Author Archives: JDierkes

About JDierkes

Research on Mongolia for over 20 years, particular focus on mining policy and democratization. Princeton-trained sociologist. Dean, School of Social Sciences, Univ of Mannheim.

Guest Post: A BIT of Project Finance Arbitrage in Mongolia

Posted on April 1, 2020 by JDierkes

By Kinnari Bhatt As Jennifer Lander observed last week, RIO is getting out the big guns. My new book – Concessionaires, Financiers and Communities: Implementing Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Land in Transnational Development Projects, shows how investors like RIO use … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Kinnari Bhatt, Law, Mining, Mining Governance, Mongolia and ..., Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Research on Mongolia, Taxes | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Personal Experience of National Quarantine during COVID 19

Posted on March 26, 2020 by JDierkes

By Zorigtkhuu B Although there were some strict measures by the government to combat the deadly virus in Mongolia, it had been so nice to come back to my home country after a few years of being away. The capital … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Health, Law, Media and Press, Politics, Social Issues, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene | Leave a comment

Parties Competing in 2020 Parliamentary Election

Posted on March 22, 2020 by JDierkes

By Mendee J and Julian Dierkes We recently collated information about dates and procedures for the upcoming parliamentary election in June. Julian discussed some of the implications of multi-member majoritarian voting with his colleague Max Cameron in a podcast. Now, … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Democratic Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Investor-State Arbitration and Mongolia’s Rapidly Shrinking Policy Space

Posted on March 11, 2020 by JDierkes

By Jennifer Lander On the 20th of February, Rio Tinto initiated arbitration proceedings against the Government of Mongolia at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) through Oyu Tolgoi LLC. The escalation of the dispute over the alleged … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Jennifer Lander, Law, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Taxes, Trade | Leave a comment

Comparative Electoral Systems

Posted on March 5, 2020 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I am an avid listener of podcasts. Unfortunately, Mongolia only makes a rare appearance in English-language podcasts. I’ve long thought abt podcast bringing social science disciplinary interests into more dialogue w/ area knowledge. Just had wonderful conversation … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, Party Politics, Podcast, Politics, Research on Mongolia | Leave a comment

Election Primer 2020 – Electoral System & Procedures

Posted on February 20, 2020 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan After experimenting the 2015 election law with integrated parliamentary, presidential, and local elections, in the 2016-2017 election cycles, the parliament agreed to pass separate laws governing each election. The integrated election law created more … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Reforms and Political Party Creation

Posted on February 9, 2020 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Gerelt-Od Erdenebileg The Mongolian Parliament has passed a number of constitutional amendments on November 14, 2019. Elements of this constitutional reform had been discussed by many political parties and politicians for the last twenty years. Among … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Gerelt-Od Erdenebileg, Governance, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Summer 2020 Field Schools

Posted on February 4, 2020 by JDierkes

By Marissa J. Smith Interested in educational travel to Mongolia this summer? We will be holding a webinar about field schools Wednesday, February 5, at 4 PM Pacific Time/Thursday, February 6, at 8 AM in Ulaanbaatar. The American Center for … Continue reading →

Posted in American Center for Mongolian Studies, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fascist Symbolism in Mongolia

Posted on January 20, 2020 by JDierkes

By Niels Hegewisch and Julian Dierkes Recent attention to ethno-rock sensation The Hu has revived concerns about the (seeming) use of fascist iconography in Mongolian politics. While fascist symbols are immediately distasteful to Western observers, in Asia such symbols need … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Music, Nationalism, Niels Hegewisch, Politics, Pop Culture, Populism, Protest, Social Issues, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Gender Mainstreaming in Public Administration

Posted on January 8, 2020 by JDierkes

By Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren At a glance, Mongolia may seem like a ‘paradise for men’ given the high status of men or a ‘paradise for women’ given the country’s high rankings on human development indices. Yet, the gender equality situation remains … Continue reading →

Posted in Gender, Oyuntuya Shagdarsuren, Public Policy, Public Service, Social Change, Social Issues | Leave a comment

2019 Mongolia Focus in Review

Posted on January 1, 2020 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Our blog is in its 9th year. We smashed through our 600th post this year. Most notably we were recognized through a Public Outreach Award from the Central Eurasian Studies Society. Mendee defended his PhD. I’d say, … Continue reading →

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

New to Ulaanbaatar December 2019

Posted on December 19, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping lists of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: June 2019 | April 2019 | December 2018 | August 2018 | October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013 | October 2011. More informal … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, City Planning, Curios, Fashion, Heritage, Museums, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Back to the 2008 Future in Voting?

Posted on December 17, 2019 by JDierkes

By Enkhtsetseg D and Julian Dierkes After toying with the idea of a mixed electoral system, in which 50 seats were to be distributed based on the FPTP system and 26 seats to be distributed proportionally from an open party … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Enkhtsetseg Dagva, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ever-Creative Electoral System Discussions

Posted on December 9, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Long-time readers of our blog (really committed readers are looking back on 8 1/2 years of analyses!) will know that I get very interested in elections and that many of my collaborators have also chipped on an … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Elections, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Constitutional Amendments Adopted

Posted on November 15, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes While some details remain curiously unclear (as is so frustratingly often the case with Mongolian legislation and reporting on it, the Ikh Khural approved a number of constitutional amendments on Nov 15. While these are subject to … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Elections, Governance, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Party Politics, Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment