Author Archives: Julian Dierkes

About Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton Univ) and a Mongolist by choice and passion since around 2005. He teaches in the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He tweets @jdierkes

SCO Risks: Example Refugees

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Silence on Afghanistan

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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

Guest Post: Russia and Mongolia on the Eve of the Eastern Economic Forum 2021

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Alexey Mikhalev Despite the fact that the world is still fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, every day it is becoming more relevant to hold major forums focusing on economic recovery. From 2 to 4 September 2021, another Eastern Economic Forum … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexey Mikhalev, Energy, Foreign Policy, Health, Mongolia and ..., Mongolian People's Party, Russia, SCO | Leave a comment

10-Year Anniversary

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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?

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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

Posted on July 2, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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, Presidential 2021, Younger Mongolians, Youth | Tagged | Leave a comment

Party Support Across Aimags and the City

Posted on June 13, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In 1996, the predecessor(s) of the DP won 50 of the 76 parliamentary seats at a time when P Ochirbat was still serving as president, having been swept into office by the democratic revolution. That was the … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Analyses & Outlook

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

Public Podium Discussion Friday, June 11 18h (PST)/Saturday, June 12 9h (Ulaanbaatar) Program Moderator: Julian Dierkes, Univ of British Columbia Observations on the Ground Enkhtsetseg D, Open Society Forum: Domestic Election Observations Jana Zilkova, Caritas Czech Republic in Mongolia: International … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Elections, Events, Politics, Presidential 2021, Research on Mongolia, Video | Tagged | Leave a comment

Presidential Campaign Slogans

Posted on May 27, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Marissa J. Smith and Julian Dierkes Obviously, election campaigns are not entirely defined by campaign slogans. Nevertheless, slogans are a shorthand how candidates and parties are trying to present themselves, so we hope that a brief discussion of slogans … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Shifts in Voting Behaviour

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Much of election-day exit poll analysis in Germany focuses on “Wählerwanderung”, i.e. voter migration. That requires pretty good and representative data to do, something that has never quite been possible in Mongolia. That secret poll data that … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Presidential 2017, Presidential 2021, Protest | Tagged | Leave a comment

EIAS Talk: Political Transformations, Upcoming Presidential Election

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

I recently discussed Mongolia’s political trajectory toward the June 9 presidential election with Lin Goethals and Allesandra Tamponi at the European Institute for Asian Studies.

Posted in Democracy, Elections, International Relations, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Video | Leave a comment

Guest Post: An Election with Handpicked Candidates?

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Max Duckstein On May 6, the election commission confirmed the receipt of the third and last candidate for the upcoming presidential elections: S Erdene. In the hours before, the deputies of his own party urged the commission not to … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Max Duckstein, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Candidates: Initial Outlook

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Before the presidential election campaign gets started in earnest, I want to offer my sense of the candidates, issues, and some thoughts about possible outcomes. Candidates have now been nominated. In one of the great surprises of … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, National Labor Party, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment

More Presidential Election Speculation

Posted on April 24, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes If you have been reading our blog, you know that I cannot resist speculating about electoral chances and outcomes. That is even more speculative now, as I have been unable to travel to Mongolia since December 2019 … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Elections, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021 | Tagged | Leave a comment