Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

Prime Minister-in-spe Khurelsukh

U Khurelsukh will be elected prime minister. His term will be focused on domestic politics. Within the constraints of the IMF agreement, Khurelsukh will try to dampen perceptions of cutbacks in state benefits, while hoping for a continuation (or resumption, given the past month) of the rise of copper prices to bring revenues to the government that might increase his ability to shape policy more actively.
Who is Khurelsukh? Continue reading

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Norwegian Wealth

By Julian Dierkes One of my all-time favourite authors is 村上春樹. He rose to fame initially with his book, Norwegian Wood (ノルウェイの森). That was a reference to a Beatles song, of course. And thus the title of this post, combining literature, … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Democracy, Development, EITI, Governance, Mining, Mining Governance, Policy, Politics, Public Policy, Public Service, Sovereign Wealth Fund | Tagged | 1 Comment

How We Covered the Presidential Election

By Julian Dierkes It’s been an exhausting but exhilarating summer, Mongolia’s election season. I tried – together with a number of students – to provide observations, interpretations and analyses of the campaigns and both rounds of voting. I reported on … Continue reading

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Mongolian Presence in Germany

By Julian Dierkes I spent the past year on a research leave from the University of British Columbia in Berlin, Germany, at the Free University’s Graduate School of East Asian Studies. I found Mongolia to be much more visible in … Continue reading

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Battulga, What Kind of President?

By Julian Dierkes Kh Battulga has been elected president. That means the dominance of the president’s office by the DP will continue another four years past Ts Elbegdorj’s two terms. But what kind of president will Battulga be? While the … Continue reading

Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Governance, JD Democratization, Party Politics, Politics, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | 1 Comment

New to Ulaanbaatar June 2017

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping a list of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013. More informal versions of these observations also appear in … Continue reading

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Populism and the Judiciary

By Julian Dierkes Populists around the world seem to be targeting the judiciary as some kind of obstacle to implementing the “people’s will”. Most recently, this is happening in Poland, where the governing party PiS is trying to usurp rights … Continue reading

Posted in Corruption, Judiciary, Presidential 2017 | Tagged | 2 Comments

Republished: Mongolia – An Unexpected Bastion of Democracy Thanks to Its Youth

A child walks past Mongolians holding up banners at a protest against offshore account holders in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in March. (AP Photo/Ganbat Namjilsangarav) Julian Dierkes, University of British Columbia By some accounts, democracy is under pressure. Freedom House, the American … Continue reading

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Change in the Countryside – June 2017

By Julian Dierkes For some years, I have now taken notes about visible changes in Ulaanbaatar on my periodic visits. In part this is note-taking for my own self, because there are so many things that I don’t remember already … Continue reading

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State of Digital Diplomacy in Mongolia Missions

By Julian Dierkes With the appointment of Z Enkbold as chief of staff and Ts Sukhbaatar as foreign policy advisor, Pres. Battulga’s foreign policy team is coming together. Foreign policy, of course, is one of the areas of policy-making that … Continue reading

Posted in Australia, Canada, Digital Diplomacy, Foreign Policy, Germany, Japan, Mongolia and ..., North Korea, Russia, South Korea, UN, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

More Graduates of Archery 101

By Julian Dierkes & Mendee Two years ago, Mendee posted some photos of world leaders visiting Mongolia and encountering archery. In June, we finally had a chance to have the experience ourselves, thanks to Mendee’s childhood friend who is an … Continue reading

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Who Abstained in the Run-Off?

By Julian Dierkes On the day before the second round of the presidential election, my biggest question was about the movement to encourage voters to submit blank ballots, essentialy voting none-of-the-above. We have known since election night that just under … Continue reading

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Reflection on Second Round [Video]

By Julian Dierkes With the second round of the presidential election on July 7, the “election season” has come to an end and I summarize its result in this brief video. Obviously, our attention now turns to what the future … Continue reading

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Big Questions on Voting Day

By Julian Dierkes The run-off in the 2017 presidential contest is upon us. Since June 26 there has been no campaigning, but a number of developments with a likely impact on the run-off result have occurred. 1. White Ballot Movement … Continue reading

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Women Run Mongolian Elections, But They Don’t Run In Them

By Julian Dierkes When you go to vote in Mongolia, look around in the polling station. Like so many (government) offices, the polling stations are run by women. Yes, every once in a while, there will be a man as … Continue reading

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