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Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes
Locating Mongolian Towns
By Julian Dierkes I’ve been touring through the Mongolian countryside periodically for over ten years now, having recently visited my 17th aimag, just four more to go. 17 aimags visited and counting… Can you guess where I’ve made it to? … Continue reading
Posted in Countryside, Geography, History, Settlements, Ulaanbaatar
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Triggers of Upheaval
By Julian Dierkes The sense of political crisis and frustration is rampant in Mongolia at the moment. But, there does not seem to be any widespread mobilization against the government, either main party, or the political system. Whether that is … Continue reading
Reducing Garbage by Re-establishing Bowl Use
By Julian Dierkes In recent workshops we asked participants to list the most pressing policy challenges that Mongolia faced. A relatively small number of problems were listed repeatedly, by participants based in Ulaanbaatar as well as those from other aimags. … Continue reading
Pervasive Sense of (Political) Crisis
By Julian Dierkes During my most recent visit to Mongolia, I heard talk of political crisis everywhere. [A strong argument for visiting more often!] Not the kind of crisis that could be resolved by a change of government, although rumours … Continue reading
Inside Policy Workshops
By Julian Dierkes This will be very familiar to Mongolian readers, but perhaps of more interest to non-Mongolian readers, or those who have not travelled in the countryside beyond tourism. My experience comes from election observation on the one hand, … Continue reading
Employment
By Julian Dierkes I have been encountering “unemployment” as a political challenge in Mongolia for many years. Most recently, in a set of six workshops on policy-making and political parties organized by the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation Mongolia for the Mongolian People’s Party youth organization (НАМЗХ) and the Trade Union … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Countryside, Diversification, Economics, Employment, Policy, Public Policy
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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New to Ulaanbaatar August 2018
By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in the /ulaanbaatar/change/ category. I’ve copied the … Continue reading
Rose-Tinted Views: My Optimist View of Mongolia
By Julian Dierkes Had a really interesting conversation! Wow, what a network of worldly, interesting Mongolians, Bataa has assembled! A number of his friends were kind enough to mention that they read the blog and it turned out that I … Continue reading
IAAC: To Change Directors or Strengthen the Institutions?
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan and Julian Dierkes In a previous post, we discussed the joint efforts of President Kh Battulga, MP L Oyun-Erdene (MPP), and concerned citizen O Darkhanbaatar, regarding the current leadership of the IAAC. The most publicized reason for … Continue reading
Posted in Corruption, Governance, Judiciary, Politics
Tagged Julian Dierkes, MENDEE Jargalsaikhan
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Akçay Mobilization
By Julian Dierkes The late July apparent attempt to kidnap a Gülen-affiliated educator in Mongolia is still animating a lot of discussions one week later. The most pressing questions still surround the cooperation that some Mongolian authorities must have given … Continue reading
Posted in Civil Society, Primary and Secondary Education, Protest, Security Apparatus, Turkey
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Study Tours, Policy Implementation and Necessary Context
By Julian Dierkes Over the years I have been – mostly peripherally, though not for lack of trying – involved in various attempts to describe good practices from other countries to Mongolian policy makers in the hopes of seeing elements … Continue reading
Posted in Bilateral Aid, Canada, Development, Environment, Public Policy, Public Service
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Rio Tinto in Mongolia
By Julian Dierkes Recently, Bulgan B and I pointed out that there have been as many CEOs at Oyu Tolgoi over the past ten years as there have been PMs of Mongolia. I also appeared on a live BBC radio … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Investment, International Agreements, Mining, Mining Governance, Nationalism, Oyu Tolgoi, Policy
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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What to Call a Trump-Kim Summit?
By Julian Dierkes Yes, an actual meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump still seems somewhat unlikely, and the chance that it would happen in Ulaanbaatar is even smaller. But if it did happen … there are some plans to … Continue reading
Posted in Curios, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Tourism, Ulaanbaatar, United States
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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Sounds of a Ger
By Julian Dierkes For any visitor to Mongolia who has the chance to sleep in a ger, that is probably a highlight. I enjoy it every time I have a chance. One of the aspects that often makes it a … Continue reading
Some Thoughts about Logistics of a Steppe Summit
By Julian Dierkes Can Ulaanbaatar and the Mongolian government handle hosting a Trump-Kim meeting? Yes, of course, though it would stretch some resources. Past Summits Mongolia involved itself very actively in a number of multilateral organizations and meetings during the … Continue reading
Posted in Foreign Policy, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Ulaanbaatar, United States
Tagged Julian Dierkes
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