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- Newish Foreign Policy Vibes in Ulaanbaatar
- New to Ulaanbaatar April 2026
- Uchral Cabinet
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- Mining and Magnetism: The Repulsion Effect
- What Does the Rusal-Rio Case Actually Mean For Mongolia?
- Mongolia Focus in Review 2025
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Author Archives: JDierkes
EIAS Talk: Political Transformations, Upcoming Presidential Election
I recently discussed Mongolia’s political trajectory toward the June 9 presidential election with Lin Goethals and Allesandra Tamponi at the European Institute for Asian Studies.
Guest Post: An Election with Handpicked Candidates?
By Max Duckstein On May 6, the election commission confirmed the receipt of the third and last candidate for the upcoming presidential elections: S Erdene. In the hours before, the deputies of his own party urged the commission not to … Continue reading
Presidential Election Candidates: Initial Outlook
By Julian Dierkes Before the presidential election campaign gets started in earnest, I want to offer my sense of the candidates, issues, and some thoughts about possible outcomes. Candidates have now been nominated. In one of the great surprises of … Continue reading
More Presidential Election Speculation
By Julian Dierkes If you have been reading our blog, you know that I cannot resist speculating about electoral chances and outcomes. That is even more speculative now, as I have been unable to travel to Mongolia since December 2019 … Continue reading
Guest Post: Democracy in Danger? A Court Ruling with Serious Implications for Mongolia’s Future
By Johann Fuhrmann and Max Duckstein The lead-up to the Mongolian presidential elections on June 9 is getting messier by the day. On April 16 the constitutional court ruled to bar the incumbent president Kh Battulga from running a second … Continue reading
The Military, Populism, and Trepidation about Single-Party Rule
By Julian Dierkes and Marissa J. Smith The constitutional amendments of Nov 2019 seemed to result from a bargain between Pres. Battulga and the MPP that would allow him to run for another term under the new six-year single term. … Continue reading
Guest Post: COVID19 in Ulaanbaatar II – Emergency Levels, Lockdowns and Patterns
By Paweł Szczap [This is a second part to a post published on Apr 2 2021 focused on mass testing and risk areas.] In order to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Ulaanbaatar, a two-week-long, citywide lockdown was introduced mid-February … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Paweł Szczap, Public Policy, Ulaanbaatar
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Guest Post: COVID19 in Ulaanbaatar – Mass Testing and Risk Areas
By Paweł Szczap In mid-February 2021, a mass testing program for COVID-19 called Neg khaalga – Neg shinjilgee (One Door – One Test; below abbreviated as 1D1T), was implemented in Ulaanbaatar. It was undertaken in reaction to the gradual spread … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Paweł Szczap, Public Policy, Ulaanbaatar
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Stability of Presidential Election System
By Julian Dierkes In June, Mongolians will participate in a presidential election again. The electoral system has remained largely unchanged since the first free election in 1993. In late January 2021 a conference on “Democratic Challenges in Asia and Mongolia” … Continue reading
Posted in Democracy, Elections, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Research on Mongolia
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Presidential Election Outlook
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
Oyun-Erdene Cabinet
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
PM Khurelsukh Resigns Suddenly
By Julian Dierkes Over 30 years of Mongolia’s democratic history we have seen a lot of surprising developments. By comparison, recent months seemed relatively calm. The Mongolian People’s Party (MPP) cruised to a first-ever consecutive election victory, seemingly on the … Continue reading
2020 Mongolia Focus in Review
By Julian Dierkes This summer, we will celebrate the tenth anniversary of our blog, though one would have to be very hopeful that this will involve a reunion of our regular authors together in one place. It will also be … Continue reading
Posted in Reflection, Research on Mongolia, Social Media
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Podcast: 77Nation
On Dec 11 2020, I appeared on the 77Nation podcast for a wide-ranging discussion of Mongolian politics with L Bolor, E Enkhtamir, and B Geser.
Guest Post: Spirituality and Wisdom Cherished by “The Legend of the Shaman”
By OTGONSUREN Jargal I know one researcher, a woman from Europa who researches shamanism and admires the magic of Mongolian shamans. She says that her life has changed dramatically after become a researcher and every summer she comes to Mongolia, … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Literature, Otgonsuren Jargal, Religion, Shamanism
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