The Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF), working with the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) and the US government’s Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) program, hosted their annual multinational exercise known as Khaan Quest 2015, on June 20–July 1. The exercise was held at the 311th Army... MORE

Despite sharing similar desires to become transit corridors between Europe and Asia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia have been unable to prioritize new railway projects, whereas Kazakhstan is moving far ahead by building new railways connecting Chinese, Iranian and Russian rail networks. With the newly built second... MORE

Sitting at a strategic crossroads between Europe and East Asia, Mongolia and North Korea are potential economic corridors for the wider Eurasian landmass. However, the realization of such corridors depends in large part on Chinese and Russian policy priorities, since both have long-standing geostrategic interests... MORE

Deputy ministers of railway and transportation from Mongolia, China and Russia met, on April 9–10, in Ulaanbaatar, for their first consultative meeting since a tripartite summit among the presidents of the three countries in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in September 2014 (see China Brief, September 25, 2014).... MORE

Cooperation between Mongolia and Turkey, particularly in the energy sector, intensified in the first quarter of 2015. On March 3, Mongolian Minister of Energy Dashdorj Zorigt, in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador to Mongolia Murat Karagoz, discussed training programs in Turkey for Mongolian engineers and... MORE

Mongolia takes a resolutely middle road when it comes to North and South Korea. It values its long-standing relations with the North while developing its newly-declared strategic partnership with the South. Due to its geographic location, wedged between Russia and China, Mongolia is often considered... MORE

The new Prime Minister of Mongolia, Chimediin Saikhanbileg, whose ‘Reconciliation Government’ has been in power less than three months, visited Japan on February 9–11 to sign a Mongolian-Japanese Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe. This economic partnership agreement, effective immediately, was... MORE

The United States’ muted profile in mineral-rich, landlocked Mongolia receded even more in 2014. Indeed, the US has largely stood by while Mongolia deliberately integrated its faltering economy closer with its two neighbors, China and Russia. Last year, top-level Mongolian officials met with Chinese President... MORE

Mongolian politics were shaken on November 5, when the parliament voted to dismiss Prime Minister Norov Altankhuyag for not addressing the country’s drastically slowing economic growth, plunging foreign investment, and alleged corruption and cronyism. Altankhuyag’s administration, self-labeled the “New Government for Changes,” collapsed after serving... MORE

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Mongolia on August 21–22 signaled closer trilateral economic cooperation between China, Russia and Mongolia on their shared vision of a new Silk Road economic corridor. However, this positive forward momentum must be placed in the context of what... MORE