Category Archives: Reflection

Guest Post: Reflections of my visit: Change, Challenges and Resilience

By Bolormaa Purevjav  This is a part of our series on “Change in the countryside.” After living in Vancouver, Canada, for six years while completing my PhD, I returned to Mongolia in the summer of 2024. This visit was an … Continue reading

Posted in Air Pollution, Bolormaa Purevjav, Change, Countryside, Demography, Economics, Environment, Herding, Inequality, Pop Culture, Public Opinion, Reflection, Society and Culture, Younger Mongolians, Youth | Tagged | 1 Comment

Guest post: Election Platforms on Extractive Sector Governance

By Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan  While political party platforms play arguably a limited role in the final outcome of elections in Mongolia, they are nonetheless important since the aspirations of the ultimate winning party stated in them end up forming the basis … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Democratic Party, Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan, Governance, Ikh Khural 2024, KhUN, Mining, Mining Governance, Oyu Tolgoi, Party Politics, Populism, Reflection, Tavan Tolgoi | Leave a comment

Election Talk around Town

By Julian Dierkes I’ve only been in Ulaanbaatar for a couple of days, but I am having lots of conversations with contacts about the election. As Mendee keeps emphasizing, I may be the person in Ulaanbaatar who is most excited … Continue reading

Posted in Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, Politics, Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

The ONE Challenge

By Julian Dierkes Because few other people focus much of their attention on Mongolia, I often get asked questions that are more fundamental then I might be on other topics. In a conversation recently, sparked by the state visit of … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Countryside, Democracy, Demography, Development, Diversification, Economics, Environment, Foreign Policy, Ikh Khural 2024, JD Mining Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Reflection, Social Issues | Tagged | Leave a comment

Friendship Medal

By Julian Dierkes I was awarded a Friendship Medal by Foreign Minister B Battsetseg at a reception commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and Mongolia, and also the announcement of an upgrade of the bilateral relationship to … Continue reading

Posted in Canada, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Leave a comment

Political Predictions and Why I Struggle with Making Them

By Julian Dierkes People expect political predictions from me as a longtime Mongolia observer and country specialist. Even when I feel relatively certain of some predictions I would make, there is always that nagging doubt that strange things might happen … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Ikh Khural 2024, Law, Politics, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia Focus 2022 in Review

By Julian Dierkes Readership During 2022 13,000 users viewed 27,000 pages. Both those numbers are down from 2021, perhaps not surprising in a non-election years as elections have generally led to spikes in readership. In 2022, the top ten origin … Continue reading

Posted in Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

State-Socialist Legacies and Selective Perception of Propaganda

By Julian Dierkes Every so often, my conversations, especially on visits to Mongolia which are so valuable for my thinking, touch on bigger issues that are challenging to frame as a blog post. This is one of those attempts to … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Dissertation Ideas, Gender, History, JD Democratization, Policy, Politics, Protest, Protest, Reflection, Social Issues, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Atmospheric Observations

By Julian Dierkes My August trip to Mongolia was the first visit after over 30 months of global COVID19 restrictions. I have already taken note of some of the visual and consumer changes I observed in Ulaanbaatar. But, I also … Continue reading

Posted in Business, Demography, Reflection, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar, Feb 2022

By Bulgan Batdorj  After four years, I finally got to go to Ulaanbaatar in February 2022. Although I was in regular contact with my family and friends, I was overjoyed to see them in person. The home welcoming of UB … Continue reading

Posted in Air Pollution, Bulgan Batdorj, Change, Food, Pop Culture, Reflection, Social Change, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | Leave a comment