Mongolia becoming a permanent neutral nation? Focusing on the debate and challenges of the permanent neutral nation policy

Abstract

Mongolia found itself increasingly under pressure to back Russia over Ukraine and China in its disputes with Japan and in the South China Sea. In this emerging scenario, taking sides would be extremely costly for a small state. However, since September 2015, when Mongolian President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj and his foreign policy team launched a campaign both domestically and abroad to institutionalize a ‘permanent neutrality’ status, foreign policy pundits in Ulaanbaatar had been intensively debating whether or not Mongolia should enact such a policy. But finally, on May 6, 2020, the Mongolian government decided that ‘Resolution No. 375 ratified in September 2015 will be nullified, and we will take measures not to promote Mongolia’s policies related to a permanent neutral nation’ through resolution No. 162. As the concern that Mongolia's promotion of the permanent neutral nation policy could eventually significantly reduce the flexibility of its multi-pillar foreign policy, the Mongolian government nullified its permanent neutral nation policy.

Keywords:

• Mongolia
• permanent neutrality
• third neighbor policy
• multi-pillar foreign policy of a small state
• China-Mongolia-Russia relations

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. There are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund (of 2022) and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Korea and the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2022S1A6A3A04064633)].

Notes on contributors

Jaehyuk Jang

Jaehyuk Jang is an assistant professor at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), in the College of Asian Languages and Cultures, in the Department of Mongolian, Seoul, in South Korea. He is the author of ‘The Role of Mongolia in Multilateral Security Cooperation in the Twenty-first Century Northeast Asia: The Relevance of the ‘Ulaanbaatar Dialogue (UDB) Initiative’, one of the papers in Asian Perspective journal’s volume 46, number 2 (Spring 2022). His Ph.D. dissertation deals with the role of Mongolia on the process of international regime building in Northeast Asia in the 21st Century. His primary research and teaching interests are the role of Mongolia on regional cooperation in Northeast Asia in the 21^st century and a shift in Mongolia’s geopolitical identity. Also, his major research themes include Mongolian foreign policy and international relations in the region, based on international relation (IR) theory.

Kisun Kim

Kisun Kim is a professor/dean at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS), in the College of Asian Languages and Cultures, in the Department of Mongolian, Seoul, in South Korea. He has studied at the National University of Mongolia, and at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. His major field of research is Mongolian studies. He has worked as vice-president and as a member of the board of directors in the Korean Association for Mongolian Studies. His articles appear in the Oriental Archive, Central Asiatic Journal, Neohelicon, and Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung, among other journals.