotiations

By Julian Dierkes How can I resist the following challenge? So what do you think is the key to resolving the OT situation? MPP controls government, so clearly decisions can be taken. What about Rio’s behaviour? Is GOM being unfair? … Continue reading

Posted in Erdenes Mongol, International Agreements, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Sovereign Wealth Fund, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fragmented Power

By Julian Dierkes A recent article in The Economist compares political contestation around the Kumtor mine in Kyrgyzstan and Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia. There a number of aspects to that comparison that make it very interesting: Democratization: Kyrgyzstan has – … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, EITI, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Kyrgyz Republic, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

By-elections 2021

By Julian Dierkes In the aftermath of the presidential election in June, one of the big questions that remained was whether the strong minority support that D Enkhbat received as linked to the weakness of S Erdene as a candidate … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

World-Leading National University of Mongolia?

By Julian Dierkes and Orkhon Gantogtokh Rankings of schools and universities were initially conceived to bring accountability and transparency to education. In this, they are similar to all kinds of rankings that are applied to countries, including Mongolia. Yet, university … Continue reading

Posted in Education, Global Indices, Higher Education, Orkhon Gantogtokh | Tagged | Leave a comment

Khurelksukh’s (First Presidential) Visit to the UN General Assembly

By Julian Dierkes U Khurelsukh attended the annual UN General Assembly in New York for the first time since his election as president. The President of Mongolia Ukhnaa Khurelsukh delivered a statement at the General Debate of the 76th session … Continue reading

Posted in Climate Change, Health, Japan, Mongolia and ..., Peacekeeping, Policy, UN | Tagged | Leave a comment

SCO Risks: Example Refugees

By Julian Dierkes An SCO summit is looming: Sept 16-17 in Dushanbe. With it comes that seemingly perennial question about Mongolia’s role in the organization. Chinese Pressure? It is fair to assume, I think, that the Chinese regime will continue … Continue reading

Posted in Central Asia, Ethnic Groups, Human Rights, International Relations, Kazakhs, Mongolians in China, SCO | Tagged | Leave a comment

Silence on Afghanistan

By Julian Dierkes In August 2021, the Afghan government collapsed rather suddenly and for most observers, unexpectedly. Much ink has been spilled about what happened and what is to come for Afghanistan. Yet, as far as I can tell, the … Continue reading

Posted in Afghanistan, Bilateral Aid, Development, Diaspora, Foreign Policy, International Cooperation Fund, Mongolia and ..., Mongolian Diaspora, SCO | Tagged | Leave a comment

10-Year Anniversary

By Julian Dierkes WOW!!! We’ve been blogging for 10 years! We had hoped to hold a public event in Ulaanbaatar for this anniversary, invite some past authors, perhaps give some readers a chance to say a few things about the … Continue reading

Posted in Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

What’s Wrong with Chinggis Studies?

By Julian Dierkes Okay, the enforced brevity of tweets got me into some trouble here. Hi Julian. I am very surprised that you are not being supportive of Mongolians initiating their own research and contributions to the Mongolian Studies field. … Continue reading

Posted in History, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Recollections of an Airport

By Julian Dierkes An international airport is a gateway to a country. For me, apart from a Transsiberian trip in 1991 (watch my Twitter account later in July for a mini 30-year commemoration of my trip), the Ulaanbaatar airport has … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Infrastructure, Social Change, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Young Voter Turnout

By Julian Dierkes There has been some debate around the low turnout rate in Mongolian election. The overall turnout was under 60% and thus much lower than the first round in 2017 and a continuation of the long-term trend of … Continue reading

Posted in Demography, Elections, JD Democratization, Presidential 2021, Younger Mongolians, Youth | Tagged | Leave a comment