Category Archives: Countryside

Addressing Meat Prices through Policy not Populism

By Julian Dierkes A very curious spectacle recently to see meat warehouses raided by the General Intelligence Agency. I have seen little discussion of the legality of such raids which look a bit like the action taken against a mining … Continue reading

Posted in Agriculture, Countryside, Diversification, Employment, Herding, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Challenges Arising from Growing National Herd

By Julian Dierkes On an August 2018 trip to Western Mongolia, I heard a lot of countryside reports that the value of animal products, especially meat, is rapidly declining, exacerbating poverty, unemployment, migration to towns and cities, etc. When you … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Diversification, Flooding, Grassland, Health, Infrastructure | Tagged | Leave a comment

Camping Nomads

By Julian Dierkes Historically, Mongolians are a nation of “campers”. While perhaps less than a third of them still are mobile pastoralists, and even they are less mobile than they once were, nomadism and the movable home still play large … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Curios, Social Change, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tourism Clusters, Domestic Tourism, and RVs

By Julian Dierkes When I actually visit Mongolia (not often enough, but 1-4 times/year over past dozen years or so), I have many conversations where I learn more and more about Mongolia, but that also raise other questions. If I … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Countryside, Development, Diversification, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Technology Assessment Needed: Solar Power

By Julian Dierkes To: PM Khurelsukh CC: Minister of Energy Davaasuren; Min of Science Tsogzolmaa; Min of Environment Tserenbat, Officer of Intl Cooperation, Min of Environment, G Tsogtbaatar; Min of Light Industry Batzorig; Dir, External Affairs, Green Climate Fund Oyun Climate … Continue reading

Posted in China, Climate Change, Countryside, Development, Diversification, Environmental Movements, Geography, Gobi, Infrastructure, Renewables, Russia, Sovereign Wealth Fund | Tagged | Leave a comment

Locating Mongolian Towns

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been touring through the Mongolian countryside periodically for over ten years now, having recently visited my 17th aimag, just four more to go. 17 aimags visited and counting… Can you guess where I’ve made it to? … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Geography, History, Settlements, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Closed Mines as Sites of Learning and Engagement in Japan

By Byambajav Dalaibuyan Introduction* Japan is well known for its lack of mineral resources. However, interestingly, the Japanese domestic mining industry played a crucial role in the nation’s industrialization and modernization in the 19th and the first half of the … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Education, Environment, Japan, Mining, Museums, Nalaikh | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reducing Garbage by Re-establishing Bowl Use

By Julian Dierkes In recent workshops we asked participants to list the most pressing policy challenges that Mongolia faced. A relatively small number of problems were listed repeatedly, by participants based in Ulaanbaatar as well as those from other aimags. … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios, Garbage, Social Change | Tagged | Leave a comment

Employment

By Julian Dierkes I have been encountering “unemployment” as a political challenge in Mongolia for many years. Most recently, in a set of six workshops on policy-making and political parties organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Mongolia for the Mongolian People’s Party youth organization (НАМЗХ) and the Trade Union … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Countryside, Diversification, Economics, Employment, Policy, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Flooding in Mongolia

By Jangar Ts Recent floods in Mongolia have brought about a lot of discussions. Continuous heavy rains all over the country quickly resulted in multiple floods, destroying communication lines, affecting some villages and infrastructure. In the northern part of the … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Environment, Flooding, Gobi, Grassland, Jangar Tsembel, Natural Disaster, Ulaanbaatar | Leave a comment

Sounds of a Ger

By Julian Dierkes For any visitor to Mongolia who has the chance to sleep in a ger, that is probably a highlight. I enjoy it every time I have a chance. One of the aspects that often makes it a … Continue reading

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Cars in Mongolia

By Julian Dierkes Our image of Mongolia may be dominated by horses as a part of the landscape, but also as a mode of transport. But, of course, motorized transport is very common place today. Development Stages and Motorization I … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Change, Countryside, Curios, Development, Social Change, Social Issues, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

False Dzud Alarms

By Julian Dierkes Periodically, parts of the Mongolian countryside experience heavy snowfall at the end of a long, cold winter. These conditions combine to deny animals access to any kind of grass under the masses of snow when they are … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Grassland, Health, Policy | Tagged | 2 Comments

Change in Countryside – October 2017

By Julian Dierkes This is Post #500 for our Blog! What a milestone, we’ll have to commemorate our achievement soon. For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. This year, I’ve … Continue reading

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Beyond “Populism without Party Platforms”: Mongolians’ Politics Beyond Ulaanbaatar

By Marissa Smith The campaign and election of the rough-voiced businessman-judoka Kh. Battulga to the presidency of Mongolia has elicited comparisons to Donald Trump and gestures to a global wave of “populism” from analysts and commentators, journalistic as well as … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Democratic Party, Demography, Elections, Erdenet, Kazakhs, Marissa Smith, Mongolian Diaspora, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Populism, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | Leave a comment