When the word “Mongolia” appears in media reports from the past two or three weeks, the reader is typically directed to numerous headlines about the recent visit of Mongolia’s Prime Minister, Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, to the United States of America. What’s even more intriguing and potentially productive is that the Mongolia-US talks have recently taken place within Mongolia. For instance, the Trans-Altai Sustainability Dialogue was held in Ulaanbaatar in the first half of June this year. The Ban Ki-moon Foundation and Shorenstein APARC collaborated to organize the event. Its stated goal is to coordinate SDG action through establishing new research…

In recent decades, the rise of populism as a political ideology has been an undeniably global phenomenon. Representing a range of political movements based on the idea of “the people” at their centre, populism has surged in popularity in both developed and poorer countries, including our own. Similarly, its controversies have been manifold, as have been those of its most prominent proponents across the world. Though the ideal of representing the working masses through a political movement, often in opposition to the political and economic elites of a country, is not a new phenomenon; populist ideology in recent years…

Throughout history, there have been a few indelible transitions of militant groups to politics –this phenomenon can be labeled “politicization.” It is surprising to discern that most militant or insurgent groups do not end because of policing or military action. According to an examination of 648 terrorist organizations that existed between 1968-2006, the primary avenue for a terror group’s demise was found to be via the political process – this was true 43% of the time. Joining the political process is one of the seven key elements identified in the decline and ending of terrorist outfits…

Turkey’s EU admission process exemplified a 60-year-old moving process with an unknown result. The Turkish authorities, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have publicly denounced Brussels’ identical attitude toward such discriminatory treatment of Turkish society and state, humiliatingly putting Turkey in the status of a hopeless candidate for more than half a century. Turkey has been an associate member of the European Community since 1963 and a candidate for European Union membership since 1987…

In a speech to the RoK Parliament on June 19, 2023, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, stated that he intended to renounce his parliamentary immunity in order to dispute the prosecutor’s allegations against him. Let us take a moment to reflect on what came before this really significant action. The former mayor of Seongnam, governor of Gyeonggi Province and main rival of Yoon Suk-yeol in the 2022 presidential election, Lee is a person of interest in several criminal cases: Corruption in the development of the Daejean-dong residential area, the main content of Seongnam Gate. Lee Jae-myung is suspected of causing 489.5 billion won ($375.4 million) in damage to the city by approving projects for the benefit of private developers who made 1000+% profit…

At the end of April in Lithuania, one of the “major” NATO countries, the local Foreign Ministry initiated a conference on “NATO and the Indo-Pacific Region,” where Vilnius tried to contribute to the unfolding confrontation with China in accordance with the trends set by the United States. It is noteworthy that the Baltic state stood out noticeably against the other participants – the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand – for its complete noninvolvement in the affairs of the region in question. Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis insisted on the need to build closer cooperation between NATO and “democratic” states…

Recently, I watched Roger Waters’ “This is Not a Drill” – a live worldwide broadcast from Prague.   He had a lot to say in this particular concert, beginning with a statement that he won the pending court case against him where people in Frankfurt, Germany, were accusing him of being an anti-Semite. The court ruled he is not anti-Semitic and invited him back to Frankfurt. Part of the show includes a satirical performance where he pretends to be a Hitler-like Nazi leader, with flags and a symbol resembling the Swastika but made with hammers…

Washington, true to its fanatical mania for acting as the world’s policeman, has announced that it is sending more troops to the Persian Gulf in response to Iran’s lawful seizure of tankers that were passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. As the White House Press secretary John Kirby put it in a peremptory briefing: “The Department of Defense will be making a series of moves to bolster our defensive posture in the Persian Gulf.” To read this one cannot help but wonder at the geographical awareness of the current generation of US politicians…

Something very disturbing is happening in Poland. At any period of that country’s history this could have been said. But this is another seemingly local issue which could have far-reaching implications. The current Polish government has attracted a lot of international controversy. Though Poland is a member of the EU, committed to integration, liberalisation and globalisation, its ruling Law and Justice Party has adopted attitudes typical of a right-wing dinosaur party: protectionism, chauvinism, authoritarianism, and dividing everyone into “good” and “bad” camps. This is Poland’s version of the populism which is sweeping the world as people…

Turkey gained its 13th president today, May 29, the day of the 570th anniversary of the Ottoman Empire. In the second round of the presidential election, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan scored a hard-fought victory over his opponent Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, with just over 52 percent. A similar scenario of Erdoğan’s success was noted in expert assessments. Thus, the leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) extended his rule for another five years, which is a historical record for republican Turkey in terms of uninterrupted rule for a quarter of a century. Erdoğan will apparently equal Sultan Osman Ghazi in terms of his period…

Readers of previous articles by the present writer will know that the present author has a special interest in defectors from North Korea. As a result of their efforts a number of extravagant myths have been spread for propaganda purposes, largely because they tend to be from an upper middle-class background in North Korea, and in order to be able to afford an equivalent standard of living in the South they need to earn money by selling alarming stories. One of the few exceptions to this rule was Thae Yong-ho, who has been able to attain a status and influence no less than those which had before…

The 49.51% vs 44.88% distribution after the first stage of the presidential election maintains Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s apparent prospects of triumph over his rival, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. Perhaps the incumbent president of Turkey could have snatched the victory on May 14, too, for the authorities could have counted 0.49% of the votes differently (for instance, in terms of invalid ballots). But Erdoğan, an experienced politician, decided not to test the reaction of his internal and external opponents, to show himself as a supporter of “mature democracy”…