Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

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 | 3 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 | Leave a 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 | Leave a 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 | 3 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 | 6 Comments

Academic Freedom Index

Posted on April 9, 2025 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have been collecting Mongolia’s score and rank on various global indices. I have also occasionally commented on some of these indices. Here, I want to focus on the Academic Freedom Index. #Mongolia score … Continue reading →

Posted in Academia, Global Indices, Higher Education, Social Change | Tagged | 1 Comment

Road Numbering

Posted on November 17, 2024 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I do really like my Mongolia countryside drives, whether I am along for the ride as a passenger or driving myself.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Julian Dierkes (@jbdierkes) One of … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Curios, Tourism, Transportation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Khurelsukh at UN General Assembly

Posted on October 21, 2024 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes, Alexander Morrow and Anshika Srivastava In 2021, Pres. U Khurelsukh spoke at the UN General Assembly for the first time as president. He has returned every year since then. Unlike his immediate predecessor, Kh Battulga, he is … Continue reading →

Posted in Alexander Morrow, Anshika Srivastava, Foreign Policy, International Relations, Mongolia and ..., Peacekeeping, UN | Tagged | Leave a comment

Change in the Countryside June 2024

Posted on September 2, 2024 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

How Unfortunate: Putin Visits Mongolia

Posted on August 30, 2024 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Once again, geopolitical realities are catching up with Mongolia and there is very little the government of Mongolia can do about it, even if it wanted to. Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin will be visiting Ulaanbaatar to commemorate … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., Russia | Tagged | Leave a comment

CWGP and National Coalition Results

Posted on August 16, 2024 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Beyond the DP’s success, the second great surprise (to me) of the election results was that the Civil Will Green Party re-entered parliament with four seats and the National Coalition gained four seats on its first attempt. … Continue reading →

Posted in Civil Will Green Party, Elections, Ikh Khural 2024, National Coalition, Party Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Observing Election Day: Bulgan and Orkhon Aimags

Posted on August 5, 2024 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes During the five days leading up to the election we had driven through Tov, Arkhangai and Khuvsgul, visiting polling stations and campaign offices along the way. We have reflected on the election preparations we saw during these … Continue reading →

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