Mongolia - GOVERNMENT

---

Mongolia - Government

THE MONGOLIAN PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC was undergoing a major transition in the development of its government and political institutions in the late 1980s. Beginning in 1984, the country had embarked on a program to restructure its political and economic system in ways that engaged the entire population and made it responsible and accountable for the country's modernization. Much of the inspiration for this program came from the Soviet Union's examples of glasnost and perestroika.

Nevertheless, in developing its policies, Mongolia's senior leadership displayed a realistic awareness not only of the severe challenges, but also of the opportunities, afforded by Mongolia's unique political, social, economic, and geophysical conditions. There were efforts by mid-1989 to revive key elements of the Mongolian cultural heritage. This effort apparently was inspired by the recognized need to instill vitality in a polity long stifled by the wholesale imposition of Soviet models. Openings to the West, including the 1987 establishment of diplomatic relations with the United States, increased Mongolia's options within the international diplomatic community and provided additional developmental models. Finally, by mid-1989, the gradual normalizing of Sino-Soviet relations had helped significantly to reduce the tensions inherent in Mongolia's strategic location, enveloped between these giant countries, which facilitated a resurgence of Mongolian national identity and allowed a small measure of Mongolian political independence.

<> Government Structure
<> Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
<> The Political Process
<> Foreign Policy
<>The Media

Mongolia

Mongolia - Government Structure

Form of Government

Mongolia in 1989 was a communist state modeled on Soviet political and government institutions. The government was a oneparty system, presided over by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The party exercised political supervision and control over a pyramidal structure of representative governmental bodies known as hurals--assemblies of people's deputies.

The highly centralized governmental structure was divided into three major parts: the executive branch, presided over by the Council of Ministers; the legislative branch, represented at the national level by the unicameral People's Great Hural (the national assembly); and the judicial branch, with a Supreme Court presiding over a system of law administered by courts and by an Office of the Procurator of the Republic. The duties and responsibilities of each of these major bodies were identified in the Constitution promulgated in 1960.

Beneath the national level were key administrative subdivisions consisting of eighteen aymags, or provinces, and of the three autonomous cities (hots) of Ulaanbaatar, Darhan, and Erdenet. On the next lower administrative level were counties, or somons, and town centers. At this basic level, government and economic activity were connected closely, so that the leadership of the somon and those of the livestock and agricultural cooperatives operating within the somon often were identical.

The party related to the apex of the governmental system through its authoritative Political Bureau of the party Central Committee. In 1989 this nine-person body contained the presiding leadership of the country, and it was headed by party general secretary Jambyn Batmonh. Batmonh had dual power status in that he also was head of state as chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. Batmonh was promoted to these top-level positions in 1984 after his predecessor, Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, who had been in power since 1952, was replaced by the Central Committee, reportedly for health reasons.

Below the national level, each aymag and somon had its own party organization that conveyed the policies and programs decided by the Political Bureau and directed the work of its counterpart assembly of people's deputies, its agricultural cooperatives, and the local government executive committee in implementing party programs on its level. The concentration of power at the top of the political system and within party channels had, throughout history, helped to create a complacent party and government bureaucracy, a development that hampered the leadership's plans to modernize the country and to stimulate economic development in the late 1980s.

Constitutional Framework

The Constitution was adopted on July 6, 1960, by the People's Great Hural. It was the third constitution promulgated since the revolution of 1921. The first constitution was passed by the First National Great Hural on November 26, 1924. It abolished the system of monarchial theocracy, described the legislative consolidation of state power, provided a basic statement of socioeconomic and political rights and freedoms for the people, and espoused a national program that would bypass the capitalist stage of development in the course of promoting fundamental social transformations in order to bring about socialism in Mongolia.

The second constitution, adopted on June 30, 1940, took the Soviet constitution of 1936 as the model. As Mongolian premier Horloyn Choybalsan reported to the Eighth National Great Hural in 1940: "We are guided in our activity by the experience of the great country of socialism, the experience of the Soviet Union. Consequently, only the constitution of the Soviet Union may be a model for us in drafting our new constitution." In subsequent revisions to the 1940 Mongolian constitution in 1944, 1949, 1952, and 1959, disparities between the Mongolian and Soviet constitutions were reduced even further.

Under the 1940 constitution, elections were restricted-- "enemies of the regime" could not vote--and indirect; lower bodies elected higher levels. Constitutional amendments introduced after 1944 changed this system, however, by restoring political rights, including the right of suffrage throughout the society; by instituting a unitary hierarchy of directly elected representative bodies; by reorganizing electoral districts; by replacing voting by the show of hands at open meetings with voting by secret ballot; and by abolishing the National Little Hural--the Standing Body of the National Great Hural-- transferring its functions to the National Great Hural, which was renamed People's Great Hural in 1951. The regime's justification for making these changes was that Mongolia had already realized many sociopolitical achievements in its advance toward socialism. Therefore, it became historically correct to introduce reforms that had been adopted in the more advanced society of the Soviet Union.

The Constitution adopted in 1960 includes a lengthy preamble that acclaims the successes of the revolution and notes the importance of the "fraternal socialist assistance of the Soviet Union" to growth and development in Mongolia. The preamble clarifies the dominant role of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party as the "guiding and directing force in society," using as its guide the "all-conquering Marxist-Leninist theory." A renewed commitment is made to completing the construction of a socialist society and culture, and eventually, to building a communist society. Enunciated foreign policy goals describe a diplomacy based on the principles of peaceful coexistence and proletarian internationalism.

The points outlined in the preamble are explained more fully in the main body of the Constitution. Compared with its 1940 predecessor, the 1960 Constitution is more succinct. The 1940 document had been divided into twelve chapters. The 1960 Constitution clusters most of the same content into four general sections: socioeconomic structure, state structure, basic rights and duties of citizens, and miscellaneous provisions. Within these categories, the articles are compressed into ten chapters, compared with twelve chapters in the 1940 constitution.

In the first general section, the socialist system, rooted in the socialist ownership of national wealth and the means of production, is presented as the economic basis of society. Areas protected under law include private ownership of one's income and savings, housing, subsidiary husbandry, personal and household articles, as well as the right to an inheritance. These legal guarantees, however, are subject to the qualification that "it shall be prohibited to use the right of personal ownership to the detriment of state and social interests."

The second and longest general section defines the state structure, following that laid down in the 1940 constitution, as amended in 1959. It details the nature, composition, and duties of all state organs of power, including the executive, the legislative, and the judicial at both the national and local levels.

In the third general section, the fundamental rights and duties of citizens are grouped together, a departure from the previous constitutions. The rights promised in this basic law and the actual experience of Mongolians in daily life, however, are often at variance. Among the basic rights guaranteed are equality irrespective of sex, racial or national affiliations, faith, social origin, and status. These were overlooked in practice, to the extent that male Khalkha Mongols occupied most of the elite government positions, and religious practice has been an impediment to career advancement in an atheistic MarxistLeninist society. In addition, citizens are guaranteed freedom of speech, press, assembly, meeting, demonstration, and processions, but with the restriction that the activities must be practiced "in accordance with the interests of the working people and with a view to developing and strengthening the state system of the Mongolian People's Republic."

A list of duties begins with the exhortation that "every citizen of the Mongolian People's Republic shall be obliged to: show dedication to the cause of building socialism; maintain the priority of the interests of society and the state vis-�-vis private interests; safeguard the concept of communal socialist property; and fulfill all civic duties, and demand the same of other citizens." Other duties involve supporting international friendship and worker solidarity "under the leadership of the Soviet Union," and teaching and practicing good social values.

The Constitution can be amended by the People's Great Hural with a majority of not less than two-thirds of the delegate votes, a system that has produced frequent revision. Perhaps the most novel feature of the Constitution is contained in its concluding article, unique among socialist constitutions. Article 94 allows the gradual repeal of the constitutional provisions: "The Constitution . . . will be repealed when the need for the existence of the state, which is the principal instrument for building socialism and communism, disappears, when it will be replaced by a communist association of working people."

The official seal of Mongolia also has been revised and reflects aspirations of becoming an industrialized society. Furthermore, the Constitution says that the state arms of Mongolia "shall reflect the essence of the state and the idea of friendship of peoples and shall show the national and economic peculiarities of the country." Accordingly, the official seal now consists of a circle framed by sheaves of wheat, fastened together by a machine cog-wheel, replacing animal heads that denoted a pastoral country. In the center is a figure of a "working man on horseback galloping upward toward the sun-- communism," in place of a herdsman holding a lariat and galloping toward the rising sun.

Major State Organizations

As is true of any communist-run state, the party's influence and voice were authoritative and all high government officials belonged to the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. Nevertheless, in order to establish the mechanisms of government for pursuing the party program, the Constitution provides authority to key state executive, legislative, and judicial bodies, and defines their respective character, composition, and powers.

Legislative

The unicameral People's Great Hural is described in the Constitution as "the highest agency of state power in the Mongolian People's Republic." It is assigned exclusive legislative power for the country by Article 19. The Eleventh People's Great Hural, elected in July 1986, had 370 deputies as determined by a constitutional amendment in 1981. Of the 370 elected deputies, nearly 89 percent were party members or candidate members; 28 percent, industrial workers; 28 percent, agrarian cooperative members; and 44 percent, intellectuals and bureaucrats. Also, 25 percent of the deputies were women, and 67 percent were elected for the first time. Finally, deputies were afforded special protection in that they may not be arrested or brought to trial without the consent of the Hural or its Presidium.

Deputies served four-year terms, and they were elected from districts divided equally according to population. The slate of candidates presented, however, required party review and approval well in advance of the election. Candidates were proposed by trade unions, farm organizations, youth and party organizations, and other social organizations. Before election day, usually in June, the names of candidates for these constituencies were published in the press. Registered electors could vote for one registered candidate by placing an unmarked ballot bearing the candidate's name in the ballot box. To vote against a candidate, an elector had to strike the candidate's name from the ballot.

It was estimated that 33 percent of the deputies-- representing the party and state leadership--were reelected after each term. Not surprisingly, a high proportion of the elected deputies were party members or candidate members. There also was a noticeable trend reflecting the gradual urbanization of the country, as shown in the 1979 Mongolian census figures. Press coverage of results usually reported 99.98 percent turnout, in favor of the official candidates.

The People's Great Hural, which convenes once a year, elects its officers, including a chairman (speaker) and four deputy chairmen. It selects standing commissions (budget, legislative proposals, nationality affairs, and foreign affairs), and it elects the Presidium. Constitutional powers accorded to the People's Great Hural include amendment of the constitution; adoption of laws; formation of the Council of Ministers; and confirmation of ministers, the national economic plan, and the budget. In 1989 the deputy chairmen were the president of the Presidium, an army officer, a woman, and, to show recognition of minorities, a Kazakh.

Ten permanent committees assisted in specialized areas of government work: industry; environmental protection; construction; youth affairs; budgets and planning; transportation and communications; labor resources; agriculture; trade and services; and health, education, culture and scientific affairs. Also, the People's Great Hural was given powers to establish "the basic principles and measures in the domain of internal and foreign policy" and to decide "questions of peace and defense of the socialist motherland." In practice, however, authority in the fields of foreign and domestic affairs was exercised regularly by the chairman of the Presidium and the minister of foreign affairs. By a constitutional amendment in November 1980, the People's Great Hural is charged with forming the state's People's Control Committee that heads a system of agencies "which shall incorporate state and social control of the working people at enterprises, institutions, organizations, and agricultural associations."

Although legislative power is concentrated in the People's Great Hural, the right of legislative initiative is accorded to several bodies. They include the Presidium, the Council of Ministers, deputies and standing commissions of the People's Great Hural, the Supreme Court, and the Office of the Procurator of the Republic. In addition, legislation can be introduced by youths and workers through the Central Committee of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League and the Central Council of Mongolian Trade Unions.

The Presidium of the People's Great Hural was the "highest agency of state power" presiding in the interval between legislative sessions. In 1989 the chairman of the Presidium, Batmonh, was the de facto president of Mongolia. Other Presidium officers included a deputy chairman, a secretary, and five members representing trade unions (two persons for this category), youth, women, and a key party department (either the cadres administration or foreign relations department). The principal powers of the Presidium include formation, abolition, and reorganization of ministries; appointment of ministers and ambassadors; ratification or denunciation of treaties and agreements with other states; and award of military and other titles and ranks. The Presidium also participates in the regular powers accorded to the People's Great Hural.

Executive

The Council of Ministers is the "highest executive and administrative agency of state administration." Under Article 42 of the Constitution, this body is composed of a chairman--or premier, a first deputy chairman, five other deputy chairmen, ministers, chairmen of the state committees, the chairman of the State Bank of the Mongolian People's Republic, the president of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and the head of the Central Statistical Board. In the 1980s, the deputy chairmen regularly included the chairmen of the State Planning Commission; the State Committee for Construction, Architecture, and Technical Control; and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) Affairs. In 1986 the Council of Ministers was composed of thirty-three members.

Members of the Council of Ministers also were party members or candidate members. In 1989 Dumaagiyn Sodnom, a full member of the party Political Bureau, was chairman of the Council of Ministers, making him de facto premier. The principal responsibilities of the Council of Ministers in the late 1980s were to coordinate and to direct the work of the ministries; to supervise national economic planning and to implement the national plan; to exercise general direction over foreign relations and defense matters; to take measures for the defense of state interests and the concept of socialist ownership; to ensure public order; and to direct and to guide the work of aymag and somon executive administrations.

A general ministerial reorganization was carried out in 1987 and 1988 during which 3,000 administrative positions were abolished--reportedly, a significant saving of funds. In December 1987, the Mongolian press announced the dissolution of six ministries and two state committees and the subsequent formation of five new ministries. These efforts to streamline the government structure and to make it more efficient continued into January 1988, when six state committees and special offices were dissolved and two new state committees were formed. In general this reorganization resulted in the performance of certain functions by separate ministries or in the subsuming of several committees under the mission of one. For example, the responsibilities for agriculture and the food industry, previously handled by two separate ministries, were combined in the new Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry. The newly established Ministry of Environmental Protection indicated Mongolia's recent and growing concern over one of its most intractable problems: the protection and renewal of the national environment.

There was no formally constituted permanent civil service to staff government positions. Party organizations were paramount in the selection and assignment of civil servants. The party decided which person was suited to what kind of work on the basis of individual loyalty, honesty, political consciousness, knowledge of relevant tasks, and organizational abilities.

Judicial

The Supreme Court is described in the Constitution as "the highest judicial authority" that directs "all...judicial agencies and also establishes supervision over their judicial activity." It is elected for a four-year term by the People's Great Hural, and it presides over the lower structure made up of eighteen aymag courts and local somon courts. Members of the local court structure were elected locally, and the judges for these courts served three-year terms. Elected in May 1986, the chairman of the Supreme Court, Lubsandorjiyn Renchin, had a first deputy and two other deputies, including the chairmen of the criminal affairs and the military affairs collegia.

The Procurator of the Republic exercises "supreme supervision over the precise observance of laws by all ministries and other central agencies of administrations, institutions and organizations." The procurator was appointed by the People's Great Hural for a term of four years.

The law and the legal system were described officially as being solidly grounded in the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. The purpose was to ensure that the socioeconomic order produced and shaped a distinctive political, economic, and legal superstructure. Within this context, the principal function of law was to regulate the economy and to contribute to the building of socialism. As of 1989, there still was a limited role for custom in the area of socialist law, but only those considered compatible with prevailing legal norms persisted. There also was a new emphasis on equal rights for women. For the most part, the law functioned as a body of prescriptive regulations that guided social relationships and interpreted the duties of citizens in ways that the party found to be in the best interests of society and development. In general, regulations and codes controlled more areas of life than ever before.

Two separate legal codes form the basis of Mongolian law--the Civil Code and the Criminal Code. The Civil Code, which went into effect in April 1963, was modeled closely on the code adopted by the Soviet Union in 1963. This code regulates personal relations more carefully than had been the case before its enactment. It extends certain rights, including protecting the honor and the dignity of citizens. The code enlarges the discussion of obligations to include contracts of delivery and carriage-- matters essential to efficient business operations. There also are law codes that apply to the family and to the workplace.

Formal training in law was given under the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Mongolian State University. Beginning in 1980, 100 full-time students per year were enrolled at this institution. Although the Constitution contains no channel of appeal, the law does provide for appeals of all verdicts except those of the Supreme Court.

Local Administration

In Mongolia's organizational pyramid, government beneath the national level was carried out by assemblies of people's deputies operating in the eighteen aymags and the three provinciallevel autonomous cities (hots), sometimes called "republic cities." In the late 1980s, each aymag continued to be divided into about thirty somons; towns and population centers within a somon were apportioned into "districts and districts-in-cities." Each of these administrative divisions had its corresponding governing assembly of people's deputies. Some continuity between the Mongolian People's Republic and the traditional Mongolian political culture was provided in preserving the terms aymag, which was a fifteenth-century word for a tribal unit, and somon, which was the traditional basic-level administrative unit. Aymags were established on the basis of geographic boundaries, ethnic groupings, economic conditions, population density, and convenience of administrative control. Somons were the basic units of administration within aymags, and they were where the greatest interaction between government and the people took place.

Deputies to the local assemblies are elected for three-year terms, according to the Constitution. In June 1987, a total of 15,967 deputies were elected to local assemblies, by the usual 99.98 percent of the vote cast. Regular sessions of aymag and autonomous municipal assemblies convened at least twice a year. Sessions of somon and district assemblies were convoked at least three times a year. Each local assembly elected presidiums to administer the government between sessions of the assemblies. Presidiums were composed of a chairman, a deputy chairman, a secretary, and members who included party functionaries and local luminaries residing in the administrative centers.

Within their respective jurisdictions, the assemblies and their presidiums were responsible for directing "economic and cultural-political construction," for supervising the economic and cooperative organizations, for confirming and implementing the economic plan and local budgets, for ensuring the observance of laws, and for making certain that all citizens were fully involved in the work of the state. Superior assemblies of people's deputies were empowered to "change or repeal" decisions of lower assemblies and their presidiums.

Procurators and courts also functioned at the local levels. Local procurators were appointed by the state procurator for three-year terms, and they were subordinate "only to the superior procurator" in the system. Courts were elected by deputies of the corresponding assemblies of people's deputies, also for threeyear terms; precinct-level courts were formed by direct elections and by secret ballot for three-year terms.

Mongolia

Mongolia - Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

Mongolia's communist party was established on March 1, 1921, with 164 members in a country that previously had no political parties. At that time, it was called the Mongolian People's Party. In August 1924 at the Third Party Congress, the party assumed its current nomenclature, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. It was the only political party, modeled closely after the organizational structure and party program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. It has followed the Soviet example during most of its existence, and it continued to do so in mid-1989.

The authoritative Party Program, the fourth in Mongolian history, which was adopted in 1966, states that party organizations serve as "the directing and guiding force of society and the state," and at the national level are decisive in setting policy, developing programs, and making key personnel appointments. Below the national level, party organizations and personnel ensure the implementation of the Party Program, maintain political discipline, and supervise appointment to all party and non-party organizations.

Following the pattern of ongoing developments in the Soviet Union, high-level substantive discussions of party organizational reform measures were being held in 1989. One measure under consideration would have government bodies play an enhanced role as consultative bodies in the party's policy-making process. New senior government bodies that eventually could disperse some of the party's closely held power were being discussed. Consideration also was being given to the devolution of some decision-making powers from upper party levels to the primary party organizations. Nevertheless, in the late 1980s, top-level party organizations still continued to hold exceptional authority, dominating the governmental, economic, and military life of the country.

Membership

As of April 1988, party membership was reported at 89,588, an average of 1 in 11 of the adult population. According to the Rules of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, "anyone of the working people, acknowledging the Party Program and Rules, actively participating in their implementation, working in a party organization, and implementing all party resolutions, may be a member of the party." Membership was open to males and females at least eighteen years old, although those between eighteen and twenty years could earn party membership only through acquiring a good record as a Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League member.

A candidate for party membership must be sponsored by a party member who has held a full membership for three years. After sponsorship, a candidate's acceptance into the party was discussed by a general meeting of the appropriate party cell and was considered resolved if at least two-thirds of those attending approved. Conversely, expulsion from the party was decided by a vote of at least two-thirds of party members present, but it was effective only after confirmation by the appropriate party committee at the next-highest level. Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party membership increased by 16 percent during the period 1981 to 1986.

Party Congress

The party congress, convened regularly every five years, is theoretically the most authoritative body in the Mongolian party system. The Nineteenth Party Congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, convened in May 1986, was attended by 851 delegates--for 79 percent of whom it was their first party congress. An overview of the composition of the delegates revealed that 66 percent also were deputies to the People's Great Hural or to assemblies of people's deputies. Thirty-three percent were workers in industry, construction and communications; 17 percent were collectivized herdsmen; and 50 percent were white-collar workers, including members of the military and the intelligentsia. Seventy-nine percent were of the majority Khalkha nationality.

These statistics showed predominantly urban and educated delegates, and they indicated the professionalization of the Mongolian leadership, much like what had occurred in the Soviet Union by the 1960s. In 1986 women accounted for 21 percent of the total number of delegates, which suggested a substantial representation within the leadership until this figure was balanced against the 30 percent of total party membership that women held in 1986.

The party congress also elects the Central Auditing Commission, which examines and verifies state expenditures. The Nineteenth Party Congress elected a Central Auditing Commission of twenty-three members, smaller than the previous commission of thirty-one, elected in 1981. Eighty-three percent of the commission's members were newly elected.

The Nineteenth Congress also stated its commitment to the existing Party Program, which in essence is dedicated to completing the "construction of socialism" in Mongolia. The Party Program contains the concepts and goals to be realized through the five-year plans and implemented by the government bureaucracy. As stated in the program, the party's role is to instill total commitment among citizens toward this goal: "The party will devote unflagging attention to organizing resolute struggle against views and morals as well as survivals of the past alien to socialism in the minds and lives of people." Extolling the values of patriotism and "proletarian internationalism," the program dictates that Mongolia "will educate the working people in the limitless love and devotion to their homeland, the Soviet Union and other countries in the socialist community. . . ."

Because the party congress of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party meets in regular session only every five years, it cannot serve as the governing party organization. Rather, one of its key functions is to elect the Central Committee, the body that sets the tone and establishes the overall leadership for the country.

Central Committee

The Central Committee elected by the Nineteenth Congress in 1986 included eighty-five members and sixty-five candidate members. It was a smaller body than the Central Committee elected at the Eighteenth Party Congress in 1981, which had an additional six members and six candidate members. Fifty-seven members were reelected to the Nineteenth Central Committee, eleven were promoted from candidate membership, and seventeen were newly appointed. No full members were demoted to candidate membership, but twenty-four retired, died, or had been removed. Candidate members filled the places of former Central Committee members. The number of members on the Nineteenth Central Committee was smaller than that of its predecessor, but the number of new members increased by 20 percent and of new candidate members, by 77 percent. Thus, the composition of the new Central Committee suggested trends toward reducing the size of the senior party leadership, toward adding new members, and toward initiating the newcomers through service first as candidate members.

In 1989 the Central Committee had twelve departments responsible for managing specialized functions including a general department for overseeing and coordinating party affairs. The departments supervised cadres affairs; ideological matters; party organization; military and security affairs; foreign relations; planning and budget; industry; agriculture; construction; transportation and communications; and education, science, and health. Another key body, the Party Control Commission, is subordinate to the Central Committee and is responsible for maintaining internal party discipline and for dealing with incidents that challenge party authority. There also were a Higher Party School and an Institute of Social Studies (formerly the Party History Institute), both of which had the status of a Central Committee department.

Political Bureau and Secretariat

The Political Bureau is elected by the Central Committee to conduct the party's business between plenary sessions of the Central Committee and to provide the top leadership for the party and the country. As the senior policy-making body, it establishes specific goals; and it regularly evaluates the progress of national programs.

The Secretariat also functions between plenary sessions, and it is the administrative center of the party apparatus. It is elected by the Central Committee to oversee implementation of the Party Program and party resolutions and to select leading cadres. This last function gives the Secretariat nomenklatura, the authority to make appointments to the key positions in both the party and the government bureaucracies.

The ruling hierarchy was stable during the 1980s. In May 1986, the Political Bureau included seven members and three candidate members. The Secretariat was composed of six secretaries. Batmonh was reelected general secretary of the Central Committee. These elections produced few changes; four leaders were retained as both Political Bureau members and secretaries of the Central Committee. Three leaders were retained as members of only the Political Bureau, and three were elected candidate Political Bureau members. Two new secretaries were elected to the Central Committee. This leadership group, averaging fifty-nine years of age, was changed somewhat at the third plenary session--or fully constituted meeting--of the Central Committee in June 1987, when one Political Bureau member retired and was replaced by a candidate member. By 1989 the Political Bureau had been reduced to nine members after the death of one candidate member. Two Political Bureau members mentioned as likely successors to Batmonh were Bat-Ochiryn Altangerel, a former Ulaanbaatar first secretary, and Tserendeshiyn Namsray, a member of the party Secretariat and chairman of the MongolianSoviet Friendship Society.

Some party leaders held concurrent key government positions. For example, Batmonh was chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural, and Sodnom was chairman of the Council of Ministers, or premier. All Political Bureau members and candidate members also were deputies to the People's Great Hural. The known substantive responsibilities of the top party leadership covered several specialties: party disciplinary affairs, law and administration, foreign affairs, building and construction, and industry.

Regional and Local Party Organizations

A general understanding of the size of the party structure below the national level was provided by reports in January 1981 that recorded "twenty-seven provincial, town and equivalent-level party committees, seven urban district party committees, 256 basic-level committees, and 2,600 party cells." In March 1989, Batmonh noted that there were 3,199 primary party organizations, or cells. Party first secretaries of aymags and those of the three autonomous cities, usually were represented on the Central Committee. In addition to their key party organizational responsibilities, these regional leaders had the important duty to implement the party's economic policies and programs within the areas under their supervision. In fact, active participation in the current party programs emphasizing economic development was regarded as essential to the regional leaders' success; this probably explained their participation on the Central Committee. Two other key posts, probably equal in rank to aymag first secretaries, were held by leading party representatives in the state Railroad Administration and the army's Political Directorate.

Aymag-level and somon-level party organizations are formed by election of the conferences of representatives within the respective jurisdictions. These committees control the executive and the legislative institutions of government as well as economic enterprises. Meeting in plenary sessions at least twice a year, the committees' regular daily business is conducted by an elected bureau of seven to nine members. Bureau meetings are held once or twice every fourteen days to hear reports and recommendations, to discuss implementation of higher-level decisions, to coordinate and to assign cadres' work, to approve acceptance of candidate members, to assign cadres to non-party organs in territorial units, to provide leadership to party cells and to evaluate their achievements and shortcomings, and to maintain party discipline within various subordinate organizations.

The party cell is considered the primary party organization. Every party member has to belong to a cell. These bodies exist in industrial enterprises; agricultural cooperatives; state farms; and educational, cultural, and other establishments. Cells are formed from not fewer than eight party members or candidates for membership. The cell's responsibilities include recruitment of party members, training and ideological development of the membership, and party discipline. When there are fewer than eight members to be organized, a party section is formed; it has responsibilities similar, insofar as possible, to those of the party cell.

