Category Archives: Author

Guest Post: State Participation in Resources Projects

By Unurjargal U The State’s Role in Large Resource Projects The appropriate forms for state participation in mining sector – a sensitive issue in Mongolia. The Canadian International Mineral Resources and Development Institute (CIRDI) organized a cooperation conference with the … Continue reading

Posted in CIRDI, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Policy, Unurjargal Urjin | Leave a comment

Guest Post: ICF Workshop – Private Sector Perspective

By Aligermaa B Does the state, responsible for national welfare, have any business getting actively involved in a business, even in one related to essential services or strategic national resources? Or, should everything be left to the private sector which, … Continue reading

Posted in Aligermaa Bayarsaikhan, Business, CIRDI, EITI, International Cooperation Fund, Mining, Mining Governance | 2 Comments

How popular is Russian in Mongolia 26 Years After the Fall of the Soviet Union?

By Bulgan B The May 9th Victory Day has revived the Mongolian love for Russia once again. Mongolians were watching the Victory Day parade and Mongolian social media was trending on any story which relates to the Great Victory. Wreaths … Continue reading

Posted in Bulgan Batdorj, Education, Foreign Policy, Kazakhs, Nationalism, Russia, Social Change, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Politbarometer April 2016

By Julian Dierkes With BULGAN B Santmaral Foundation’s Politbarometer (April 2016) remains the “go-to” political poll for Mongolia. This is because a) it is the only credible poll that has been conducted repeatedly, and b) because it is generally credible. … Continue reading

Posted in Bulgan Batdorj, Civil Will Green Party, Democratic Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2016, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Party Politics, Politics, Populism | Tagged | 2 Comments

Guest Post: The Construction of Mining Image in Socialist Mongolia

By Enkhbat Avirmed Although Mongolians were relying on the pastoral economy up through the early 20th century, there were about 20 coal and gold mines operating in Mongolia by 1911. However, after the 1921 revolution, Mongolian leaders came under pressure … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, CIRDI, Enkhbat Avirmed, Media and Press, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Pop Culture, Society and Culture | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mining Governance: Weak Institutions and Greedy Politicians

Despite seemingly clear codified decision-making procedures that exist on the paper, the majority of the mining governance related decisions has been non-transparent and becoming more difficult to understand the politics behind them. Laws, standards, and regulations are passed today, but … Continue reading

Posted in CIRDI, Mining, Mining Governance, Otgonbaayar Byambaa | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongolia 2016 – Will there be light at the end of the tunnel?

By Stefan Hanselmann If the development of the last quarter of 2015 can serve as an indicator, we can eventually expect for next year some real light at the end of the tunnel. Unfortunately, Mongolia had to learn the hard … Continue reading

Posted in Bilateral Aid, Business, Development, Diversification, Economics, Foreign Investment, Ikh Khural 2016, Inflation, Mining, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Politics, Stefan Hanselmann | Leave a comment

Corruption in India: Lessons for Mongolia?

A Conversation With Asim Arun One of the things I really like about the broad variety of disciplinary academic perspectives on Mongolia that I come in contact with (for example, a lot of the discussions at the recent Oxford Deserts … Continue reading

Posted in Asim Arun, Corruption, Governance, India, Party Politics, Politics, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: National Labour Party – Хөдөлмөрийн Үндэсний Нам

Bulgan Batdorj Since their first forum “National Development – Mongol Person” in February this year, the Development Hun (ХҮН/Hun = person, individual) club expressed its intent of becoming a political force, but had not settled on both type (political movement, … Continue reading

Posted in Bulgan Batdorj, Ikh Khural 2016, Party Politics, Politics, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongols on the International Film Stage

Marissa Smith Mongols on the International Film Stage: Negotiating the International Relations of Mongolia By Means of Their Understanding by Others During a press conference in Berlin March 3rd with Chancellor Merkel, President Elbegdorj quipped, “Die Mongolen sind wieder da, … Continue reading

Posted in Cinema, Marissa Smith, Mongolia and ..., Pop Culture | 1 Comment

Lingering anti-Sinic sentiments in post-Communist Mongolia: Why dislike the Chinese?

Just sharing a long-waited working paper on anti-Chinese sentiments in Mongolia.  The following is the abstract, for the full paper – here is the link. Sino-Mongolian relations have been amicable ever since the Sino-Soviet and Sino-Mongolian rapprochements of the late … Continue reading

Posted in China, Mendee Jargalsaikhan | Tagged | 4 Comments

State-Sponsored Formalization of Household Herding in Rural Bayanhongor

“A herder is master of 1000 professions.” President Elbegdorj, printed at the top of herder diplomas The Presence of the State in Rural Mongolia Over the course of my dissertation fieldwork in Mongolia, I spent a considerable amount of time … Continue reading

Posted in Ariell Ahearn, Countryside, Education, Nomadism, Presidential 2013, Research on Mongolia | 1 Comment

Mongolia in the 2014 Social Progress Index

[This post was written jointly by Undral Amarsaikhan and Julian Dierkes] On April 2, the Social Progressive Imperative released its 2014 Social Progress Index. For the first time, this included Mongolia. The Social Progressive Index is an index of indices … Continue reading

Posted in Air Pollution, Corruption, Development, Economics, Education, Global Indices, Governance, Nomadism, Policy, Policy, Primary and Secondary Education, Research on Mongolia, Social Change, Undral Amarsaikhan, Water | Tagged | 1 Comment

Fellow Mongolia Focus Bloggers Marching Along in Academic Careers

Congratulations to two Mongolia Focus grad student bloggers! MENDEE Jargalsaikhan passed his comprehensive examinations in Political Science at the Univ of British Columbia last week. The next step for him will be to write and defend a dissertation proposal to … Continue reading

Posted in Brandon Miliate, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Christopher Carter on the Role of Bag Governors

This post features a new community character from Bag 4, Abu the bag governor. This summer alongside this community I experimented with a participatory planning tool that I hope to refine over the upcoming years at UBC.  Participating clans were … Continue reading

Posted in Christopher Carter, Countryside, Kazakhs, Nomadism, Research on Mongolia, Water | 1 Comment