Category Archives: International Relations

US Offensive toward Mongolia

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan Suddenly, there has been a flurry of meetings between Mongolian and U.S. officials and, even more surprising, a flurry of official visits to Mongolia that looks likely to lead to a vice-presidential visit. The … Continue reading →

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Posted in China, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Russia, SCO, United States | 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 →

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

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

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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 →

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

Implications of Power Politics for OT and Elsewhere “Offshore”

Posted on April 22, 2018 by marissa smith

By Marissa Smith About a week ago, Mendee and I agreed to write a pair of blog posts on the question of how OT and the current wave of corruption investigations and arrests, most recently involving former Prime Ministers Ch. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Development, Foreign Investment, Infrastructure, International Agreements, International Relations, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, North Korea, Oyu Tolgoi | Tagged | Leave a comment

SOMO Report “Mining Taxes”

Posted on February 1, 2018 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes The Dutch Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) published a report focused on a whole list of issues related to financial and governance structures for the Oyu Tolgoi project. The report was written by SOMO’s Vincent Kiezebrink and … Continue reading →

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Posted in Canada, Corruption, EU, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, International Relations, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Public Policy, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia at Davos 2018: Party like it’s 2009?

Posted on February 1, 2018 by marissa smith

By Marissa Smith In recent years, Mongolia has regularly sent a delegation to the World Economic Forum at Davos. This year was somewhat less eventful than some years, when President Elbegdorj himself attended and presided over a “Mongolia Night” and … Continue reading →

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Posted in China, Development, Economics, Environment, Environment, Erdenet, Foreign Policy, Infrastructure, International Cooperation Fund, International Relations, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Mongolia and ..., Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Politics, South Korea | Tagged | Leave a comment

New President, New Foreign Policy?

Posted on June 5, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes The Mongolian constitution assigns responsibility for international relations to the president. Ts Elbegdorj has been very active in this regard for the past eight years of his two terms as president. With the election campaign getting ready … Continue reading →

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Posted in China, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Presidential 2017, Russia, South Korea, UN, United States | Tagged | 1 Comment

M vs Genco

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes The MPP has selected its chairman, Enkhbold M, to be nominated as candidate in the June 26 presidential election. The DP appears to have selected Battulga Kh., pending a party congress. One question remains: Will Enkhbayar N … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Elections, Foreign Policy, International Relations, JD Democratization, Mongolia and ..., Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2017, Public Policy | Tagged | 4 Comments

International Relations in the Trump Era

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes As someone who thinks and writes about political risk regarding Mongolia, my focus is on domestic politics more than on international relations. Yet, with Donald Trump becoming U.S.-president, I have to add a fairly random element to … Continue reading →

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Posted in China, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Nationalism, North Korea, Presidential 2017, Russia, UN, United States | Tagged | 2 Comments

Digital Diplomacy tied to ASEM

Posted on March 21, 2016 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Some weeks ago I wrote about the potential for a Mongolian digital diplomacy. That post generated a lot of interest (over 500 readers in less than 2 months). The tweet about this post was my most-viewed tweet … Continue reading →

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Posted in Digital Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Social Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Many Habits of Successful Mongolian Digital Diplomats

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Julian Dierkes

I wrote “The Way Forward for Canadian Digital Diplomacy” for Canada’s The Embassy on November 18, 2015. I followed this up with a list of more specific about steps that Global Affairs Canada might take in developing Twiplomacy if this direction … Continue reading →

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Posted in Digital Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

UN Human Rights Council

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

I recently wrote about President Elbegdorj’s address to the UN General Assembly this September and his statement that he is seeking UN recognition for Mongolia’s status as “permanently neutral”. Elbegdorj ended this speech with a call for support from other … Continue reading →

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Posted in Human Rights, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., UN | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Revision

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes It appears that all of a sudden the push for constitutional revision is alive and becoming more concrete with a multi-party submission of a draft in parliament that appears to have the support of 60% of MPs. … Continue reading →

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Posted in Aimags, Constitution, Democracy, Governance, International Relations, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment