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.

SOMO Report “Mining Taxes”

Posted on February 1, 2018 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes The Dutch Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) published a report focused on a whole list of issues related to financial and governance structures for the Oyu Tolgoi project. The report was written by SOMO’s Vincent Kiezebrink and … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Corruption, EU, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, International Relations, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Public Policy, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

SOMO Report Preamble: Assumptions

Posted on February 1, 2018 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes It struck me while reading the SOMO report on Oyu Tolgoi governance and tax structures that there are a number of big assumptions and elements in the Mongolian context that are not discussed explicitly, but that are … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Investment, International Agreements, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy, Public Policy, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

How Are We To Think About Rio’s Balancing of Political Risk and Taxation in Light of SOMO Report?

Posted on February 1, 2018 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Rio Tinto’s response to the SOMO report claims that the convoluted corporate structure that has been created for Oyu Tolgoi is not aimed at saving taxes, but rather at reducing investment risk. For as long as Rio … Continue reading →

Posted in International Agreements, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Public Policy, Taxes | Tagged | Leave a comment

Where did the Conspiracy Conspiracy Come From?

Posted on January 21, 2018 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia is not unique in the presence of conspiracy theories, nor in the presence of events and factors in those events that may lend themselves to conspiracy theories. Yet, in my experience, conspiracy theories have become dominant … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Curios, History, JD Democratization, JD Mining Governance, Party Politics, Politics, Pop Culture, Social Issues, Social Media | Tagged | 1 Comment

Gender and Age in Voter Turnout

Posted on January 9, 2018 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Via a freedom of information request submitted my Mongol TV’s E Lkhagva, I have obtained information on the gender and age breakdown of voters in last year’s presidential election. As frequently described in election observation, Mongolian election … Continue reading →

Posted in Demography, Elections, Ikh Khural 2016, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Parliament Challenged

Posted on December 30, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes This fall has brought a series of political tussles over ambassadorships that have hinted at one of the great rising challenges in Mongolia’s governance, corruption seemingly becoming a systemic block rather than simply a surtax upon transactions … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Democracy, Party Politics, Politics, Security Apparatus | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Agreement between Canada and Mongolia for the Promotion and Protection of Investments – a Glance at Its Nature, Significance and Features

Posted on December 10, 2017 by JDierkes

By Bajar Scharaw On 8 September 2016, Canada and Mongolia signed an international Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments (the Canada-Mongolia Investment Agreement). The Agreement entered into force on 24 February 2017 and created legally-binding obligations for both … Continue reading →

Posted in Bajar Scharaw, Canada, Foreign Investment, Foreign Policy, International Agreements, Law, Trade | 2 Comments

False Dzud Alarms

Posted on November 19, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Periodically, parts of the Mongolian countryside experience heavy snowfall at the end of a long, cold winter. These conditions combine to deny animals access to any kind of grass under the masses of snow when they are … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Grassland, Health, Policy | Tagged | 2 Comments

Risking Foreign Relations out of (Partisan) Pettiness

Posted on November 8, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes November is shaping up to be a very busy month of diplomacy across Asia, at least from a North American perspective. It is an odd time for the Mongolian president to seemingly hold some of Mongolia’s most … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Foreign Policy, Germany, Japan, Mongolia and ..., Security Apparatus, South Korea, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar October 2017

Posted on November 6, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: 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 2014-16 … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Curios, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Five Reasons Why Democracy in Mongolia is Working

Posted on November 1, 2017 by JDierkes

By Daniel Schmücking and Adiyasuren J Mongolia is hailed as an ‘oasis of democracy’, as a shining example of democratic development, and as a model for other post-communist countries especially the Central Asian nations to strive to. Although, many challenges such … Continue reading →

Posted in Adiya Jamiyandagva, Civil Society, Constitution, Daniel Schmücking, Democracy, Development, Foreign Policy, Global Indices, Governance, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Media and Press | Leave a comment

Pedagogical Reflections: Role Playing and Cases

Posted on October 29, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Beyond my research on Mongolia, I also seek out opportunities for teaching and other kinds of engagement. Overall, Mongolian teaching methods I have observed remain fairly traditional, that is a respected instructor lecturing a large audience of … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, Education, Public Policy, Youth | Tagged | Leave a comment

Change in Countryside – October 2017

Posted on October 25, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes This is Post #500 for our Blog! What a milestone, we’ll have to commemorate our achievement soon. For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. This year, I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios | Tagged | Leave a comment

Disappointed by the Khurelsukh Cabinet

Posted on October 15, 2017 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes My dominant view of developments in Mongolia is, “If only…”. The economic, political and social development promise is there, yet its fulfillment is always one or two good decisions away. In my view, Khurelsukh’s cabinet unfortunately signals … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Judiciary, Mongolian People's Party, Politics, Public Service | Tagged | Leave a comment

Khurelsukh Cabinet

Posted on October 13, 2017 by JDierkes

By J Mendee & Julian Dierkes It has been an odd development that the MPP government led by Prime Minister J Erdenebat fell, even though the MPP still has its super-majority in parliament. Ultimately, this has been fallout from M … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment