The Mongolian Foreign Ministry and the Institute of Strategic Studies hosted the seventh international conference of the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asia Security on June 23-24. Mongolia’s hosting of such a timely event testifies to the success of the country’s foreign policy mechanisms.

Since its inception in 2014, the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue has served as a non-traditional mediation platform where representatives of Northeast Asian countries can discuss security issues affecting the region. Despite the two-year COVID-related hiatus, Mongolia was able to gather more international participants for the resumption of dialogue than in previous years.

Since the late 1960s, Mongolia’s foreign policy began to play a more active role in world affairs. Mongolia’s relentless efforts to become a member of the United Nations were the prelude to many of its subsequent foreign policy mechanisms.

The platform for the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on North-East Asian Security was initially inspired by the Helsinki Accords of 1975 – the culmination of two years of negotiations under the Conference for security and cooperation in Europe (eventually institutionalized in the current Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE). ). The aim of the conference, hosted by Finland, was to reduce tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western bloc. Borrowing from the idea that a country can be a platform for mediation has become part of Mongolia’s foreign policy strategy to engage its Northeast Asian partners and build trust through practice. diplomacy and mutual respect.

In 2011, the parliament of Mongolia renewed and modernized the country’s foreign policy concept, which allowed Ulaanbaatar to expand its participation in Northeast Asian and East Asian affairs. Is in general. In 2013, then-Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia became the first head of state to visit Pyongyang after Kim Jong Un came to power. Elbegdorj announced the establishment of the Ulan- Bator at the Seventh Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies in Ulaanbaatar.

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During the first Ulaanbaatar dialogue in 2014, Grayvoronskiy V. Viktorovich of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences noted Mongolia’s initiation to be more active in regional diplomacy. He also noted, “There are many other ongoing regional and international institutions, conferences, meetings and dialogues…the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue needs to find its place among other international institutions and meetings.”

Given Mongolia’s unique geopolitical position and normal diplomatic relations with all Northeast Asian countries, Mongolia itself provides the “niche”. For example, when it comes to the perennial issue of North Korea’s denuclearization, Mongolia’s status as a non-nuclear-weapon state gives it a unique discursive role. Other countries in the region are nuclear powers (China and Russia) or have little or no diplomatic contact with North Korea (South Korea and Japan).

Additionally, Mongolia has already made efforts to mediate between Japan and North Korea over Pyongyang’s previous kidnappings of Japanese nationals. Former Japanese foreign minister Kono Taro has sought to use Mongolia’s diplomatic ties with North Korea as a channel for negotiations with Pyongyang. For countries in the region and the international community, Mongolia’s diplomatic relations with North Korea provide an opportunity to promote peace and dialogue.

At the same time, North Korea is not the only security problem in Northeast Asia. Some of the regional relations, such as Japan-China, Japan-South Korea, and China-South Korea, have deep-rooted historical grievances and hostilities, which limit what Ulaanbaatar can do.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia, the Seventh Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asia Security brought together representatives from 20 countries and 30 international organizations, and 150 people attended (some attended virtually due to COVID-19). This year’s conference included five panels: “Regional Security Challenges and Opportunities”, “Multilateral Cooperation in Northeast Asia”, “Post-Covid Regional Economic Cooperation”, “The Future of a North -Is peaceful” and “Energy in transition”.

Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh said, “Compared to the previous six years, this year’s conference brought together more diverse participants. In other words, Mongolia is becoming increasingly influential in promoting security dialogue and communication in our region. Moreover, it is important that not only Northeast Asian countries, but also European and Western countries have begun to actively participate in the dialogue.

This year, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Slovenia, Turkey and the UK have all joined the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue.

Since its inception in 2014, the Ulaanbaatar Northeast Asia Security Dialogue has created a platform where country representatives, scholars and field experts find a working mechanism to resolve traditional and non-traditional issues. These dialogues and mechanisms will then be considered to help policymakers make better decisions.

From a security perspective, in Northeast Asia – a region without a collective defense system – the individual policies of China, Russia, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and Korea of the South are often divided into blocs, especially in the context of growing Sino-American tensions. Nevertheless, Mongolia, despite its status as a small state, remains a trusted partner with all the countries of Northeast Asia. The idea of ​​Mongolia as an active and independent actor in the field of international relations must be constantly nurtured, whether at the bilateral or multilateral level. The Ulaanbaatar dialogue on security in Northeast Asia is one such foreign policy mechanism that Mongolia should pursue.