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Author Archives: JDierkes
Pervasive Sense of (Political) Crisis
By Julian Dierkes During my most recent visit to Mongolia, I heard talk of political crisis everywhere. [A strong argument for visiting more often!] Not the kind of crisis that could be resolved by a change of government, although rumours … Continue reading
Inside Policy Workshops
By Julian Dierkes This will be very familiar to Mongolian readers, but perhaps of more interest to non-Mongolian readers, or those who have not travelled in the countryside beyond tourism. My experience comes from election observation on the one hand, … Continue reading
Employment
By Julian Dierkes I have been encountering “unemployment” as a political challenge in Mongolia for many years. Most recently, in a set of six workshops on policy-making and political parties organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Mongolia for the Mongolian People’s Party youth organization (НАМЗХ) and the Trade Union … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Countryside, Diversification, Economics, Employment, Policy, Public Policy
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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New to Ulaanbaatar August 2018
By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in the /ulaanbaatar/change/ category. I’ve copied the … Continue reading
Guest Post: Flooding in Mongolia
By Jangar Ts Recent floods in Mongolia have brought about a lot of discussions. Continuous heavy rains all over the country quickly resulted in multiple floods, destroying communication lines, affecting some villages and infrastructure. In the northern part of the … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Environment, Flooding, Gobi, Grassland, Jangar Tsembel, Natural Disaster, Ulaanbaatar
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Rose-Tinted Views: My Optimist View of Mongolia
By Julian Dierkes Had a really interesting conversation! Wow, what a network of worldly, interesting Mongolians, Bataa has assembled! A number of his friends were kind enough to mention that they read the blog and it turned out that I … Continue reading
Guest Post: Grappling with Wrestling Titles
By Zorigtkhuu B National wrestling is considered a Mongolian precious cultural heritage. It holds the Guinness World Record that involved 6,002 wrestlers during the largest Mongolian wrestling tournament which was organized on 17th September. 2011. Wrestlers have been entertaining the … Continue reading
Posted in Naadam, Wrestling, Zorigtkhuu Bat-Erdene
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Akçay Mobilization
By Julian Dierkes The late July apparent attempt to kidnap a Gülen-affiliated educator in Mongolia is still animating a lot of discussions one week later. The most pressing questions still surround the cooperation that some Mongolian authorities must have given … Continue reading
Posted in Civil Society, Primary and Secondary Education, Protest, Security Apparatus, Turkey
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Study Tours, Policy Implementation and Necessary Context
By Julian Dierkes Over the years I have been – mostly peripherally, though not for lack of trying – involved in various attempts to describe good practices from other countries to Mongolian policy makers in the hopes of seeing elements … Continue reading
Posted in Bilateral Aid, Canada, Development, Environment, Public Policy, Public Service
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Turkish Attempt to Abduct Educator in Ulaanbaatar
By Julian Dierkes and Mendee Jargalsaikhan More than just a curious spy story, this might turn into a full diplomatic crisis between Mongolia and Turkey, a relationship that has been active and vibrant for some years. Note that it is … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Security Apparatus, Turkey
Tagged Julian Dierkes; Mendee Jargalsaikhan
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Rio Tinto in Mongolia
By Julian Dierkes Recently, Bulgan B and I pointed out that there have been as many CEOs at Oyu Tolgoi over the past ten years as there have been PMs of Mongolia. I also appeared on a live BBC radio … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Mining, Mining Governance, Nationalism, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Job Rotation in the Mongolian Cabinet, at Turquoise Hill and at Oyu Tolgoi
By Julian Dierkes and Bulgan B Any observer would agree that the development of Oyu Tolgoi has been a winding and meandering path. In the foreign press and from an international investor perspective, mentions of the frequent turnover of Mongolian … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Government, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi
Tagged Julian Dierkes; Batdorj Bulgan
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Present and Past of Mongolia: 15 Years of Changes as Observed by a Civil Engineer
By Kenji Maruoka Translated from Japanese by Ts Jangar Originally published as 「谷川, 聡. (Tanigawa Satoru).(2017). モンゴルの今と昔～2000 年から土木技術者として見てきた15 年の変遷～. KON BAINA UU. No１６ It was my first visit of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where I came to work for Japan’s ODA program in the early May … Continue reading
Posted in Bilateral Aid, Change, Development, Infrastructure, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar
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What to Call a Trump-Kim Summit?
By Julian Dierkes Yes, an actual meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump still seems somewhat unlikely, and the chance that it would happen in Ulaanbaatar is even smaller. But if it did happen … there are some plans to … Continue reading
Posted in Curios, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar, United States
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Sounds of a Ger
By Julian Dierkes For any visitor to Mongolia who has the chance to sleep in a ger, that is probably a highlight. I enjoy it every time I have a chance. One of the aspects that often makes it a … Continue reading