The Ukrainian Crisis: Mongolia as a Mediator?
The Ukrainian situation is still being actively debated in Mongolia. However, a trend has emerged in Mongolian writings on this topic from the beginning of 2023: the Mongolian media and experts are increasingly talking about the prospects for resolving the crisis rather than the current crisis situation itself. Simultaneously, the ideas of Mongolia mediating a peaceful conclusion to the conflict are steadily gaining traction in the country. Currently these ideas are only circulated within the media and the community of experts, but they already have a big presence in the country’s media space. On March 23, 2023, The Diplomat published…
Japan and Mongolia: How Economic Giants are Strengthening Small States
Mongolia is increasingly in the sights of most major geopolitical players, according to modern experts in the field of international relations. For example, the United States intends to establish an Indo-Pacific region in which Mongolia will play an important ideological and political role. Mongolia is regarded as an important East Asian…
2014 and 2022 - Discrediting Russia's image in Mongolia?
There are numerous evaluations of the development of Mongolian attitudes towards significant global players by the international media. According to a number of international experts, the Russian Federation’s foreign policy actions since 2014 have allegedly pushed the Mongolian public away from Russia, forcing them to look increasingly hopeful…
Russia and Mongolia: potential economic projects
Legally, ties between Russia and Mongolia currently stand at a level of Comprehensive and Strategic Partnership, which they did so following the signing of an indefinite treaty of friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership in 2019 by the leaders of the two nations. Therefore, their continued expansion should be maintained not just by expanding already-existing…
Mongolia, South Korea, Rare-Earth Metals: “Bridging the Gap” or "Opening Pandora’s Box”?
Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrain Oyun- Erdene’s visit to South Korea was marked by a number of important bilateral meetings and agreements. Especially notable among them is the memorandum of understanding signed on February 15, 2023, on the establishment of a network....
Britain to Mongolia: more than just a partner?
The United Kingdom is one of Mongolia’s main “third neighbors,” according to Mongolia’s current foreign policy concept. Neither its limited participation in global political and economic processes, nor its extreme geographical distance from Mongolia in comparison to Japan and South Korea, removes it from the list of Mongolia’s key “third neighbor” partners...
Western Missionaries in Mongolia: Faith Today, Socio-Political Agenda Tomorrow
In the 1990s, Mongolia created a new legal basis for the activities of foreign religious organizations: The law allowed free missionary and religious education activities of foreign organizations in the country. This step was not simply a decision to ensure genuine religious freedom for the citizens of a democratic state. It was a decision made...
A Parliamentary Republic in Mongolia: Why Russia isn’t Losing Anything
In the last months of 2022 and now in the first decades of 2023, political and civil society discourse in Mongolia has resumed with calls for constitutional change. Calls for legislative change became especially loud when the largest corruption scandal in the country’s recent history was uncovered, involving the theft of coal from...
The Priority of National Interests and Subtle Wording in Mongolia’s Official Position on the Ukrainian Crisis
The events in Ukraine in 2022, as well as the international and political fallout from them, necessitated Mongolia stating its position on the rapidly escalating crisis. The position of this country is sensitive for both Russia and the opposing forces in Ukraine. The opinion of Mongolians is particularly...
The Ukrainian crisis as perceived by Mongolian society
The significant changes seen in the Ukrainian crisis in 2022 are being actively discussed all over the world. Mongolia, a small but no less important neighbor of the Russian Federation, is no exception in this regard. The unique features of Mongolia’s historical development, its relations with Russia, its geographical location and the political and social...
Why are the values of “Western democracy” not supplanting pro-Russian sentiment in Mongolia?
Most Western countries consider Mongolia as a state that shares liberal-democratic political and ideological values. Mongolia ranks very high each year in various indices and rankings assessing the “democracy” and “freedom” of political regimes around the world. For example...
Response to Western Gas Terrorism
At the recent Russian Energy Week (REW) forum, Russian leader Vladimir Putin made it clear that there is no doubt today that the Nord Stream incident is an act of international terrorism in its newest form. The aim of the attack was to undermine the energy security of the entire continent, cynically blocking the access to cheap Russian energy for the people...