Category Archives: Foreign Policy

Guest Post: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Investor-State Arbitration and Mongolia’s Rapidly Shrinking Policy Space

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Jennifer Lander On the 20th of February, Rio Tinto initiated arbitration proceedings against the Government of Mongolia at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) through Oyu Tolgoi LLC. The escalation of the dispute over the alleged … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Jennifer Lander, Law, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Taxes, Trade | Leave a comment

Making News in November 2019

Posted on November 25, 2019 by mendee

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan Constitutional Revision Just days before the celebration of the 95th anniversary of the abolition of the monarchy, the MPP-ruled parliament and DP president reached a compromise on a set of amendments to the 1992 constitution.  Today, at … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Constitution, Democracy, Foreign Policy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, Judiciary, Military, Mining, Mining Governance, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2021, Protest, Russia, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

US Interactions Not a Win for Mongolia

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Together with Mendee, I’ve tried to describe the recent flurry of US-Mongolia interactions. In brief, interactions are motivated by a US desire to counter China in its own backyard. For Mongolia, a strategic partnership with the US … Continue reading →

Posted in Cashmere, China, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Russia, SCO, United States | Leave a comment

The Likelihood of Political Renewal

Posted on April 22, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By  Julian Dierkes Why I am generally optimistic about Mongolian developments, Mongolian politics presents a lot of challenges and the current state of affairs causes more despair than it has in the previous 12+ years that I’ve been paying attention. … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Nationalism, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: China’s Belt and Road Initiative – Mongolia Focus

Posted on March 12, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Connor Judge and Sanchir Jargalsaikhan Myriad conferences, expos, forums and articles have recently elevated the profile of acronyms “OBOR” and “BRI” to a par with “blockchain,” the latter being a ground-breaking technology that few fully understand, but which has … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Connor Judge, Foreign Policy, Infrastructure, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Policy, Russia, Sanchir Jargalsaikhan, SCO | Leave a comment

Charm Offensive: Chinese Ambassador’s Address on the State of the Sino-Mongolian Relationship

Posted on February 1, 2019 by mendee

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan Amidst the New Year’s celebrations and political tumult in Ulaanbaatar (South China Morning Post, December 6, 2018), Chinese Ambassador Xing Haiming published a long seasonal greeting in the Mongolian media (Montsame, December 21, 2018). His message to … Continue reading →

Posted in Banking, China, Cultural Diplomacy, Eurasia Daily Monitor | Tagged | Leave a comment

Embassies in Ulaanbaatar on Social Media

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes A recent post about the Twitter accounts of foreign embassies in Ulaanbaatar proved to be more popular than I had anticipated, so I’ll turn that into a blog post below. As far as I can tell, nine … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Canada, Digital Diplomacy, EU, Foreign Policy, Germany, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and ..., Russia, Turkey, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Energy Independence and Internationalism: Oil Extraction and Refining in Mongolia So Far

Posted on December 21, 2018 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith As Julian penned his request for a study on renewable energy potential to members of Mongolia’s cabinet and other relevant policy-makers two weeks ago, London stock exchange-listed  Petro Matad continued its campaign of exploration drilling in … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Energy, Foreign Investment, Foreign Policy, India, Oil, Russia, Trade | Tagged | Leave a comment

What are SMEs and the SME Fund?

Posted on November 7, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Marissa J. Smith Asking questions about the international politics of the Mongolian economy After reading the South China Morning Post article on the SME scandal, I decided to look more closely at the company profiled, Mongolian Charcoal. I soon … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Corruption, Development, International Cooperation Fund, Mongolia and ..., Public Policy, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Changes in Northeast Asia – What Impact on Mongolia

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

New publication: Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan. 2018. “Mongolia in an Emerging Northeast Asian Region“, Mongolian Journal of International Affairs, 20: 91-100.

Posted in China, Foreign Policy, Japan, Julian Dierkes, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Publications, Research on Mongolia, Russia, SCO, South Korea, Ulaanbaatar Dialogue | Leave a comment

Turkish Attempt to Abduct Educator in Ulaanbaatar

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan More than just a curious spy story, this might turn into a full diplomatic crisis between Mongolia and Turkey, a relationship that has been active and vibrant for some years. Note that it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Security Apparatus, Turkey | Tagged | 1 Comment

The UB Dialogue at the Crossroads

Posted on June 12, 2018 by mendee

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan The designation of Singapore for the historic summit of US President Donald Trump and DPRK Chairman Kim Jong-Un probably relieved Mongolian government officials, security personnel, and capital city residents. It would not add any financial pressures like … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Foreign Policy, Germany, Japan, North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia doesn’t need to join the SCO

Posted on June 7, 2018 by mendee

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan and Julian Dierkes Like Switzerland for NATO, Mongolia’s absence in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) creates a neutral spot in the Chinese-led regional grouping. But, Mongolia neither hinders any dreams of the creators nor presents any benefits … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., SCO | Tagged | Leave a comment

Elevate Ulaanbaatar Dialogue

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

OPINION By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan Mongolia is in a good position to contribute to renewed dialogue with North Korea in order to avert confrontations and, in the long run, lead to more constructive interactions. In an eventful Spring … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, China, Germany, International Relations, Japan, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Russia, South Korea, Ulaanbaatar, Ulaanbaatar Dialogue, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Some Thoughts about Logistics of a Steppe Summit

Posted on April 19, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Can Ulaanbaatar and the Mongolian government handle hosting a Trump-Kim meeting? Yes, of course, though it would stretch some resources. Past Summits Mongolia involved itself very actively in a number of multilateral organizations and meetings during the … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Ulaanbaatar, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment