Voices From Central Asia No. 3, July 2012
By Mendee Jargalsaikhan
In past two decades Mongolia has integrated with North-east Asia more than with Central Asia.
Mongolia does not need more integration with Russia and China for economic development, and Mongolia’s political regime and foreign policy independence will be better preserved outside the SCO framework than inside it.
Despite the organization’s declaration about regional integration and cooperation, the SCO is perceived in Ulaanbaatar as an “authoritarian club” whose members’ main concern is regime security.
Bio
Mendee Jargalsaikhan served as Mongolia’s Defense Attaché to the United States, Chief of the Foreign Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Defense of Mongolia, and Senior Fellow at the Mongolian Institute for Strategic Studies. He is a graduate student at the Political Science Department of the University of British Columbia (UBC).
