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 toots @jdierkes@sciences.social.

Khurelsukh at UN General Assembly

Posted on October 21, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes, Alexander Morrow and Anshika Srivastava In 2021, Pres. U Khurelsukh spoke at the UN General Assembly for the first time as president. He has returned every year since then. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Kh Battulga, he is … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexander Morrow, Anshika Srivastava, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Peacekeeping, UN | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongolian Hoops Dreams — Creation of Soft Power Through Basketball

Posted on September 17, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Benjamin Nuland Basketball was introduced to Mongolia in the 1960s by the Russians and Chinese. More recently, basketball has become Mongolia’s most popular sport, but Mongolians’ associations are primarily American. This fascination lives under the halo of the NBA … Continue reading →

Posted in Benjamin Nuland, Curios, Pop Culture, Sports, United States | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside June 2024

Posted on September 2, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now traced visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. I’ve kept a similar list for countryside changes, somewhat less regular as extended visits to the countryside don’t come nearly often enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

How Unfortunate: Putin Visits Mongolia

Posted on August 30, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Once again, geopolitical realities are catching up with Mongolia and there is very little the government of Mongolia can do about it, even if it wanted to. Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin will be visiting Ulaanbaatar to commemorate … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., Russia | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

More on Oyun-Erdene’s Cabinet

Posted on August 29, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Bulgan B Marissa Smith has already provided an overview of the new cabinet. Here, we’re adding some more information in cabinet members as we had done for previous cabinets. (new cabinet members in bold, if no … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Government, Ikh Khural 2024, KhUN, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged Julian Dierkes; Batdorj Bulgan | Leave a comment

Guest Comment: Mongolia’s Democratic Party Gambit into Government

Posted on August 20, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Sugar Munkhtsooj The Mongolian parliamentary elections of 2024, the first since constitutional amendments increased the number of parliamentarians from 76 to 126, concluded in June with results that largely aligned with predictions from pundits and pollsters. As expected, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Government, Ikh Khural 2024, Party Politics, Politics, Sugar Munkhtsooj | Leave a comment

CWGP and National Coalition Results

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Beyond the DP’s success, the second great surprise (to me) of the election results was that the Civil Will Green Party re-entered parliament with four seats and the National Coalition gained four seats on its first attempt. … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, National Coalition, Party Politics | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

Guest Post: A free but not a Fair Election: It Was All About Money

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag, Batkhishig Gankhuyag Mongolia recently conducted its tenth competitive election since 1990 in June 2024 (the first multi-party elections). In general, various electoral observation reports, including the one conducted by OSCE-ODIHR, suggest that the 2024 parliamentary election was … Continue reading →

Posted in Bat-Orgil Altankhuyag, Batkhishig Gankhuyag, Civil Will Green Party, Democratic Party, Elections, Governance, Ikh Khural 2024, KhUN, Mongolian People's Party, National Coalition, Party Politics, Politics | Leave a comment

Observing Election Day: Bulgan and Orkhon Aimags

Posted on August 5, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes During the five days leading up to the election we had driven through Tov, Arkhangai and Khuvsgul, visiting polling stations and campaign offices along the way. We have reflected on the election preparations we saw during these … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, Politics | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mutton and Mahogany: Mongolia’s 62-year Friendship with Laos Continues

Posted on July 25, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Benjamin Nuland On June 11th 2024, Mongolia welcomed the Laotian president to Sukhbaatar Square for the first time since 2007. Thongloun Sisoulith’s arrival celebrated a 62-year long friendship between Laos and Mongolia and decades of goodwill. In the 1980s … Continue reading →

Posted in ASEAN, Benjamin Nuland, Diversification, Foreign Investment, Foreign Policy, Laos, Mongolia and ..., Policy | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar June-July 2024

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

Posted in Change, Curios, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

Double Deel Direct

Posted on July 18, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes As Bulgan B recently pointed out to me, every member of PM Oyun-Erdene’s new cabinet is an MP! Maybe not surprising for many parliamentary democracies, but this has been a lingering topic of discussion for many years. … Continue reading →

Posted in Governance, Government, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Democratization, Politics | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

Guest Post: The Thunder Dragon Arrives on Dragon Year: Mongolia and Bhutan Are Just Getting Started

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Benjamin Nuland If I could give an award for Mongolia’s ‘most underestimated relationship’, it must be that with Bhutan. Mongolia’s relationship with Democratic Bhutan began on January 18, 2012, when UN representatives of both nations mutually signed letters of … Continue reading →

Posted in ASEAN, Benjamin Nuland, Food, Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., Trade | Leave a comment

DP Results

Posted on July 8, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes To me, the success of the DP was one of the surprises of the June 28 election. To my surprise, the DP soared to claim one third of seats in #Mongolia parliament. blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/202… #Сонгууль2024 #Сонгууль #MGLpoli [image … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Ikh Khural 2024, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

New City Park

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I have mentioned the increase of green space several times in my notes about how Ulaanbaatar is changing. One big new development is the opening of the large park that is South of the Shangri-la Hotel and … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Change, City Planning, Heritage, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged Julian Dierkes | Leave a comment

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