Category Archives: Author

Guest Post: A quick reaction to the on-going Facebook conversations on Oyu Tolgoi agreement and the role of Mr Bayartsogt in signing it

By Undariya Tumursukh The news that the Swiss are investigating the possible corruption case involving the former Finance Minister S. Bayartsogt (DP) and Rio Tinto has triggered some agitated discussion, including on Facebook, about Mr. Bayartsogt’s central role in concluding … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Mining, Oyu Tolgoi, Undariya Tumursukh | Leave a comment

Unequal Match: Mongolia versus Rio Tinto

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan If one describes the bargaining game between Mongolia, a small and isolated resource-rich state, and Rio Tinto, a giant multinational corporation, through the Mongolian national pastime sport – wrestling, it is truly an unequal match between the … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Mining, Mongolia and ..., Oyu Tolgoi | 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

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

Guest Post: Five Reasons Why Democracy in Mongolia is Working

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

Pleased by the Khurelsukh Cabinet

By Mendee Jargalsaikhan  The recent political developments in Ulaanbaatar have brought ‘hopes’ for some and ‘disappointments’ for others while being simply neglected by the majority as ‘typical’ political jokers and gaming.  Because of the lack of FORMAL institutional lockings, I … Continue reading

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

Guest Post: Resource Governance Index Points to SOEs as Key Reform Target  

By N Dorjdari NRGI’s Resource Governance Index measures good governance in the extractives sectors of 81 countries. This year, Mongolia’s mining sector ranked 15th out of 89 assessed extractive sectors, with an overall score of 64 out of 100 points—a … Continue reading

Posted in Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan, Global Indices, Mining, Mining Governance, Sovereign Wealth Fund | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Beyond the Ballot – Mongolia’s General Election Commission

By Jessica Keegan Mongolia’s General Election Commission (GEC) has been in existence since 1992 and is responsible for administering free, fair and credible elections. As with any young democracy, the institution has at times struggled to keep up with Mongolia’s … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Jessica Keegan, Presidential 2017, Public Opinion, Public Service | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Missing at the Kazakh Expo Party

By Dénes Jäger The Vatican, Yemen, Antigua and Barbuda are only three of over 100 states participating in this year‘s Expo in Astana Kazakhstan. Even though the concept of an international exposition seems to be a little outdated in a … Continue reading

Posted in Dénes Jäger, Foreign Policy, Kazakhstan | Leave a comment

Beyond “Populism without Party Platforms”: Mongolians’ Politics Beyond Ulaanbaatar

By Marissa Smith The campaign and election of the rough-voiced businessman-judoka Kh. Battulga to the presidency of Mongolia has elicited comparisons to Donald Trump and gestures to a global wave of “populism” from analysts and commentators, journalistic as well as … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Democratic Party, Demography, Elections, Erdenet, Kazakhs, Marissa Smith, Mongolian Diaspora, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Populism, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Not Hans and George but Battulga?

By Dénes Jäger In Turkish media the result of the Mongolian presidential elections didn’t really attract much attention. Most outlets only published a footnote, while some, interestingly, depicted Battulga as being a candidate close to Vladimir Putin. Naturally, Turkey currently … Continue reading

Posted in Bilateral Aid, Dénes Jäger, Foreign Policy, Turkey | 1 Comment

Guest Post: CIRDI Workshop Mongolian Young Professionals Shining

By Delgermaa B Short reflection on the capacity building training organized on June 19-23, 2017, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia Mongolian Young Professional are Shining Just few weeks ago I had a chance to participate in the capacity building training organized by the … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, CIRDI, Delgermaa Boldbaatar, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy | Leave a comment

Presidential Election: Diversion Tactics – Chinese Erliiz (Hybridity)

by Mendee One of the classic belittling methods among Mongolian political candidates has been to call each other an ethnic hybridity of either Chinese or Russian and Mongolian.  This causes one to engage in fruitless defensive effort to prove his/her Mongolian … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Elections, Judiciary, Mendee Jargalsaikhan, Politics, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Negative Income Tax I – Redistribution in Expanding Economies

By Ulrich Andree Note: This is the first of three articles. For the extended original article see LinkedIn. The forthcoming posts will focus on (dis)advantages of a negative income tax, and on the implementation of a negative income tax in … Continue reading

Posted in Demography, Development, Economics, Policy, Public Policy, Public Service, Social Change, Social Issues, Taxes, Ullrich Andree | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Negative Income Tax II – Advantages and Disadvantages

By Ulrich Andree Note: This is the second of three articles. For the extended original article see LinkedIn. The previous post focused on redistribution and the concept of an NIT. The final article will focus on the implementation of an NIT … Continue reading

Posted in Demography, Development, Economics, Health, Inequality, Policy, Public Policy, Public Service, Social Change, Social Issues, Taxes, Ullrich Andree | Leave a comment

Guest Post: Negative Income Tax III – Implementation

By Ulrich Andree Note: This is the third of three articles. For the extended original article see LinkedIn. The first post focused on the concept of a negative income tax, the second, on its (dis)advantages. The Implementation of NIT The implementation of NIT … Continue reading

Posted in Countryside, Demography, Development, Inequality, Public Policy, Public Service, Taxes, Ullrich Andree | Leave a comment