Amidst increased geopolitical tensions and lingering pandemic effects, Mongolia, a small, landlocked state hosted three major international in-person events in June.

Khaan Quest, an annual multinational peacekeeping exercise, was organized at the Five Hills Peace Support Operations Training Centre. Over thousand military personnel from fifteen countries, including the United States, South Korea, Japan, and

India – those dispatched a large military contingent, exercised for peacekeeping deployments. At the same time, Mongolia hosted the first-ever Women, Peace and Security conference welcoming over 60 female peacekeepers from 30 countries as well as Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations of the

United Nations. Then, in June 23-25, Mongolia organized the 7 th “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue” on Northeast Asian Security. Here we would like to explain why the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (known as the UB Dialogue or UBD) is an important foreign policy endeavour for

Mongolia.

History of the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue

The UBD is a continuation of Mongolia’s multilateral foreign policy to welcome international participants to Mongolia and to be a part of the international community.

This policy had been disrupted during the Cold War when Mongolia had no choice to become the Soviet ally and its foreign policy had been dictated by the Kremlin. Even though during this time, Mongolia invited many newly independent small states of the

Asia Pacific Region in 1960s-70s to share its experience of the socialist bloc (CMEA) – aided economic development.

Also, Mongolia became a hub for the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace from the 1970s. In the late 1980s, as the geopolitical tension among the great powers declined, Mongolia pursued a quite aggressive policy for offering itself as a dialogue venue for peace and cooperation in the Asia Pacific Region.

Building on this successful foreign policy to develop bilateral ties with China and ‘third neighbours’ – mostly developed democracies (or the Western countries) in 1990s, Mongolia began to make renewed efforts to offer the multilateral platform. In 2008, the Mongolian Institute for Strategic Studies along with the George Marshall Centre for European Security Studies organized a conference, titled “Ulaanbaatar as New Helsinki?” to promote Mongolia as a neutral venue for the regional security talk. Later, in 2013, the Pres Elbergdorj endorsed the ‘venue for multilateral dialogue’ idea and coined the UB Dialogue as a long-term foreign policy initiative to engage all Northeast Asian countries, including countries with hostile relations.

7th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue

After two years of disruptions due to the COVID19 pandemic, Mongolia hosted the 7th UB Dialogue – which is noted the first-ever in-person international dialogue in Northeast Asia. In several ways, this year’s dialogue was unique.

For one, North Korea was missing because of the pandemic and a lack of the virtual connection. In all previous dialogues, North Korean participation was important for many other participants, especially for Japan – who managed to organize a side bilateral meeting during the UB Dialogue, and many European participants. However, a well-known German expert on North Korea offered his insights on the DPRK.

Second, Russia’s participation in the dialogue was the hottest topic among international participants, some declined their participation, and some left during the Russian delegate’s speech. Many participants, including Mongolian speakers, were in agreement to end the hostility in Ukraine and to find a peaceful solution to ongoing military conflict.

Third, the inclusion of the youth speakers (as a main panel) was applauded by the majority of participants. This year, the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs (DPPA) organized a youth panel by providing opportunities for youth representatives from China, Japan, Mongolia, and South Korea to present their views on regional peace and security with policymakers and scholars.

Fourth, the Business Council of Mongolia (BCM) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) organized sessions devoted to discuss the post-pandemic economic cooperation and power grid connectivity in the region. Finally, the host nation welcomed the participation from the Kyrgyz Republic and many other international participants from Europe; thus provides opportunities for Northeast Asian experts to share and compare their perspectives on regional cooperation.

In retrospect, the UB Dialogue is becoming a modest and unique regional venue for

policy-makers, academics, and youth exchange their views and hopes on Northeast

Asian matters. This year, the track one closed door meeting was hosted by the Ministry

of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia and this meeting was attended by senior foreign ministry

officials from thirteen countries, plus the United Nations. The security session is now

divided into two parts: the first session discusses challenges and the other searches

ways to promote the confidence building. The UNDPPA will continue to work with

organizers to have the youth session as an important part of the dialogue, where youths

from Northeast Asia and elsewhere could share their visions of region. The economic

sessions are now jointly organized by the BCM, a Mongolian non-governmental

organization, and USESCAP, in hope to make the economic aspects as critical part of

the UB dialogue. Overcoming its two-year interruptions, the UB dialogue revived and

appears to be on a narrow path to become an international conference on Northeast

Asian matters.

About Soyolgerel Nyamjav

Soyolgerel Nyamjav is the Head of the Centre for International Security at the Institute for Strategic Studies, National Security Council of Mongolia. Soyolgerel’s research focuses on security studies especially Mongolia’s security environment, geopolitical situation, Central Asian regional problems and regional multilateral mechanisms.