About Julian Dierkes

Julian Dierkes is Dean of Social Science at the University of Mannheim. He continues to focus much of his research attention on democratization and mining policy in contemporary Mongolia.

From 2002 to 2024 he taught at the University of British Columbia’s Institute of Asian Research (IAR) and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) where this blog also originated. He is a frequent visitor to Mongolia.

Dr. Dierkes is a sociologist by training (PhD Princeton). In addition to contemporary Mongolia, his research interests focus on supplementary education, especially in Japan (see e.g. Jukupedia – Shadowing Education).

Dr. Dierkes has co-supervised graduate projects on mining regulation in Mongolia with colleagues in mining engineering and on other topics in various other disciplines.

He has served as an election observer in the 2008 parliamentary,  2009 presidential, 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential, and 2017 presidential, and 2024 parliamentary elections in Mongolia. He has written about Mongolia for Asia Pacific Memo, East Asia Forum, the FT’s beyond BRICS, The Diplomat and elsewhere, and also consults on Mongolia as a director of the Mongolian Institute for Innovative Policies.

Dr. Dierkes was awarded a Friendship Medal in 2023.

He toots at Mastodon and posts on Bluesky, including frequent notes on Mongolia.

Dierkes is easily mistaken for a socialist, but at least he’s an expert!