Mass Organizations

Youth Organizations

The Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, founded on August 25, 1921, is the party's most important auxiliary. The Party Program describes the organization as the party's "militant assistant and reliable reserve." In 1986 the league had 235,000 members between fifteen and twenty-eight years of age and was a significant element in reinforcing the party ranks and in contributing to social and economic development. A good record as a youth league member was a prerequisite to selection for party membership. Seminars, lectures, and technical schools were run under league sponsorship to raise the ideological, educational, and cultural standards of Mongolian youths. The league also played an active role in preparing youths for service in the armed forces by instilling patriotism and by encouraging participation in reserve training programs to maintain a high level of physical fitness.

The league structure resembles that of the party, with a Central Committee, a Political Bureau composed of members and candidate members, and a Secretariat. Tserendorjiyn Narangerel, who was sixty-eight in 1989, was elected first secretary of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League in 1984. In 1986 he was elected to the party Central Committee and became a deputy in the People's Great Hural. Narangerel's predecessor until 1983 was Lodongiyn Tudev, who became editor-in-chief of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party newspaper, Unen (Truth). In addition to Narangerel, the top league leadership in 1989 included a second secretary and four secretaries. Below the national level, the league included committees led by first secretaries in various-level units that had structures comparable to that of the party. The league belonged to the World Federation of Democratic Youth and the International Union of Students.

The Sukhe Bator Mongolian Pioneers Organization, named after the revolutionary hero, Damdiny Sukhe Bator, and founded in May 1925, was supervised by the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League. With a membership, in the late 1980s, of 360,000, it served children ages ten to fifteen. In 1989 its head--and chairman of the Central Council--was concurrently a secretary of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League Central Committee. Like the youth league, the Pioneers Organization is meant to involve the children in active work and service in fulfilling party goals. It sponsored rallies focused on labor themes; provided medals for good progress in work and study; and encouraged the ideological, moral, and educational development of children. The organization also hosted sports competitions, art reviews, and festivals. In the summer, the organization operated camps to enhance the physical training and the education of youths.

Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society

Although party-sponsored mass organizations existed for women, laborers, the elderly, and creative artists, the largest mass organization in the late 1980s was the Mongolian-Soviet Friendship Society, established in 1924. With 580,000 members in 1984, the society was chaired by Political Bureau member Namsray, and it included most of the country's prominent leaders. As the name implied, its mission was to strengthen friendly ties and cooperation with the Soviet Union. The society furthered this goal by sponsoring films, exhibits, and lectures and by conducting an annual friendship month celebration preceding the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution on November 7. Another body, the Federation of Mongolian Peace and Friendship Organizations, acted as an umbrella association, serving other international friendship societies.

Women's Organizations

The Mongolian Women's Committee was established in 1924. This body operated through women's councils established in industrial centers, businesses, and schools in cities, towns, and aymags. Lubsanchultemiyn Pagmadulam chaired the group in 1989. The federation had approximately 5,000 women's councils that sponsored rallies, educational activities, and work-related training, and it monitored national health care and maternal issues for those sixteen years and older. It supported raising the level of culture among youth and enhancing the quality of their upbringing by instilling moral values. In 1946 the organization affiliated with the International Democratic Federation of Women.

Labor Organizations

The Mongolian Trade Unions originated in 1927. In 1989 it included 600,000 members, grouped into four categories of trade unions: industry and construction; agricultural workers; transportation, communications, trade, and services; and culture and enlightenment. Trade union organizations ran production and training conferences, and they participated in collective agreements between the managements of enterprises and trade union committees. They also articulated issues of concern to the work force, supervised social insurance programs, and oversaw the observance of labor legislation. These and other powers were vested in law, particularly in the National Labor Law. Schools run by labor organizations focused on improving the qualifications and vocational education of factory and office workers.

The highest body in the organizational structure of the labor unions was the Congress of the Mongolian Trade Unions, which elected a central council and an auditing commission. In 1989 the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions was chaired by BatOchiryn Lubsantseren, also a member of the party Central Committee and the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. A presidium--composed of the chairman of the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions, a deputy, and two secretaries--and a four-person secretariat provided the leadership for the subordinate trade union councils and committees. About 3,000 committees operated at the primary factory level. The composition of the trade unions in the late 1980s was 50 percent industrial workers, 30 percent office and professional workers, and 20 percent agricultural workers. In a population that was 58 percent working class, and in a work force that was 95 percent unionized by 1984, trade unions played an important role. How well they performed was another question. At a party Central Committee plenary session in December 1988, the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions was criticized for not adequately protecting workers' interests. The Mongolian Trade Unions was affiliated with the Soviet-sponsored World Federation of Trade Unions.

Other Mass Organizations

Like most other professional groups in Mongolian society, journalists were organized into a mass organization. By 1989 the Union of Mongolian Journalists had 800 members, more than half of them formally trained as journalists. Ninety-seven percent of the membership had received higher education. In 1989 the press in Mongolia was undergoing major changes, and the effect of these changes on this body still was unclear.

There also were "creative unions" to organize writers, artists, and composers. Their main purpose was to ensure that artistic content supported the party's social and political policies. The top leaders of these mass organizations usually served on the party Central Committee. In 1984 the Writers' Union included a sixty-one member committee with seven presiding author-secretaries.

A newer mass organization, established in 1988, was the Culture Fund of the Mongolian People's Republic. Its purpose was to protect monuments and key examples of Mongol history, literature, and architecture as well as to recover cultural treasures that have been taken out of the country. It was funded by voluntary contributions.

The attempt to organize segments of the country's population extended to elderly citizens. The Union of Mongolian Senior Citizens was established on March 25, 1988, with 120,000 members. Its purposes were to make the elderly more productive and involved in the country's development as well as to study and to improve the health of the aging. The organization had a chairman, a deputy chairman, a 150-member executive Committee, a 15-member presidium, and a 7-member central auditing committee. An important subcommittee of this mass organization, reflecting the World War II legacy of military service, was the Committee of War Veterans.

Mongolia

Mongolia - The Political Process

Since 1924 the Mongolian political system and apparatus, patterned after those in the Soviet Union, has followed the organizational principle of democratic centralism. As applied in the Soviet Union, this principle concentrates decision-making authority and the power to take policy initiatives at senior party levels. Throughout the party system, the decisions of higher-level bodies are binding on subordinate-level party organizations. The democratic feature of this Leninist principle prescribes that members of party organizations at all levels are elected by conferences of delegates and are accountable to their respective electorates. Policy issues are to be discussed freely within the party organizations, but once final decisions (expressed in programs) are adopted, strict party discipline then dictates that policies be implemented exactly, without any further expressions of disagreement.

Democratic Centralism

Under the guidance of early party leaders Horloyn Choybalsan and Yumjaagiyn Tsedenbal, the principle of democratic centralism was weighted heavily toward its centralizing features, just as it was being applied in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin. Purges, reprisals, and political violence in Mongolia mirrored the arbitrary behavior of Stalin. Choybalsan directed his attacks against political foes, rivals, and religious institutions. After Choybalsan's death in 1952 and Tsedenbal's emergence as the top party and government leader, Mongolian politics again followed the Soviet example. Starting in 1956, Tsedenbal initiated an extensive anti-Stalinist, anti-Choybalsan campaign, accusing the party leader of having conducted a "cult of personality" like Stalin.

In 1989, in the latest mirroring of Soviet politics, observers concluded that the democratic aspects of democratic centralism were beginning to play an enhanced role in Mongolian politics. Highly personalized and centralized politics were giving way to increased involvement by more democratic or representative sectors. Party general secretary Batmonh, speaking before the important fifth plenary session of the Central Committee held December 21-22, 1988, emphasized the need for "renewal" of the Mongolian sociopolitical system by "democratizing the party's inner life." Just before the plenary session, in November 1988, Batmonh pointed to the poor performance of the Mongolian economy even under the policies of "renewal," or Soviet-style restructuring. He gave as reasons for this condition a lack of vitality in the Mongolian political system, which, he said, could be remedied only by a more open and free social and political system.

At the December 1988 plenary session, which focused on reform of the political system, Batmonh spoke at length on the Mongolian equivalent of glasnost and perestroika and, for the first time, identified by name his predecessor, Tsedenbal, with the social, economic, and political problems that plagued Mongolia. In addition, Batmonh linked Tsedenbal's shortcomings with the "serious damage" that the personality cult of Choybalsan had caused and charged that "democracy was restricted and the administrative-command method of management took the upper hand."

Probably with a view to containing the political impact of these provocative statements, Batmonh urged the leadership to recognize these mistakes in leadership in a positive and instructive way. He also laid out the new political course by emphasizing that "a key point to the transformation and renewal" was recognition of the importance of the various levels of assemblies of people's deputies. He said the assemblies' deputies embodied the institutional expression of self-government now regarded as essential to the efficient and effective functioning of the political system. In addition to stressing the importance of these representative bodies, Batmonh exhorted several key mass organizations, particularly the trade unions and the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, to play a more active role in "perfecting organizational renewal" by becoming more vocal about issues and more involved in reform programs. Accordingly, democratic reform was to be carried out at all levels--in central and local government bodies, as well as in party, state, and mass organizations. The assemblies of people's deputies and all mass organizations were to be made responsible for "perfecting" the government system by engaging in free dialogue and in criticism and debate of reform issues and programs.

