Tag Archives: Julian Dierkes

Addressing Meat Prices through Policy not Populism

Posted on June 2, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes A very curious spectacle recently to see meat warehouses raided by the General Intelligence Agency. I have seen little discussion of the legality of such raids which look a bit like the action taken against a mining … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Countryside, Diversification, Employment, Herding, Public Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mine Aesthetics and OT as National Symbol

Posted on May 24, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes {This post continues a series of posts based on a visit to Oyu Tolgoi at the invitation of the company.} I think it’s fair to say that Mongolians have had an ambivalent relationship with Oyu Tolgoi ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, JD Mining Governance, Nationalism, Oyu Tolgoi, Society and Culture | Tagged | Leave a comment

Biased How?

Posted on May 11, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes In 2016 I came back from a trip to Mongolia slightly puzzled and concerned. It seemed to me during meetings on that trip that there was a real concern with some interlocutors that I was some kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics, Research on Mongolia | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Very Premature Outlook on the 2020 Parliamentary Election

Posted on May 7, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Yes, the 2020 election is more than a year away, and, yes, many observers lament the fact that politics seems beholden to electoral cycles. But, discussions in Mongolia have started to revolve around the 2020 election, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Democratic Party, Ikh Khural 2020, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, National Labor Party, Party Politics, Politics, Populism, Public Opinion | Tagged | Leave a comment

OT Data Applications

Posted on May 2, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes {Disclosure: As previously mentioned, I was delighted to be invited to Oyu Tolgoi by the company’s communications department.} In addition to the pervasive focus on safety, the utilization of data is visible throughout Oyu Tolgoi. The kind … Continue reading →

Posted in Oyu Tolgoi | Tagged | Leave a comment

New to Ulaanbaatar April 2019

Posted on April 29, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes I’ve been keeping lists of things that are arriving to/disappearing from central Ulaanbaatar: December 2018 | August 2018 | October 2017 | June 2017 | May 2016 | December 2015 | May 2015 | May 2014 | October 2013 | October 2011. More informal versions of these observations also appear … Continue reading →

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

The Likelihood of Political Renewal

Posted on April 22, 2019 by JDierkes

By  Julian Dierkes Why I am generally optimistic about Mongolian developments, Mongolian politics presents a lot of challenges and the current state of affairs causes more despair than it has in the previous 12+ years that I’ve been paying attention. … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Corruption, Democracy, Democratic Party, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Ikh Khural 2020, Inequality, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Mining Governance, Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, Nationalism, Party Politics, Policy, Politics, Populism, Presidential 2021, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not the end of Democracy?

Posted on April 19, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes On March 27 2019, the Mongolian parliament passed legislation giving the National Security Council greater authority over judicial appointments and dismissals. This very sudden decision has caused a great deal concern among international observers of Mongolia and … Continue reading →

Posted in Constitution, Governance, JD Democratization, Judiciary, Law, Public Service | Tagged | Leave a comment

World Class Oyu Tolgoi Safety

Posted on April 14, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes {Disclosure: I was invited to visit Oyu Tolgoi by the company and enjoyed their hospitality.} In press releases, but also media accounts, Oyu Tolgoi is often described as a “world-class” deposit. To the extent that this meant … Continue reading →

Posted in Gobi, Oyu Tolgoi | Tagged | Leave a comment

Toward a Transition Away from Coal

Posted on April 3, 2019 by JDierkes

By Sandeep Pai and Julian Dierkes In November 2018, Tsenguun T and Aldarsaikhan T wrote a guest post describing the Mongolian podcast scene. Since then, more podcasts have sprung up, for example, recent guest post co-author Boldsaikhan S is involved … Continue reading →

Posted in Air Pollution, China, Climate Change, Development, Diversification, Energy, Foreign Investment, Infrastructure, Podcast, Policy, Policy, Renewables, Sandeep Pai, Social Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

Challenges Arising from Growing National Herd

Posted on February 27, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes On an August 2018 trip to Western Mongolia, I heard a lot of countryside reports that the value of animal products, especially meat, is rapidly declining, exacerbating poverty, unemployment, migration to towns and cities, etc. When you … Continue reading →

Posted in Countryside, Diversification, Flooding, Grassland, Health, Infrastructure | Tagged | Leave a comment

From Transparency to a Participatory Revolution

Posted on January 15, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes and Damdinnyam G [Mongolian Version: “МОНГОЛЧУУД: Ил тод байдлаас зѳв оролцооны хувьсгал руу…“] Even by the standards of Mongolian politics, the last two months have been eventful. Scandals, no confidence votes, demonstrations… one might think it’s an … Continue reading →

Posted in Corruption, Damdinnyam Gongor, Law, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Change, Social Movements, Taxes | Tagged | 1 Comment

Genuine Protests or Political Grandstanding

Posted on January 9, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes A group of MPs is clearly trying to mobilize against M Enkhbold through the organization of public protests. We saw such protests at the ever end of 2018, but they have been announced for January 10 as … Continue reading →

Posted in JD Democratization, Politics, Public Opinion, Social Change, Social Movements | Tagged | Leave a comment

Embassies in Ulaanbaatar on Social Media

Posted on January 7, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes A recent post about the Twitter accounts of foreign embassies in Ulaanbaatar proved to be more popular than I had anticipated, so I’ll turn that into a blog post below. As far as I can tell, nine … Continue reading →

Posted in Australia, Canada, Digital Diplomacy, EU, Foreign Policy, Germany, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and ..., Russia, Turkey, United States | Tagged | Leave a comment

Blogging in 2018

Posted on January 1, 2019 by JDierkes

By Julian Dierkes Mongolia Focus is in its 8th year of existence. We’ve continued to blog pretty steadily in 2018 with a total of 65 new posts this past year. Since July 2011, we’ve published at least one post every … Continue reading →

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