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.

Fragmented Power

Posted on November 4, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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 →

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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

Posted on October 7, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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 →

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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?

Posted on October 3, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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 →

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

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

Posted on September 23, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

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 →

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

Guest Post: #NONAADAM vs #YESNAADAM – Conflict Between Urban and Rural Values in Mongolia

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Usukhbold Chimedregzen During the first week of July 2021, Mongolia has seen two opposing protest groups who gathered at Sukhbaatar Square in the capital city, Ulaanbaatar. On the surface, it appeared that the protestors had grievances related to celebrating … Continue reading →

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Posted in Countryside, Elections, Health, Mongolian People's Party, Naadam, Protest, Public Policy, Social Issues, Social Movements, Ulaanbaatar, Usukhbold Chimedregzen | Leave a comment

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 →

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Posted in Central Asia, Ethnic Groups, Human Rights, International Relations, Kazakhs, Mongolians in China, SCO | 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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Posted in Demography, Elections, JD Democratization, 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 →

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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 →

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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 →

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