Yearly Archives: 2014

Foreign Policy Roundup #19: May 26-June 8, 2014

In this roundup, highlights include Mongolia’s hosting the UN Forum on Trade and Development in Landlocked and Small Island Nations, and continued high level engagement with the Russian Federation. …   Neighbors On invitation of the Mongolia Minister of Law X. … Continue reading

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Will Events in Ukraine Trickle East to Mongolia?

As President Obama declares that the US is preparing to boost its military presence in Europe to the tune of $1 billion, and NATO and the EU move quickly to deepen relations with Georgia and Moldova it is easy to … Continue reading

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New to Ulaanbaatar in May 2014

By Julian Dierkes Back in October 2013, I made a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar. I’ve copied that list here and am adding to it. New items since October 2013 that I’m adding in May … Continue reading

Posted in Change, Curios, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 3 Comments

Foreign Policy Roundup #18: May 12-26, 2014

Highlights for the past few weeks include: Putin meets with the Mongolian President at the Confidence Building Measures in Asia international forum and with Mongolian Prime Minister N. Altankhuyag at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.   … Neighbors Mongolian … Continue reading

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In Ulaanbaatar with EITI Project Graduate Students

Together with Dirk van Zyl, a colleague in UBC’s NBK Institute of Mining Engineering, I supervised an interdisciplinary group of graduate students in a project on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and focused especially on EITI reporting in Mongolia … Continue reading

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Foreign Policy Roundup #17: April 28- May 11, 2014

Highlights from this week include Gankhuyag’s tour of Southeast Asia, several newly appointed ambassadors, and the election of Mongolia to head the international “Freedom Online Coalition.” … Neighbors On the invitation of Mongolian Minister of Finance, Ch. Ulaan, the Chinese … Continue reading

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The Cluttering of Ulaanbaatar

By Julian Dierkes Caveats: I am no city planner, nor a scholar of urban development. I also don’t have a strong sense of what’s happening in Ulaanbaatar outside the very small downtown area within, say, 4km of Sukhbaatar Square. Yet, … Continue reading

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Rosneft Pipelines to and Through Mongolia

Events in Ukraine create both uncertainties and opportunities in Ulaanbaatar. A changing balance of power in Europe and closer ties between two regional powers, Russia and China, certainly create new uncertainty for Mongolia. With their country’s “regionless” fate of living … Continue reading

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State-Sponsored Formalization of Household Herding in Rural Bayanhongor

“A herder is master of 1000 professions.” President Elbegdorj, printed at the top of herder diplomas The Presence of the State in Rural Mongolia Over the course of my dissertation fieldwork in Mongolia, I spent a considerable amount of time … Continue reading

Posted in Ariell Ahearn, Countryside, Education, Nomadism, Presidential 2013, Research on Mongolia | 1 Comment

Foreign Policy Roundup #16: April 14-27, 2014

After a bit of a hiatus, Foreign Policy Roundup is back, and I am expecting to restart bi-monthly postings from here on out. Highlights for this week include the Myanmar delegation’s visit to Mongolia and Saudi Arabia’s decision to open … Continue reading

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Foreign Policy Implications of Mongolian Crony Democracy

Though considered a healthy—albeit developing—democracy, Mongolia has in recent years become dominated by the competing interests of its political and business factions, whose collective actions undermine the country’s democratization trends as well as complicate Ulaanbaatar’s foreign policy. For now, Mongolia … Continue reading

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Is the Altankhuyag Government Teetering?

Prime Minister Altankhuyag has been leading the government for almost two years. To an outside observer like me, he has remained a puzzle in how he has been able to keep a coalition and a divided party united first for … Continue reading

Posted in Democratic Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Mongolia in the 2014 Social Progress Index

[This post was written jointly by Undral Amarsaikhan and Julian Dierkes] On April 2, the Social Progressive Imperative released its 2014 Social Progress Index. For the first time, this included Mongolia. The Social Progressive Index is an index of indices … Continue reading

Posted in Air Pollution, Corruption, Development, Economics, Education, Global Indices, Governance, Nomadism, Policy, Policy, Primary and Secondary Education, Research on Mongolia, Social Change, Undral Amarsaikhan, Water | Tagged | 1 Comment

Fellow Mongolia Focus Bloggers Marching Along in Academic Careers

Congratulations to two Mongolia Focus grad student bloggers! MENDEE Jargalsaikhan passed his comprehensive examinations in Political Science at the Univ of British Columbia last week. The next step for him will be to write and defend a dissertation proposal to … Continue reading

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Book Reviews: Change in Democratic Mongolia

The edited volume, Change in Democratic Mongolia: Social Relations, Health, Mobile Pastoralism, and Mining has been reviewed in the following academic publications: Morris Rossabi (2013) in Pacific Affairs 86 (3): 642-644. Jeremy Swift (2014) in Nomadic Peoples 18 (1): 152-155. Tjalling … Continue reading

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