This speech by Batmonh set the agenda for further party action. The fifth plenary session concluded with the Central Committee's adoption of a seven-point resolution espousing the democratization of the political system. Batmonh discussed the major party reforms involved during an interview reported in the March 1989 issue of the Soviet periodical, New Times. They included: reducing the size of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party membership and giving priority to the primary party organization, the point of contact with the Mongolian population; setting a fixed five-year term of office for elected party bodies, from the Central Committee to the district party committee, and limiting the opportunity to be reelected to one further consecutive term; holding party conferences every two to three years, with the partial--up to 25 percent--replacement of members of party committees; and conducting Political Bureau and Secretariat elections by secret ballot. In general, these party reforms were to contribute to a rejuvenation of party leadership and to democratize internal party politics.

Batmonh revealed that government reforms being proposed at the fifth plenary session were to emphasize the People's Great Hural and assemblies of people's deputies as the "political basis of the state." He said that a distinction would be more clearly drawn between the functions of party and state organizations. Briefly, party organizations were to make policy decisions, the results of which were to be managed and implemented through government representative bodies. Major government reforms included reducing and streamlining the government bureaucracy; limiting the term in office in any of the representative assemblies to five years, with only one opportunity for reelection; nominating several candidates for an office; and discussing candidate qualifications freely. Following up on the fifth plenary session's initiatives, the Political Bureau proposed developing revisions to both the Party Program and the state Constitution to reflect Batmonh's concerns. In February 1989, a commission was formed to begin drafting a new edition of the state Constitution, to be presented for national discussion by December 1989. Addressing its first meeting, Batmonh asserted that "implementation of restructuring in the country was impossible without perfecting its existing laws, and this matter should be started with a new edition of the . . . Constitution." In addition, a new body was being planned, the Commission for Constitutional Control, to improve adherence to the Constitution. Revisions of the Rules of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and to the Party Program were to be ready for the Twentieth Party Congress planned for 1991.

In large measure, Batmonh's efforts to emphasize and to strengthen the democratic features in the political system reflected his responsiveness to precedents set in Moscow. Nevertheless, if implemented, these reforms may have at least the short-term effect of opening debate and allowing more discussion of pressing local issues, a development that might improve the quality of life for Mongolians. Over the long term, the permanence of these "democratic" policies was likely to be related closely to the success or the failure of the ongoing economic programs.

Batmonh's professional background fits neatly into the mold of the senior Mongolian political leader. He was born in 1926 in Hyargas Somon, Uvs Aymag, in western Mongolia, reportedly to a peasant family of herdsmen. Like his predecessor, Tsedenbal, Batmonh was educated in the Soviet Union, at the Academy of Social Sciences. Typical of past and present members of the party Political Bureau, Batmonh has a strong economic-technical background. He studied at the Mongolian State University, and in the late 1960s he was rector of the Higher School of Economics. From 1963 to 1973, he was vice rector and then rector of the Mongolian State University. Batmonh's political ascent was rapid and remarkable. While serving as head of the Central Committee's Department of Science and Education, he became chairman of the Council of Ministers in June 1974, without first being elected to Political Bureau membership. At that time, he was only a candidate member of the Central Committee. By December 1984, Batmonh was concurrently the party's general secretary, having replaced Tsedenbal in August, and chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. He thus had control over, and access to, the two governing bureaucracies, securing his place at the center of the political system.

Sodnom was the second most prominent leader in Mongolia in the late 1980s. Born in 1933 in Orgon Somon, Dornogovi Aymag, Sodnom graduated from the Finance and Economics Technical School in Ulaanbaatar and the Finance and Economics Institute in Irkutsk, Soviet Union. His professional career concentrated on economics and planning. From 1963 to 1969, Sodnom was minister of finance; by 1974 he was chairman of the State Planning Commission. He became a full Political Bureau member and chairman of the Council of Ministers (premier) in December 1984, succeeding Batmonh.

The backgrounds of others serving on the Political Bureau in 1989 were mixed, but they shared a notable emphasis on economics and state-planning experience. Demchigjabyn Molomjamts, perhaps the third most influential leader, was minister of finance and concurrently held key state planning positions. Altangerel was concurrently the first deputy premier. Colonel General Jamsrangiyn Dejid a former minister of public security, was concurrently a party secretary. Namsray, a former aide to Tsedenbal and a journalist, was elected to the Political Bureau in June 1984, just before Tsedenbal's retirement in August. Candidate Political Bureau members Bandzragchiyn Lamjab and Sonomyn Lubsangombo represented different, but critical, career specialties. Lamjab concurrently served as chairman of the Party Control Commission. Lubsangombo, an urban development specialist, was chairman of the State Building Commission and deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers (or, deputy premier).

Political Issues

The political leadership style of Batmonh can be described as cautious and pragmatic, and it explains in part why the senior leadership levels in the party have escaped major shake-ups. Under his leadership, the political program has focused on bringing greater productivity, efficiency, and material prosperity to society. Implementing this program, however, has raised certain key political issues of central concern to Batmonh and other top party leaders. One issue has been the performance of the party and government bureaucracies. The official bureaucracy has come under attack for apathy to reform measures and for displays of resistance to their implementation. Another major criticism, often related to those just cited, was that some party and government leaders were considered either unqualified or too inept to understand and to carry out reform programs.

In attempts to address this issue, party pronouncements have stressed the participation and the accountability of officials at all levels of the bureaucracy. This has been accomplished in some measure at the provincial level by increasing participation of aymag first secretaries on the party Central Committee. Having them serve on this national body included them in the policy debate and made them responsible for, and accountable for, the effective implementation of policies and programs. In 1986 the Central Committee included fourteen of the eighteen first secretaries, as either full or candidate members. Two of the unrepresented aymags actually were represented indirectly by having representatives on the Central Committee who had been elected from the autonomous cities, Darhan and Erdenet, located within those aymags. Two decades earlier, only a few aymag first secretaries served on the party Central Committee.

In 1989 the change that linked aymag leaders to the national- level leadership probably did not indicate a major decentralization of political power in Mongolia. Official policy still followed precedents set in the Soviet Union that were transmitted by the central party structure. Instead, these "decentralizing" measures appeared to be inspired more by a recognition of the nature of past economic stagnation and failure. They were designed to provide aymag party leaders with a substantial political stake in the regime in order to win their much needed enthusiasm and commitment to the new reformist goals.

Creative approaches and bold thinking were qualities that the regime espoused to energize its often-complacent bureaucracy. At the Nineteenth Congress in 1986, Batmonh echoed the reformist thrust of Mikhail Gorbachev's speech to the preceding Twentyseventh Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Batmonh stressed that party members needed to "think and work in new ways." He identified as the "chief political result of the supreme forum of Mongolian Communists" (that is, the party congress) the recognition that more attention had to be paid to party ideological and organizational work and "to strengthening inner-party democracy." Batmonh raised similar themes in his key December 1988 plenary session speech. In discussing ideological work within the party bureaucracy, he identified the main task as being "to foster in people a scientific world outlook and further raise their social consciousness."

Developing a program of "renewal and rejuvenation" has precipitated as an issue the question of what should constitute the official view of Mongolian history. Who were the heroes, and who obstructed progress? By late 1988, Tsedenbal, for the first time, was identified with the regime's economic failures because economic stagnation and official dogmatism that stifled growth and creativity flourished during his tenure. The charges leveled against Tsedenbal during this revision of modern Mongolian history also appeared to extend into the emotional area of the fate and the status of indigenous Mongolian cultural institutions and heritage. Calling for a "realistic appraisal" of Tsedenbal's career, Batmonh said "we draw serious conclusions on the acts of destroying historical and cultural monuments, monasteries and temples. But that bitter lesson was not duly considered, and even today a careless attitude to national culture persists." Filling in what have been called "blank spots" in Mongolian history appeared in mid-1989 to extend even to the historical treatment of Chinggis Khan and perhaps can be viewed as one important barometer of political change in Mongolia. Traditionally, the Soviet press has described Chinggis as a "feudal and backward element." By early 1989, the Mongolian press had adopted a more positive view of this historic national figure, a change suggesting that, politically, the Mongolian leadership has begun to move somewhat out from under Soviet political tutelage.

Role of the Military

The Mongolian military establishment played only a minor role in the political system in the late 1980s. In 1989, no Political Bureau member or candidate member represented defense interests. Dejid served on the Political Bureau and the Secretariat, but not as a military leader. Rather, his responsibilities were civilian in nature, involving preservation of party and state unity and discipline in the course of carrying out the new programs of openness and leadership restructuring.

Dejid's career experience was typical of military leaders who had risen to positions of influence in party and state circles. Dejid was a former minister of public security and chairman of the Party Control Commission. During his active military service, he was involved in public security, censorship, and civilian control activities. Ancillary to these duties were his obligations to greet visiting Soviet military delegations and to participate in defense discussions with Soviet commanders.

The percentage of military representation on the party Central Committee was not reported officially, but the number was thought to be small. It was clear that military officers with direct and primary defense responsibilities maintained a low political profile. This was well illustrated by the fact that Colonel General Jamsrangiyn Yondon, minister of defense in 1989, was not a member of the Central Committee when he was selected for the senior government defense post in 1982. The welldocumented career of Yondon's predecessor, Jorantayn Abhia, was characteristic of a member of the Mongolian military elite. Abhia held several key positions successively in police or militia work and in the court and procuracy system. Senior military officers often filled the key positions in government public security and in the civil and criminal justice system. In 1989 the minister of public security was Lieutenant General Agbaanjantsangiyn Jamsranjab, and the chief of state security was Lieutenant General B. Tsiyregdzen. Tsiyregdzen's duties included suppressing anti-Soviet propaganda and counterespionage as well as guarding against alleged Western subversion, particularly through censorship of the mails.

