Category Archives: Reflection

Guest post: Election Platforms on Extractive Sector Governance

Posted on June 25, 2024 by bulgan batdorj

By Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan  While political party platforms play arguably a limited role in the final outcome of elections in Mongolia, they are nonetheless important since the aspirations of the ultimate winning party stated in them end up forming the basis … Continue reading →

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Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Democratic Party, Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan, Governance, Ikh Khural 2024, KhUN, Mining, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Party Politics, Populism, Reflection, Tavan Tolgoi | Leave a comment

Election Talk around Town

Posted on June 14, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve only been in Ulaanbaatar for a couple of days, but I am having lots of conversations with contacts about the election. As Mendee keeps emphasizing, I may be the person in Ulaanbaatar who is most excited … Continue reading →

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Posted in Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, Politics, Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

The ONE Challenge

Posted on February 12, 2024 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Because few other people focus much of their attention on Mongolia, I often get asked questions that are more fundamental then I might be on other topics. In a conversation recently, sparked by the state visit of … Continue reading →

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Posted in Corruption, Countryside, Democracy, Demography, Development, Diversification, Economics, Environment, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Reflection, Social Issues | Tagged | Leave a comment

Friendship Medal

Posted on November 26, 2023 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes I was awarded a Friendship Medal by Foreign Minister B Battsetseg at a reception commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Mongolia, and also the announcement of an upgrade of the bilateral relationship to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Canada, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Leave a comment

Political Predictions and Why I Struggle with Making Them

Posted on March 6, 2023 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes People expect political predictions from me as a longtime Mongolia observer and country specialist. Even when I feel relatively certain of some predictions I would make, there is always that nagging doubt that strange things might happen … Continue reading →

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Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Ikh Khural 2024, Law, Politics, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia Focus 2022 in Review

Posted on January 2, 2023 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Readership During 2022 13,000 users viewed 27,000 pages. Both those numbers are down from 2021, perhaps not surprising in a non-election years as elections have generally led to spikes in readership. In 2022, the top ten origin … Continue reading →

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State-Socialist Legacies and Selective Perception of Propaganda

Posted on December 1, 2022 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Every so often, my conversations, especially on visits to Mongolia which are so valuable for my thinking, touch on bigger issues that are challenging to frame as a blog post. This is one of those attempts to … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Dissertation Ideas, Gender, History, JD Democratization, Policy, Politics, Protest, Protest, Reflection, Social Issues, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Atmospheric Observations

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes My August trip to Mongolia was the first visit after over 30 months of global COVID19 restrictions. I have already taken note of some of the visual and consumer changes I observed in Ulaanbaatar. But, I also … Continue reading →

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Posted in Business, Demography, Reflection, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar, Feb 2022

Posted on May 1, 2022 by bulgan batdorj

By Bulgan Batdorj  After four years, I finally got to go to Ulaanbaatar in February 2022. Although I was in regular contact with my family and friends, I was overjoyed to see them in person. The home welcoming of UB … Continue reading →

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Posted in Air Pollution, Bulgan Batdorj, Change, Food, Pop Culture, Reflection, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Considerations on Planning Travel from the US to Mongolia in February 2022

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Marissa Smith

By Marissa J. Smith This past week I have spoken with several people, and participated in several conversations on social media, where an announcement by Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene has been quoted as “borders are open.” I am sharing here a … Continue reading →

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Posted in Reflection, Research on Mongolia, Tourism | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia Focus 2021 in Review

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes In summer of 2021, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our blog, we’re now into the 11th year of providing analyses of contemporary development, always non-partisan, always for free, rooted in our academic research on Mongolia. 2021 … Continue reading →

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Media Notes for Future Revolution

Posted on January 6, 2022 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Two important notes up front: I cast sideways glances at Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan more than other countries, for historical/cultural similarities, resource-based development trajectories and landlocked-next-to-Russia-and-China status shared with Mongolia. I have no particular expertise on Kazakhstan. I … Continue reading →

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Posted in Central Asia, Democracy, Kazakhstan, Media and Press, Reflection, Social Media, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Want to Support our Analyses?

Posted on January 1, 2022 by Julian Dierkes

We have been offering our analyses for free here since 2011. There are no plans to change that, although we have always offered consulting services to a variety of clients. If you are a regular reader or you think that … Continue reading →

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10-Year Anniversary

Posted on July 29, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes WOW!!! We’ve been blogging for 10 years! We had hoped to hold a public event in Ulaanbaatar for this anniversary, invite some past authors, perhaps give some readers a chance to say a few things about the … Continue reading →

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What’s Wrong with Chinggis Studies?

Posted on July 10, 2021 by Julian Dierkes

By Julian Dierkes Okay, the enforced brevity of tweets got me into some trouble here. Hi Julian. I am very surprised that you are not being supportive of Mongolians initiating their own research and contributions to the Mongolian Studies field. … Continue reading →

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Posted in History, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment