Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

Newish Foreign Policy Vibes in Ulaanbaatar

Posted on April 14, 2026 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes During my April 2026 visit to Mongolia I had a chance to have some discussions about Mongolian foreign policy and geopolitics, including discussions at the Institute of Strategic Studies and the Academy of Science’s Institute of International … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Dalai Lama, Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., Russia, Tibet | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar April 2026

Posted on April 9, 2026 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping lists of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: August 2011 | | October 2011 | June 2013 | October 2013 | May 2014  | November 2014|  May 2015 | December 2015  | May 2016  … Continue reading →

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

Is Mongolia not Backsliding?

Posted on March 25, 2026 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes [You might also be interested in The Great State Mural’s episode on global indices to complement the discussion below.] Last year, it was certainly noted in Mongolia that the country had fallen from the status of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Democracy, Global Indices, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Podcast: The Great State Mural – Mongolia Portrayed

Posted on March 18, 2026 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia Focus has spawned an audio cousin and we’ve made it all the way past Episode 20 on a roughly bi-weekly schedule which prompts me to want to let readers know about this project. With Dolgion Aldar … Continue reading →

Posted in Podcast, Reflection, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mongolia Focus in Review 2025

Posted on January 5, 2026 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes It was a big year for the blog because we moved from the original home at the Univ of British Columbia to our own domain as I moved from UBC to the University of Mannheim. This move … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

Self-Censorship

Posted on December 4, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Seemingly, Mongolian democracy has been backsliding since 2019.   Post by @jdierkes@sciences.social View on Mastodon   Shifts in the V-Dem indices are not huge, but noticeable and consistent. Mongolia now ranks as an “electoral autocracy” not a … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Global Indices, Media and Press, Politics | Tagged | 5 Comments

Origins of Wooden Fences

Posted on August 25, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Sometimes first-time visitors to Mongolia ask questions that I have also been asking myself, so leave me stumped and wondering. One of these questions is the origin of the khashaa (Хашаа), or fence that demarcates a family’s property … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Curios, Dissertation Ideas, Settlements, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 7 Comments

Acting Powerful

Posted on July 1, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I recently engaged in some political dreaming with very good Mongolian friends. The prompt was, “If you were Grand Khaan/Prime Minister, what would be some changes you would make right away?”. We quickly abanonded the Grand Khaan … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Politics, Security Apparatus | Tagged | Leave a comment

PM Zandanshatar

Posted on June 12, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes So, Mongolia has a new prime minister. Parliament elected G Zandanshatar in the early hours of June 13. Initial reporting indicated that only 108 members were present, but it seems to have turned out that 108 members … Continue reading →

Posted in Government, Mongolian People's Party, Politics | Tagged | 5 Comments

End of the Oyun-Erdene Era?

Posted on June 3, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Of course, the one time, my frustration at endless speculation about political machinations and alliances actually gets to me, something happens, namely Prime Minister L Oyun-Erdene’s era appears to be ending. In the early morning of June … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Ikh Khural 2024, KhUN, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | 1 Comment

Government Confusion

Posted on May 30, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes A bit of confusion in Mongolia at the moment regarding the state of the coalition government and the fate of L Oyun-Erdene as prime minister. Last week, it was reported that a) the DP had been removed … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Government, Media and Press, Mongolian People's Party, Party Politics, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside 2025

Posted on May 27, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now traced visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. I’ve kept a similar list for countryside changes, somewhat less regular as extended visits to the countryside don’t come nearly often enough … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios | Tagged | 1 Comment

Assessing Academic Freedom Index Score

Posted on May 20, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I recently posted my description of what the Academic Freedom Index measures and how Mongolia has been scored. Is Mongolia’s decline on Academic Freedom Index real? Or, what is this decline measuring? How are we to understand … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Global Indices, Higher Education, JD Democratization, Research on Mongolia, Social Change | Tagged | 1 Comment

New to Ulaanbaatar April 2025

Posted on April 29, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping lists of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: June-July 2024 | August 2023 | May 2023 | November 2022 | August 2022 | December 2019 | June 2019 | April 2019 | December 2018 | August 2018 | October 2017 | June … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Curios, Ulaanbaatar | Tagged | 4 Comments

Plus ça change

Posted on April 22, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose” = The more things change, the more they stay the same. I feel like I experience perpetual déjà vu (yes, this is turning into a French post) in discussing … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Democracy, Governance, Government, Politics, Reflection | Tagged | 7 Comments