Category Archives: Foreign Policy

Mongolia and Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – Part 2

Posted on March 29, 2022 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith It is now a month since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. This post follows up from a previous one and relates events that have occurred in the last two weeks. While the … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Society, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Protest, Protest, Russia, UN | 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 →

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 →

Posted in Alexey Mikhalev, Energy, Foreign Policy, Health, Mongolia and ..., Russia, SCO | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Mongolian Olympic Team in Tokyo 2020

Posted on August 17, 2021 by bulgan batdorj

By Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene  A Mongolian National Olympic Team of 43 athletes participated in the 2020 Summer Olympic Game in Tokyo, Japan in ten different sports.  Mongolian athletes have been participating in every Summer Olympic Games since 1964 in Tokyo, except … Continue reading →

Posted in Cultural Diplomacy, London 2012, Nationalism, Olympics, Pop Culture, Society and Culture, Sports, Tokyo 2020, Wrestling, Youth, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

Presidential Election Outlook

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Parties will nominate candidates my May 2 before Mongolians will vote on a new president on June 9, 2021. Depending on the outcome of the election this will be the 5th or 6th president since the democratic … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Foreign Policy, Military, National Labor Party, Presidential 2021 | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Oyun-Erdene Cabinet

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Bulgan B, Marissa Smith and Julian Dierkes After U Khurelsukh’s sudden resignation, the MPP moved swiftly to nominate 2-time MP and serving Cabinet Secretary L Oyun-Erdene as Prime Minister. As speculated, (see: here, here, and here), the new Cabinet … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Education, Energy, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2020, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Blip or Shift in Sino-Mongolian Relationship?

Posted on September 17, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes [Apologetic preamble: the beginning of the academic term is extra busy for me, so this is neither as thought-out, nor as edited as I would have wanted it to be, but I did want to post on … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., Mongolians in China, Nationalism | Leave a comment

Current and Previous Mongolian Presidents Weigh In on Mongolian Language Education

Posted on September 2, 2020 by marissa smith

By Marissa J. Smith Since Julian’s post on the unfolding events around China’s cancellation of Mongolian-medium education, the current Mongolian president, Kh. Battulga, and his predecessor, Ts. Elbegdorj, have released statements. As a brief update on the situation, Southern Mongolian … Continue reading →

Posted in Author, China, Cultural Diplomacy, Digital Diplomacy, Education, Foreign Policy, Inner Mongolia, Literature, Mongolia and ..., Mongolians in China, Nationalism, Politics, Primary and Secondary Education, Social Media, Social Movements, Video | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ministers in Khurelsukh’s Cabinet

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes, Marissa Smith and Bulgan Batdorj Byambajav has already provided a brief introduction to the 16 ministers who have been appointed to PM Khurelsukhs post-2020-election cabinet. Since a number of them are not MPs and have not been … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Foreign Policy, Governance, Health, Ikh Khural 2020, Infrastructure, Law, Military, Mining, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Society and Culture, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Covering 2020 Election

Posted on May 24, 2020 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia Focus is facing a challenge! In all likelihood, due to COVID-19, none of our core team will be able to travel to Mongolia for the campaign, nor for the election itself. Help us, dear readers, by … Continue reading →

Posted in Author, City Planning, Democracy, eDemocracy, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2020, Media and Press, Policy, Policy, Politics, Populism, Public Policy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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, 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, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Nationalism, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Guest Post: China’s Belt and Road Initiative

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