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Author Archives: JDierkes
Appreciating the Work of the Canadian Embassy
I am not even Canadian, and I don’t work for the Canadian or for the Mongolian government for that matter, though they are obviously important interlocutors for me given my interest in economic, political, and social development in Mongolia. Yet, … Continue reading
Posted in Bilateral Aid, Canada, Foreign Policy, Governor General's Visit 2013
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Joint Statement Lu Bold & J Baird
Foreign Ministers Lu Bold and John Baird issued a joint statement following their discussions in Ulaanbaatar. The statement included no surprises nor any concrete news that I can discern, but no translation is available yet. The topics covered in the … Continue reading
DFATD Announcement of FM Baird Visit
On July 22 the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development confirmed previous reporting in the Mongolia press that Foreign Minister Baird will be visiting Mongolia later this week: In his first trip to Mongolia, Baird will discuss the … Continue reading
Posted in Bilateral Aid, Canada, Development, Foreign Investment, Foreign Policy, International Relations
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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FM Baird to Visit Mongolia
According to Mongolian news sources ( 24 Tsag | infomongolia.com), Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird will be visiting Ulaanbaatar July 23-25. There’s no official Canadian announcement as of July 20, but let’s assume that this visit is really happening, after … Continue reading
Canadian Development Aid
The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development revised its list of priority countries in June 2014 to include Mongolia. Past Bilateral Engagement This is a further step in the long-term process to increase Canadian-Mongolian bilateral engagement. A bilateral … Continue reading
New to Ulaanbaatar in May 2014
By Julian Dierkes Back in October 2013, I made a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar. I’ve copied that list here and am adding to it. New items since October 2013 that I’m adding in May … Continue reading
In Ulaanbaatar with EITI Project Graduate Students
Together with Dirk van Zyl, a colleague in UBC’s NBK Institute of Mining Engineering, I supervised an interdisciplinary group of graduate students in a project on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and focused especially on EITI reporting in Mongolia … Continue reading
The Cluttering of Ulaanbaatar
By Julian Dierkes Caveats: I am no city planner, nor a scholar of urban development. I also don’t have a strong sense of what’s happening in Ulaanbaatar outside the very small downtown area within, say, 4km of Sukhbaatar Square. Yet, … Continue reading
State-Sponsored Formalization of Household Herding in Rural Bayanhongor
“A herder is master of 1000 professions.” President Elbegdorj, printed at the top of herder diplomas The Presence of the State in Rural Mongolia Over the course of my dissertation fieldwork in Mongolia, I spent a considerable amount of time … Continue reading
Is the Altankhuyag Government Teetering?
Prime Minister Altankhuyag has been leading the government for almost two years. To an outside observer like me, he has remained a puzzle in how he has been able to keep a coalition and a divided party united first for … Continue reading
Mongolia in the 2014 Social Progress Index
[This post was written jointly by Undral Amarsaikhan and Julian Dierkes] On April 2, the Social Progressive Imperative released its 2014 Social Progress Index. For the first time, this included Mongolia. The Social Progressive Index is an index of indices … Continue reading
Fellow Mongolia Focus Bloggers Marching Along in Academic Careers
Congratulations to two Mongolia Focus grad student bloggers! MENDEE Jargalsaikhan passed his comprehensive examinations in Political Science at the Univ of British Columbia last week. The next step for him will be to write and defend a dissertation proposal to … Continue reading
Posted in Brandon Miliate, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Research on Mongolia
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Book Reviews: Change in Democratic Mongolia
The edited volume, Change in Democratic Mongolia: Social Relations, Health, Mobile Pastoralism, and Mining has been reviewed in the following academic publications: Morris Rossabi (2013) in Pacific Affairs 86 (3): 642-644. Jeremy Swift (2014) in Nomadic Peoples 18 (1): 152-155. Tjalling … Continue reading
Posted in Book: Change in Democratic Mongolia, Research on Mongolia
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Mongolia-Australia Mining Partnership
During FM Lu Bold’s visit to Australia, there has now been an announcement of a grand “Mining Partnership” between Mongolia and Australia to the tune of A$20m over 5 years. From Julie Bishop, Australian Foreign Minister’s website: Mongolian Foreign Minister … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Bilateral Aid, Development, Foreign Policy, Governance, Mongolia and ...
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Foreign Policy, Mining & Development
I happened to catch a segment of CBC’s “The 180” radio show that included an interview with Erin O’Toole, the Canadian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade. The segment focused on the “marriage” of foreign policy, development aid, and … Continue reading