mastodon 4.7.3🇩🇪🇨🇦 Sociologist @unimannheim@bawü.social , previously at #UBC.
en/de/jp | he/him
Research on democratization and resources in contemporary #Mongolia.
Performs social science deanery.
In shocking news, govt of #Mongolia proposes to rename government holding company Erdenes Mongol, into ... wait for it ... 🥁 🥁 🥁 Chinggis Khaan National Wealth Fund.
If I had a tugrik for every brand/name attached to Chinggis Khaan, I'd have my own horse by now.
Purevdagva B has been nominated to become Governor of the Capital City and mayor of #Ulaanbaatar.
@marissa_j_smith@sciences.social tells us who he is and what it means.
https://mongoliafocus.com/2026/05/who-is-b-purevdagva/
Mongolia not mentioned in implications of Dalai Lama succession
https://thediplomat.com/2026/04/the-dalai-lamas-succession-battle-the-stakes-for-tibetans-and-beijing/ but lots of implications as I heard on recent visit to Ulaanbaatar.
https://mongoliafocus.com/2026/04/new-geopolitics-pipeline-dalailama/
PM Uchral is cleaning house: He dismissed the mayor of Ulaanbaatar, Nyambaatar. Over the price of meat, this dismissal might be the start of something ugly.
I discuss w/ @Anand@journa.host & Dolgion in our latest podcast episode of The Great State Mural, now also on YouTube.
I don't venture into literary topics with blog posts often, but there was a sequence in an S Erdene story about a Khalk Mongol encounter with a Tsaatan camp that caught my eye
https://mongoliafocus.com/2026/05/literature-erdene-hunters-wife/
@mongoliastudies@a.gup.pe
Was ich gerade lese:
Die Frau des Jägers
Das Ende des Serüün-Tempels
Zwei mongolische Erzählungen
Von Sengjin Erdene
Übers. Renate Bauwe
Interesting to see Min of Digi Development, Innovation & Communications Ch Nomin speak out against broadening of defamation clause in #Mongolia criminal code for fear of abuse by officials
https://zarig.mn/1i7v
Some progress particularly on interest rates & management fees claimed by 🇲🇳 of #Mongolia in conversations w/ Rio Tinto.
I was in #Mongolia in April 2025 as well as April 2026, so I wasn't part of 25% increase in visitors...
https://zarig.mn/1i7a
Did you know that beyond the horsehead fiddle there is a camelhead fiddle?
This and more gems abt how musical heritage helps us think abt #Mongolia's future in current episode of State Great Mural - Mongolia Portrayed where @Anand@journa.host and I speak with Kip Hutchins, @SongsForHorses@mastodon.social
https://www.agulamedia.com/podcast/e026
🐴 🎻 🐫
Do you prefer talking heads with your podcasts? The Great State Mural - #Mongolia Portrayed now also available on YouTube
For most recent episode in various formats see https://www.agulamedia.com/podcast/e026
Insightful conversation that @Anand@journa.host and I had with @SongsForHorses@mastodon.social , Kip Hutchins.
In early April I noticed foodtrucks in Ulaanbaatar, partly as consequence of banning of kiosks.
https://mongoliafocus.com/2026/04/new-to-ulaanbaatar-april-2026/.
Now, under guise of PM Uchral 'liberalization', are the tuts making a comeback?
https://pca.st/zzv4nd4z
Earlier in April, @Anand@journa.host & Dolgion recorded Great State Mural podcast episode with Anu-Ujin Lkh to talk about misguided Tuul Expressway proposal.
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/ulaanbaatar-at-a-crossroads-%241-billion-highway-to/id1824952576?i=1000759145232
Now, Anand has offered an update on suspension of these plans.
https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/in-the-city-of-ulaanbaatar-spring-brings-warmth/id1889533269?i=1000763817297
Ichinkhorloo Kh (USC Ctr of Diplomacy) on meaning of UNCCCD CoP17 in Ulaanbaatar: "Hosting offers diplomatic visibility, strengthens international reputation, and allows the host country to help shape global conversations."
https://uscpublicdiplomacy.org/blog/conference-diplomacy-action-what-cop17-means-mongolia
As far as I can tell, hosting all about diplomatic visibility, very little substance.
Brief report abt work of #Mongolia peacekeepers, incl 6 women (of 23) on UN Mission in South Sudan, here guarding fuel trucks for supplies.
Can't verify source or publication, but claims of specific cyber-attacks on govt of #Mongolia by group claimed to be "Chinese". Short article really raises more questions than offering news or analysis.
https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/chinese-apt-abuses-cloud-tools-spy-mongolia
If some of this is going on, would not be great surprise that 🇲🇳 officials may be vulnerable. As we discussed on podcast, awareness of cyber-risks low in 🇲🇳 .
In Little Red Podcast J Lind speaks abt 🇨🇳 export of surveillance & "governance". https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/the-little-red-podcast/d9b003a0-3c45-0134-eba6-0d50f522381b/china-rules-autocracy-for-sale/1b75c180-fdeb-4bfe-aff7-4dd448aee05b
Long-standing fear bubbling up around traffic cameras in #Mongolia as example.
On Great State Mural, we discussed 🇲🇳 attitudes to privacy, etc.
https://www.agulamedia.com/podcast/e022
#Mongolia civil service moves to more flexible work with a home office day per week.
Will this have an impact on traffic? Not if school traffic drives a lot of downtown Ulaanbaatar traffic, but maybe...