Probably the greatest impact the military has had on the Mongolian political process has been indirect--through its organizational and ideological activities. Beginning with the militarist period of leadership under Choybalsan and even in 1989, the military establishment contributed to the formation in the popular consciousness of the concepts of state and national polity. In addition, the army played a significant role in spreading literacy, and it served as an integrating agent by spreading the national language to minority groups. In the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of improvements in media and communications, the military probably has found it somewhat easier to fulfill the goal of producing a dedicated cadre of soldiers who will return to civilian life.

General Political Values and Attitudes

The political system became heavily regimented under communism and the organizational principle of democratic centralism. Young and elderly citizens, urban and rural dwellers, skilled and unskilled laborers all had to become fully involved in, and cognizant of, the goals and the ideological content of party programs. Inevitably, the implementation of this political system has provoked a variety of responses. Mongolians, now middle-aged and older, who by 1959 had experienced collectivization and were deprived of their animal herds and the freedom to roam in search of new pastures, harbored resentment against the government's procedures and limitations on their erstwhile freedoms. Any outright opposition was put down quickly, but negative feelings probably have not been eradicated.

Support for the regime existed, and it was likely to continue in the 1990s among those with the greatest stake in the success of its policies--for example, party and government cadres, economists, and technocrats. The earlier sovietization of politics and society, and the role of officials in that process, had given this group an elevated status, but with the concomitant requirement that they exhort the people to uphold the preferred values of conformity and political orthodoxy at the expense of more traditional values and spontaneity. Improvements in communications and transportation as well as the opportunities for reaching a larger audience afforded by increased literacy have permitted the communist regime and its cadres more immediate contact with the populace. By the 1980s, there were no more mass political purges, but the state machinery had become more efficient and pervasive in organization. Its political influence was deeply felt throughout the country. How this system would fare under the reformist policies of openness and democratization could not be assessed in mid-1989.

Reportedly, some resistance to this method of rule--from Mongolian youths who were better-educated, aware that change was occurring, and anxious that even greater openness be permitted-- was becoming evident. Politically, they seemed to advocate extending the trend toward democratization. They viewed democracy more as a human right than as a means for improving the political system and its policies, by such methods as encouraging public criticism of cadre incompetence, poor management practices, and so forth. Youth demands also may have been shared by the artistic community and by some members of the intelligentsia. The latter, while saluting the de-Stalinization campaign ongoing in 1989, also may have wanted a more extensive reappraisal of Mongolian culture and its heroes. It was difficult to assess how deep these feelings were, but observers doubted that they represented any immediate threat to the regime's stability.

Mongolia

Mongolia - Foreign Policy

Mongolia's foreign policy must be viewed in the context of the nation's landlocked position, sandwiched between the Soviet Union and China. The country's survival and growth have largely depended on its leaders' adroit management of this sensitive and strategic location. Too weak to act independently to hold encroachments from both China and the Soviet Union in check, Mongolia's leaders have interpreted their national interests as being best served by accepting the political direction and military support of Moscow. Thus, for more than sixty years, the Soviet Union has been the patron and the predominant force shaping Mongolian foreign affairs. In 1987 this Mongolian stance was expressed succinctly in Batmonh's statement that his country was "grateful Soviet units were still guarding socialism in Mongolia."

Motivation and Goals

In 1989 the principal motivations driving Mongolia's foreign policy were the preservation of territorial integrity, together with the projection of a substantial measure of political independence. Major goals included expanding and modernizing the economy through aid and trade arrangements, and extending diplomatic and economic contacts with the international community. During the 1970s and 1980s, the opportunities afforded by Soviet economic aid and assistance, along with those available through Comecon and the Soviet military guardianship, continued to hold Mongolia firmly within the Soviet orbit. Internationally, Mongolia often served as a Soviet proxy, representing the Soviet position when and where needed.

By mid-1989, some indications of changes in Mongolia's foreign policy direction were visible, very likely in response to initiatives taken by Soviet leader Gorbachev. Operating within the context of the distinct improvements being made in SinoSoviet relations, Mongolian leaders also began to demonstrate a more relaxed attitude toward China. Furthermore, they seemed willing to explore new relationships with other Asian countries and to accelerate contact and deepening relationships with Western and Third World countries.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Foreign policy goals are pursued through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, headed in 1989 by Tserenpiliin Gombosuren. The trade aspects of foreign relations are carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Trade. The power of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is limited to implementing foreign policies formulated by high-level party organizations. That Gombosuren was only a candidate member of the Central Committee underlines this fact.

The formulation of foreign policy is done in the name of the party Central Committee, and it is closely controlled by top party leaders, organizations, and departments. Foreign policy is formulated by senior leaders in the Political Bureau who are well attuned to Soviet foreign policy preferences. In mid-1989 Political Bureau member and party secretary Namsray appeared to have responsibility for supervising foreign affairs. In addition, the party Central Committee has a subordinate department responsible for foreign relations; the head of it in mid-1989 was concurrently a member of the Presidium of the People's Great Hural. He probably coordinated foreign policy matters with the chairman of the Standing Commission for Foreign Affairs of the People's Great Hural, who also happened to be a party secretary.

In 1989 the minister of foreign affairs was assisted in implementing foreign policy by a first deputy minister, two deputy ministers, and heads of specialized departments. Some key departments believed to have been responsible for specific geographic areas were: number one, the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and Poland; number two, remaining European countries; number three, East Asia and Southeast Asia; and number four, South Asia, West Asia, and Africa. Additional departments handled cultural affairs, treaties and archives, relations with international organizations, legal affairs, protocol, the administration of diplomatic agencies, the press, and other matters.

Foreign Relations with ...
<> Soviet Union
<> China
<> United States

Mongolia

Mongolia - Soviet Union

In the late 1980s, the close relationship between Mongolia and the Soviet Union was much the same as it had been since the 1920s. Mongolian foreign policy stressed consolidating the "fraternal alliance" with the Soviet Union and close cooperation with the members of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon. The two countries had direct links among ministries, agencies, departments, and party organizations. The Soviet Union encouraged direct contacts between Mongolia and the Buryatskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and Tuvinskaya Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics as well as the Central Asian Soviet republics. By 1985 the Soviet Union had consulates in the cities of Choybalsan; Darhan, where many Soviet-built factories were located; and Erdenet, the site of a Mongolian-Soviet joint copper and molybdenum mining enterprise. In August 1988, the only Mongolian ambassadorships with incumbents serving concurrently on the party Central Committee were assignments to countries of major concern to the Soviet Union: Albania, Afghanistan, East Germany, and Finland. The Mongolian ambassador to the Soviet Union also served on the party Central Committee.

When Batmonh became general secretary of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, an event followed closely by Gorbachev's election as general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the two leaders pledged to uphold and to strengthen the Mongolian-Soviet alliance. Gorbachev's "new thinking" in foreign policy matters soon became evident, however, and it no doubt raised major concerns, on the part of Mongolian leaders, particularly regarding a warming of relations between the Soviet Union and China. Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze visited Mongolia from January 23 to 25, 1986, shortly after celebrations marking the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the 1966 Mongolian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance and its extension for ten years. Shevardnadze said that "the period of strained relationships with China is now behind us. The Soviet Union is for normalizing and improving relations with the Chinese republic on condition that the principle of not harming third countries be observed." One clear purpose of the Soviet formula of "not harming third countries" was to reassure Mongolia that the Soviet Union did not plan initiatives toward China that would compromise or endanger Mongolia's national security or expose that country to Chinese encroachments.

In July 1986, Gorbachev extended the new direction in foreign affairs in a speech on Asian security delivered in Vladivostok. He indicated Soviet interest in improved Moscow-Beijing relations, and he included a plan to withdraw Soviet troops from Mongolia, a major factor in Soviet diplomatic initiatives designed to meet China's conditions for normalization of relations.

Shortly after the Vladivostok initiative, Mongolian officials began talks with United States diplomats concerning another attempt to improve relations. Ulaanbaatar probably viewed prospective ties with Washington as offering a greater degree of maneuverability in the increasingly complex international setting in Asia. In January 1987, diplomatic ties were established with the United States, and the Soviet Union announced its intention to withdraw one division of troops from Mongolia. Both actions no doubt were the subject of lengthy substantive talks between Soviet and Mongolian leaders.

Mongolia further broadened its diplomatic horizons by hosting delegations from twenty-one communist and workers' parties for the Consultative Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties of Asia and the Pacific Region, the first regional gathering of this type, in July 1986. The theme of this meeting was "peace, security and good-neighborly cooperation in Asia and the Pacific region." By hosting this meeting, Ulaanbaatar served Moscow's purposes of underscoring Gorbachev's new interest in Asia-- further highlighted by the attendance of a high-powered Soviet delegation. China declined to send a delegation, claiming that conditions were "not ripe," and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) did not attend either, probably as a gesture to China.

As Mongolia expanded its contacts in the international community, Gorbachev continued to extend his Asian initiatives, a development directly affecting Mongolia's national interests. In a speech delivered on September 16, 1988, at the southeastern Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Gorbachev presented a seven-point program designed to enhance security in the Asia-Pacific region and to promote his view of a multipolar approach to resolving issues in foreign relations. The so-called Krasnoyarsk initiative indicated both Soviet intentions to play a major role in the region and its awareness that China also must be included in regional development plans. Observers speculated that the Soviets must have expended considerable effort in reassuring Mongolian leaders that Soviet proposals dealing with East Asia, particularly those involving China, did not threaten Mongolian national security.

The challenge for Mongolia's foreign policy makers was to comply with Soviet initiatives, about which they had little choice, but to do so in a manner that suggested that Mongolia was acting as an independent country, shaping a foreign policy that served its national interests. At the same time, the Soviet Union could not appear to be overlooking the interests of its ally Mongolia while making its overtures to China. This mild restriction on Soviet behavior had helped to reassure Mongolia that continued Soviet protection and strategic support were reliable. In any case, Mongolian compliance with the Soviet initiatives was evident in Gorbachev's address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on December 7, 1988. In it he announced that most Soviet troops stationed in Mongolia would be withdrawn. Subsequently, in February 1989, during talks between Batmonh and a Soviet deputy foreign minister, the latter explained that discussions to resolve questions connected with "the withdrawal from the territory of Mongolia of 75 percent of Soviet land forces and other military subunits would soon begin." On March 7, 1989, the Soviets announced, probably as an additional concession to China on the eve of the May 1989 SinoSoviet summit, that withdrawal plans had been finalized.

Mongolia

Mongolia - China

Mongolian-Chinese relations historically have suffered because of China's claims to "lost territory" and Mongolia's fear of China's expansion because of overpopulation. Since 1984 improvement in Mongolian relations with China has lagged behind the more rapid advances in Sino-Soviet relations. An early indication of lessening of tensions, however, came in July 1984 when Ulaanbaatar sent to Beijing a delegation led by its deputy foreign minister, the first such visit in several years. The Mongolian representative met with China's minister of foreign affairs to discuss developing bilateral economic, cultural, trade, and technical relations. Also, the officials signed a document verifying the first joint inspection of the MongolianChinese border. The warming atmosphere continued with the signing of an agreement on civil aviation in December 1985, followed by the resumption of direct Beijing-Ulaanbaatar air service in June 1986. A five-year agreement increasing levels of trade was signed in April 1986.

Batmonh gave official sanction to improvements in MongolianChinese relations in his address to the May 1986 Nineteenth Congress. Displaying caution and restraint, Batmonh declared that Mongolia was pursuing consistently its "scrupulous policy" of normalizing relations with China, with the qualification that the relationship should be based on equality and "non-interference in another's internal affairs." This evident uncertainty concerning national security was reflected in Mongolian press statements, just prior to Gorbachev's July 1986 address that announced Soviet troop withdrawals were under consideration. The press stressed that the disposition of Soviet troops stationed in Mongolia was an internal matter between Mongolia and the Soviet Union, and that it was not a subject for discussion during any Sino-Soviet consultations. An article appearing in the press shortly after Gorbachev's speech captured the Mongolian sentiment that "no country which borders on China feels secure."

Batmonh's initiatives were followed by an August 1986 visit to Mongolia of a vice foreign minister described as the highestranking Chinese official to visit Mongolia in twenty years. This important meeting resulted in the signing of a consular agreement, the first since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries in 1949. This agreement was followed in 1987 by several key visits and events: a high-level delegation from China's legislative body, the National People's Congress, visited Mongolia in June; this visit was reciprocated in September 1988 by a delegation from the People's Great Hural, the first since 1960; a scientific and technical cooperative program for the 1987 to 1988 period was ratified in July; and a major Mongolian friendship delegation visited China in September 1987--reciprocated by a Chinese friendship delegation that went to Mongolia in July 1988.

Other important points of discussion at the August 1986 meeting reportedly were "certain international issues of common concern." Japanese press reports indicated that the Mongolians had rejected a Chinese request at the meeting that all Soviet troops be withdrawn from Mongolia. In China's view, the presence of Soviet troops in Mongolia was a key "obstacle" to normalization of relations between China and the Soviet Union. China, maintaining that only a total troop withdrawal would be satisfactory, refused to back down from this position. From the Chinese perspective, Mongolia once had been under China's domination; it was therefore particularly galling that Soviet troops were now massed in that area and were directed against China.

In 1988 security concerns and Mongolia's image as an independent country were especially visible in its foreign policy vis-�-vis China. The Mongolian minister of foreign affairs remarked in November that significant progress had been made in Mongolian-Chinese relations, but he stressed that any further Soviet withdrawals from Mongolia were a matter for deliberation by the Mongolian government. Mongolia's message was that this was not a unilateral Soviet issue. Following Gorbachev's UN address in December, Mongolia announced that Soviet troop withdrawals had been set in accordance with an agreement reached between Mongolia and the Soviet Union and had resulted from "the positive shift that had occurred in Asia and on the international arena as a whole." Bilateral cooperation between Mongolia and China on security issues had advanced to the point that on November 28, 1988, a treaty on a border control system was signed in Beijing. The Chinese side described the purpose of the treaty as being to maintain stability in the border areas.

The stationing of Soviet troops on Mongolia's border with China remained a major impediment both to improved Sino-Soviet relations and to Mongolian-Chinese relations. Nevertheless, by early 1989 Soviet assurances that Mongolian security would not be compromised, complemented by Mongolia's new relationship with the United States and enhanced international status, apparently allowed Mongolia's leaders to accept additional Soviet efforts to remove the Chinese "obstacle" of border troops. Sino-Soviet consultations, in preparation for the May 1989 summit between Gorbachev and Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping resulted in the retention of Soviet troops in Mongolia--a requirement, no doubt of Mongolia--although a 75 percent force reduction was to occur at some unspecified time in the future. Whether this action would satisfy China fully was still unclear in mid-1989. What was clear was that Mongolia's status would change significantly, with a much reduced level of protection from the Soviet Union. In addition, with increasing Chinese influence and involvement in Mongolia, Soviet motivation for providing larger aid and assistance packages might be diminished.

Foreign observers assumed that the agenda of the May 1989 Sino-Soviet summit was a key subject for discussion during Minister of Foreign Affairs Tserenpiliin Gombosuren's eight-day visit to Beijing, beginning in late March. With Sino-Soviet relations showing significant improvement, and the normalization of Mongolian-Chinese relations being in practice a by-product of these developments, the expansion of Mongolian-Chinese relations might be expected to accelerate. The Beijing meeting of foreign ministers, the first in twenty-seven years, resulted in agreement to establish a joint commission on cooperation in economy, trade, and science and technology; on allowing visa-free travel between the two countries; and on restoring a Mongolian consulate general in China's Nei Monggol Autonomous Region (Inner Mongolia).

Mongolia

Mongolia - United States

The <"http://worldfacts.us/US.htm"> United States and Mongolia established diplomatic relations on January 27, 1987, after a period of "mutual flirtation" when negotiations were conducted in New York by the two nations' UN missions. United States officials were primarily interested in establishing ties because of Mongolia's strategic and geographic position in the Sino-Soviet relationship. Washington had considered establishing diplomatic relations in the past, but it had deferred to the Guomindang (Kuomintang in Wade-Giles), or Chinese Nationalist, government in Taiwan, which still claimed Mongolia as part of China. In the early 1970s, negotiations were reopened, and they were almost completed when the proceedings were broken off by Mongolia because of problems between the United States and the Soviet Union, including the Second Indochina War (1963-75).

The establishment of Mongolian-United States relations reflected improvements in the United States-Soviet relationship, and it was consistent with Gorbachev's interest in dealing with all states that have substantial interests in Asia. The United States gained the diplomatic recognition of a strategically located country in Asia. The new Mongolian-United States relationship was assisted by the establishment of ties between China and the United States. For Mongolia the new relationship has given greater credibility to its political independence and sovereign status and has increased its foreign policy options.

The United States embassy in Ulaanbaatar opened in April 1988. Because of continued inadequate facilities, however, the ambassador to Mongolia was the only United States chief of mission who was resident in Washington. By 1989 the ambassador had traveled to Mongolia several times in the space of a year in order to carry out state business.

Mongolia

Mongolia - The Media

Mongolia's approach toward the development and the dissemination of information and its policies concerning the degree of access to, and influence allowed from, other countries were undergoing significant change in the late 1980s as, particularly in 1989, official views concerning themes, events, and leading personalities in Mongolia's recent and early history were undergoing substantial revision. Many of these new interpretations were opening the way to further research on the Mongolian cultural heritage, an area previously regarded as sensitive because of its potential for arousing "nationalistic" emotions. Echoing similar events in the Soviet Union, these developments were in keeping with the political trend toward openness and democratization.

Information Policy

At the Nineteenth Party Congress in 1986, Batmonh described the media as powerful "tools of openness" that were "to influence the formation of public opinion, foster a creative atmosphere in society, and inspire an active approach to life in the individual." Recognizing the chief role of the media as being to educate and to inform as well as to direct the population toward the goals and program developed by the party, Batmonh and the senior party leadership also appeared to be using media channels for improving the performance of party and government organizations. There was a new emphasis on exposing the shortcomings in economic performance and on making "the real state of affairs" known. In December 1986, Batmonh launched an attack on "bureaucracy, stagnation and passivity," calling instead for "a new and creatively courageous approach to work in an atmosphere of openness, frankness, justness and principledness." By mid-1987, the press included exchanges of letters between readers and responsible officials discussing examples of bureaucracy and government inefficiency.

At the key December 1988 Central Committee plenary session, Batmonh said that the media needed to foster in people "a scientific world outlook and further raise their social consciousness." He also extended the scope of il tod (openness), Mongolia's version of glasnost, to include a critical reappraisal of questions about Mongolian history and society by filling in the so-called "blank spots." In addition to criticisms of Tsedenbal, Political Bureau resolutions emanating from the plenary session stressed the importance of Mongolia's cultural heritage. In a major departure from the past, the party was instructed to preserve the national culture carefully and to transmit it to the next generation. Even Chinggis Khan, whom the Soviet Union repeatedly had identified as a "reactionary figure," was given an honored place in Mongolian history as founder of the nation. A two-volume biography of Chinggis, published in China's neighboring Nei Monggol Autonomous Region in 1987, reportedly was in great demand by young Mongolians.

Underlying the party's new information policy--espousing critical thinking, intellectual vitality, and national pride--was the intention to inspire and to involve the entire population in the party's developmental program. The media carried the party message throughout society through press, radio, television, publishing outlets, vocational and social clubs, films, and libraries. The selection of thematic material was being supervised closely in the late 1980s, but, in comparison with the Tsedenbal years, a relaxed atmosphere toward the media was apparent.

Major Channels

Channels of communication were government-owned and government-operated; information and propaganda were woven together in news, educational material, and entertainment. The most important body directing the media was the Press Agitation and Propaganda Section (Agitprop) of the party Central Committee. Agitprop, in conjunction with the Council of Ministers, published Unen (Truth), established in 1920. It was the most widely read newspaper; in 1988 it had a circulation of 170,000 and was published six days a week. The weekly publication of the Unen newspaper organization was Shine Hodoo (New Countryside), aimed at the rural population. Unen also published eighteen issues annually of the popular satirical magazine, Toshuul (Woodpecker), which featured cartoons and light reading material. Namyin Amdral (Party Life), with a circulation of 28,000, has served since 1923 as the Central Committee's monthly ideological organ. Ediyn Dzasgiyn, Asuudal (Economic Questions), also published by the Central Committee, carried speeches and documents concerned with political and economic affairs and was published in eighteen issues annually. Another party periodical, Uhuulagch (Agitator), emphasized propaganda material and was published bimonthly, with a circulation of 34,000 in the late 1980s.

Communications media were directed by overlapping and interlocking government commissions and committees of the People's Great Hural, the Council of Ministers, and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party. The Presidium of the People's Great Hural published a quarterly journal, Ardyn Tor (People's Power), with a circulation of 11,000. The Ministry of Culture, together with the Union of Mongolian Writers, published a weekly periodical called Utga, Dzohiol Urlag (Literature and Art). The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Public Security jointly produced Ulaan Od (Red Star), a biweekly, and Ardyn Armi (People's Army), a quarterly magazine. The Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the Mongolian Society for the Dissemination of Knowledge published a bimonthly popular science magazine, Shinjleh Uhaan, Amidral (Science and Life). Finally, the Office of the Procurator of the Republic, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of Justice collaborated in the publication of the quarterly journal Sotsialist Huul' Yos (Socialist Legality).

In 1987, a total of almost 130 million copies of 35 national newspapers and 38 periodicals were being published. In addition, there were nineteen provincial newspapers, mainly published biweekly by provincial party and government executive committees. The cities of Ulaanbaatar, Nalayh, Erdenet, and Darhan also had their own newspapers. The two major news agencies were Mongol Tsahilgaan Medeeniy Agentlag (MONTSAME--Mongolian Telegraph Agency) and Mongolpress. The latter published fortnightly news bulletins in Russian, English, and French. In 1987 each household reportedly received four to six publications. Another body, the Media Information Center, was established in February 1989, reportedly to expand the range of information available to the public by providing members of the press and the media with increased access to high party and government officials.

Various mass organizations also had publishing arms. The official organ of the Mongolian Revolutionary Youth League, Dzaluuchudyn Unen (Youth Truth), was published biweekly and carried league speeches and documents. Other youth journals included Dzalgamjlagch (Successor) and Dzaluu Uye (Young Generation). The Central Council of the Sukhe Bator Mongolian Pioneers Organization, together with the Youth League Central Committee, published 84 issues annually of Pioneriyn Unen (Pioneers' Truth) and was circulated to 175,000 subscribers.

The leading publications of the Central Council of the Mongolian Trade Unions was Hodolmor (Labor), published three times a week, and a bimonthly magazine entitled Mongolyn Uyldberchniy Eblel (Mongolian Trade Unions). The publishing organ of the Federation of Democratic Women was the quarterly magazine Mongolyn Emegteuchuud (Mongolian Women). The Union of Mongolian Writers published the bimonthly political and literary journal, Tsog (Spark). The Union of Mongolian Artists and the Ministry of Culture published a quarterly journal, Soyol, Urlag (Culture and Art). Another quarterly journal published by the union was Dursleh Urlag (Fine Arts).

Most titles of Mongolian publications were translations of the titles of counterpart Soviet publications, which served as models for format and content. A Russian-language newspaper, Novosty Mongolii (News of Mongolia) published 26,000 copies, three times weekly; a Chinese-language journal, Menggu Xiaoxi (News of Mongolia), was published weekly. Publications in other languages were scarce in 1989, although the situation was improving. In 1986 the Mongolia Express Agency for Publication Data was established to aid in the distribution of publications and bulletins published in several foreign languages.

Radio and television were available through Ulaanbaatar Radio and Mongoltelevidz, both of which were supervised by the State Committee for Information, Radio, and Television. In December 1988, a new radio and television center, built with Soviet aid, opened in Ulaanbaatar. It was estimated that in 1989 the center would increase the volume of broadcasting by 150 percent. Almost every family, including those residing in rural areas, had access to a radio receiver in 1989. In 1985 Mongolia had 382 broadcasting centers, providing radiobroadcasts to more than 90 percent of the population and television broadcasts to more than 60 percent. By 1987 radiobroadcasts were available eighteen hours daily through two programs, with broadcasts in Mongol, Kazakh Russian, English, French, and Chinese to sixty countries. A 1987 poll of listeners and viewers indicated that the primary sources of news information for this audience were: radio, 66 percent; the press, 21 percent; and television, 12 percent.

By 1988 an estimated 64 percent of families residing in Ulaanbaatar possessed television sets. National television broadcasts were available five times a week, or for 15,000 hours annually. Broadcasting also was available from Orbita, a Soviet satellite communications system that relays television broadcasts. Almost 60 percent of the Mongolian population viewed television by late 1987. Mongolian-originated television was available in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet, and Darhan; in fifteen aymag centers; and in forty-eight towns and somon centers. The Orbita broadcasting was more limited.

The State Publishing House and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences supervised publishing. Each year they produced a prospectus of books to be published that year. The Sukhe Bator Publishing House produced 70 percent of Mongolia's printed matter, including 400 book titles. There also were publishing facilities in each aymag, and there were other publishing houses in Ulaanbaatar. Russian-language books always dominated the foreign category, but there also were prose and verse from France, the United States, and India, which offered a view of the noncommunist world. By 1985 Mongolia had 983 libraries housing more than 13 million volumes, most of which were located at the State Library in Ulaanbaatar.

Foreign Sources

The major foreign source for media information in the late 1980s, as it had been since the 1920s, was the Soviet Union. Foreign news consisted mainly of edited material available through the Soviet news agency, Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza (TASS). Other foreign bureaus located in Ulaanbaatar were the Soviet Agentstvo Pechanti Novosti (APN) and the East German Allgemeiner Deutscher Nachrichtendienst (ADN). MONTSAME had a staff based in, or visiting and reporting from, all capitals of its communist allies. Foreign newspapers, magazines, and books came from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. No newspapers from the United States or Britain were being distributed in Ulaanbaatar in the late 1980s. Also, distribution channels reportedly have been faulted for causing lengthy delays in deliveries to subscribers and readers. English-language materials include Mongolia Today, a magazine geared to foreign consumption, published monthly by the Mongolian embassy in New Delhi and distributed in Mongolia.

The existing political system, ruled by the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, was firmly established in Mongolia in the late twentieth century. Beginning in 1989, however, major revisions of the country's government and party structure were being undertaken, patterned after reforms going on in the Soviet Union. Although it was too early to assess the situation adequately in mid-1989, these measures were expected to meet with bureaucratic resistance, as had occurred in other communist party-ruled states undergoing reform. Still there were certain factors--political and international--that might be expected to work in favor of the reform program's success: a stable political leadership, a tradition of political conservatism and conformity, and an international climate that continued to lessen external pressures on Mongolia. The emerging relaxation in internal politics and the thaw in key external foreign relations might, if they lasted, afford Mongolian leaders valuable opportunities to establish a sense of national identity and some measure of cultural authenticity, both probably essential to Mongolia's revitalization and revival in the 1990s.

Mongolia