Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

Protests… and then?

By Julian Dierkes I have recently written about widespread political frustration in 2018 and speculated on the kind of events/issues that might trigger mass protests. Now, let me consider what would happen in the event of such protests. I am only … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Society, Corruption, Democracy, Human Rights, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Nationalism, Policy, Politics, Protest, Public Opinion, Security Apparatus, Social Movements, Ulaanbaatar, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

Technology Assessment Needed: Solar Power

By Julian Dierkes To: PM Khurelsukh CC: Minister of Energy Davaasuren; Min of Science Tsogzolmaa; Min of Environment Tserenbat, Officer of Intl Cooperation, Min of Environment, G Tsogtbaatar; Min of Light Industry Batzorig; Dir, External Affairs, Green Climate Fund Oyun Climate … Continue reading

Posted in China, Climate Change, Countryside, Development, Diversification, Environmental Movements, Geography, Gobi, Infrastructure, Renewables, Russia, Sovereign Wealth Fund | Tagged | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Air Pollution, Corruption, Democracy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Protest, Public Opinion, Security Apparatus, Social Change, Social Movements, Younger Mongolians | Tagged | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Change, Countryside, Curios, Garbage, Social Change | Tagged | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Democracy, Governance, Ikh Khural 2020, JD Democratization, Nationalism, Party Politics, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Media, Social Movements, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

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

Posted in Architecture, Curios, Development | Tagged | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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

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

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

Posted in Corruption, Media and Press, Politics, Reflection | Tagged | Leave a comment

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 , | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment