tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/mongolia-2777/articles
Mongolia – The Conversation
2023-08-24T12:26:44Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210857
2023-08-24T12:26:44Z
2023-08-24T12:26:44Z
With fewer than 1,500 Catholics in Mongolia, Pope Francis’ upcoming visit brings attention to the long and complex history of the minority religious group
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542225/original/file-20230810-19-5i7hoe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=25%2C0%2C1630%2C1070&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hulagu Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, seated with his Eastern Christian queen Doquz Khatun.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/hulagu-khan-also-known-as-hulegu-hulegu-or-halaku-was-a-news-photo/1354437053?adppopup=true">History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis is set to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pope-visit-mongolia-will-thrill-tiny-catholic-community-cardinal-says-2023-07-17/">make the first-ever visit to Mongolia</a>, a country with fewer than 1,500 Catholics, all of whom have come to the faith since 1992. But the pope’s visit is a reminder that the country has a long and complex history with Christianity, among many other faiths. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/mongolia">Mongolia has only 3.4 million people, and at least 87.4% are Buddhists</a>. The small Catholic community came into existence after this landlocked country, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, began to abandon its <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2645157">communist ideology and embraced different religions</a>. At that time, it also restored diplomatic relations with the Vatican and welcomed Catholic missionaries.</p>
<p>But Catholicism has been known to the Mongols <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Mongols-and-the-West-1221-1410/Jackson/p/book/9781138848481">since the early 13th century</a>. As a <a href="https://search.asu.edu/profile/1268668">scholar of religions in Asia</a>, I am aware that Nestorianism, a Christian tradition commonly known as the Church of the East, reached the periphery of the Mongolian plateau as early as the eighth century, long before the Mongols became active in that area. Several old tribes in the Mongolian steppes were <a href="https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/13943/">converted to Nestorianism around 1000 C.E.</a> </p>
<h2>The Mongol Empire</h2>
<p>The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206 after he conquered all the other nomadic tribes on the Mongolian Plateau. Later on, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/cambridge-history-of-the-mongol-empire/339475953C6AECE567FA50F1AED951A7">the empire extended from Mongolia to the Eastern Mediterranean regions</a>.</p>
<p>Initially the Mongols practiced a Shamanic religion, worshipping the God Tengri. However, to be able to rule all conquered subjects across the vast empire, Genghis Khan issued the “Great Yasa,” a regulation allowing people under his regime the freedom to freely practice their faiths. Under the Mongol Empire, people practiced <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40109471">Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam</a>. </p>
<p>The conquered tribes included Nestorian Christians, who believed that Jesus Christ had both human and divine natures and rejected that Mary was the mother of God. Christian women dominated the inner court of the Mongol Empire <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25183572">following their marriages with several Mongol Khans</a>. </p>
<h2>The messengers of the papacy</h2>
<p>The Mongol conquest paved the way for long-distance cultural, religious and commercial exchanges across the vast Eurasian continent. For the first time Catholic missionaries were able to travel along the land route to East Asia.</p>
<p>Genghis Khan and his sons launched a series of military campaigns in Central Asia and West Asia, conquering vast land across the Eurasian continent and reaching the <a href="https://www.medievalists.net/2022/02/mongol-conquest-hungary/">borders of modern-day Hungary and Turkey</a>.</p>
<p>During the conquest, the Mongols often <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Mongols-and-the-West-1221-1410/Jackson/p/book/9781138848481">spared many Christians in Central and West Asia</a>, even though they killed those who resisted the Mongol rule. </p>
<p>The conquest shocked many in the Latin world in Europe and Muslims in the Middle East. In 1241, soon after the Mongol troops invaded Hungary and Romania, Pope Innocent IV sent Catholic missionaries, including an Italian Franciscan priest called <a href="https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/585">John of Plano Carpini</a>, to the Mongol court seeking peace. </p>
<p>In 1246, on orders of the pope, Carpini visited the Mongol court and urged the new ruler of the Mongol Empire, Güyük Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson, to convert to Catholicism. Güyük Khan instead asked that he summon the pope and other European rulers to <a href="https://open.bu.edu/handle/2144/585">swear allegiance to him</a>.</p>
<p>Catholic missionaries could not find a way to convert the Mongols but continued their efforts with the successive rulers. </p>
<p>In 1248 a Franciscan priest named William of Rubruck, a companion of French King Louis IX, met a Dominican priest, Andrew of Longjumeau, during his visit to Jerusalem. At that time, Louis IX was leading the crusades against Muslims in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and William of Rubruck was fascinated with Andrew of Longjumeau’s suggestion of building an alliance with the Mongols against the Muslims. </p>
<p>In 1253, William of Rubruck visited the Mongol court in Karakorum to urge Genghis Khan’s grandson Möngke Khan to convert. <a href="https://www.routledge.com/The-Mongols-and-the-West-1221-1410/Jackson/p/book/9781138848481">Möngke Khan instead handed him a letter for Louis IX</a> in which he not only refused to convert to Christianity but threatened to invade the heartland of Europe if the Europeans did not accept the Mongols’ eternal God, Tengri. </p>
<h2>Catholicism and Nestorianism</h2>
<p>William of Rubruck’s visit did not bring any immediate results in terms of conversions, but it left a more far lasting impact. </p>
<p>Before his visit there was not much communication between Catholic missionaries and Nestorians, but William of Rubruck was able to chronicle the activities of the Nestorian community within the Mongol Empire. The visits of Catholic missionaries also prompted many <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004288867_005">Mongol Nestorians to start going on pilgrimages to West Asia</a> as a way to expand their influence beyond their comfort zone under the Mongol Empire. </p>
<p>In 1287 a Nestorian monk, Rabban Bar Sauma, embarked on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem from Khanbaliq, near modern Beijing. Later Sauma’s student Rabban Markos became a patriarch with a title Yahballaha III, <a href="https://uni-salzburg.elsevierpure.com/en/publications/two-letters-of-yahballaha-iii-to-the-popes-of-rome-historical-con/publications/?type=%2Fdk%2Fatira%2Fpure%2Fresearchoutput%2Fresearchoutputtypes%2Fcontributiontobookanthology%2Fchapter">or the chief of the Nestorian Church</a>, in the Mongol-ruled Ilkhanate Empire in modern-day Iran.</p>
<p>At the same time, the Catholic missionaries also started to expand their influence in Central Asia. In 1307 a Franciscan priest, John of Montecorvino, built a Catholic church in Khanbaliq and <a href="https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/source/corvino1.asp">became the patriarch under the order of Pope Clement V</a>. He had converted about 6,000 people in Mongolia by 1313. </p>
<h2>Religious revivals in Mongolia</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A priest leads a service while worshippers, including two nuns, stand with prayer books and heads bowed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/544343/original/file-20230823-27-51fiyz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Catholic Mongolians pray during a Mass at St. Peter and St. Paul parish church in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/catholic-mongolians-pray-during-a-mass-at-st-peter-and-st-news-photo/2178763?adppopup=true">Oleg Nikishin/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Over the next few centuries, the religious landscape in Mongolia continued to change, depending on who was ruling the region. </p>
<p>Many Mongols converted to Tibetan Buddhism during the later part of the 13th-century reign of the Kublai Khan, another grandson of Genghis Khan, who favored the religion. But after 1368, when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108687645">the Mongols withdrew from central China and left Khanbaliq</a>, the practice of Tibetan Buddhism and Catholicism was suppressed. The Nestorian community gradually disappeared and never revived again.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/our-great-qing-now-available-in-paperback/">under the Qing dynasty</a> that ruled China and Mongolia in the 17th century, Buddhism was revived. But again, in the 20th century Mongolian politics changed drastically when the country adopted communism following the Soviet Union’s intervention, and the practice of <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520244191/modern-mongolia">Buddhism declined again</a>.</p>
<p>After Mongolia became a democracy in 1992, Mongols were allowed to freely practice their faiths again: Buddhism began to flourish, and Catholic missionaries arrived in the country and built a small Catholic community.</p>
<p>When the pope visits this complex religious terrain, his visit will be significant from the geopolitical and religious perspective: In June 2023, the pope’s peace envoy visited Russia as part of international peacemaking efforts. But no pope has ever visited its other close neighbor, China, which <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/05/china-vatican-relations-in-the-xi-era/">does not have diplomatic relations</a> with the Vatican. </p>
<p>Overall, I argue that the pope’s groundbreaking visit to Mongolia might <a href="https://aleteia.org/2023/08/06/vietnam-oks-permanent-papal-representation-in-the-country">send important signals</a> in East Asia and, in particular, to the much larger Catholic community in China.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Huaiyu Chen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Catholic community that Pope Francis will visit later this month has a complex history that goes back to the 13th century, when the Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan.
Huaiyu Chen, Professor of Religious Studies, Arizona State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/210447
2023-08-21T12:25:33Z
2023-08-21T12:25:33Z
What the pope’s visit to Mongolia says about his priorities and how he is changing the Catholic Church
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542824/original/file-20230815-23-w5anbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C0%2C5343%2C3583&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pope Francis' upcoming visit to meet the tiny Catholic community of Mongolia is drawing considerable interest.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pope-francis-gestures-during-the-weekly-general-audience-on-news-photo/1586313499?adppopup=true"> Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to Mongolia, which is home to fewer than 1,500 Catholics, has <a href="https://cruxnow.com/church-in-asia/2023/07/missionaries-say-shock-of-papal-visit-to-mongolia-a-chance-to-introduce-the-faith">elicited curiosity</a> among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/31/map-which-countries-has-pope-francis-visited">This will be the pope’s 43rd</a> trip abroad since his election on March 13, 2013: He has visited 12 countries in the Americas, 11 in Asia and 10 in Africa. </p>
<p>What do these visits tell us about this pope’s mission and focus? </p>
<p>As a scholar of Roman Catholicism, I <a href="https://clas.uiowa.edu/religion/people/kristy-nabhan-warren">have studied Catholicism’s appeal</a> for immigrants and refugees, and I argue that the pontiff’s official travels since 2013 are part of his decadelong effort to rebrand the Roman Catholic Church as a religious institution that centers the poor.</p>
<h2>Prioritizing the poor</h2>
<p>While previous popes have included the poor in their speeches, what has distinguished this pope is that he has focused on the Global South and prioritized immigrants, refugees and the less privileged, from Bolivia to Myanmar to Mongolia.</p>
<p>At his July 2013 visit to the Italian island of Lampedusa to commemorate migrants who had drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, <a href="https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/10-years-later-pope-francis-lampedusa-cry-offers-renewed-call-welcome-migrants#:%7E:text=When%20Pope%20Francis%20visited%20Lampedusa,become%20synonymous%20with%20his%20papacy">Francis gave a blistering critique</a> of the world’s failure to care for the poor: “In this globalized world, we have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/08/pope-globalisation-of-indifference-lampedusa">fallen into globalized indifference</a>. We have become used to the suffering of others: it doesn’t affect me; it doesn’t concern me; it’s none of my business!” </p>
<p>Three years later, the pope flew 12 Syrian Muslim refugees from a Greek refugee camp to Rome. Francis is the first pope to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/05/world/pope-francis-greece-migrants#">relocate refugees and to work with groups</a> like The Community of St. Egidio charity in Rome that have successfully resettled thousands of refugees. </p>
<p>During my own interviews with Central American Catholic immigrants and refugees in central and eastern Iowa between 2013-2020 for my book, “<a href="https://uncpress.org/book/9781469663494/meatpacking-america/">Meatpacking America</a>,” I heard from women and men who fled violence and poverty in their home nations that they look up to this pope “because he cares about us,” as Fernando said. And Josefina told me back in 2017 that this pope is “the real deal” in terms of supporting immigrants and the poor. </p>
<h2>Francis and liberation theology</h2>
<p>His predecessors – Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict – specifically <a href="https://www.deseret.com/2007/5/8/20017359/benedict-to-confront-liberation-theology">condemned liberation theology</a>, a philosophy <a href="https://theconversation.com/after-50-years-liberation-theology-is-still-reshaping-catholicism-and-politics-but-what-is-it-186804">rooted in Catholic social teachings</a> that calls for a preferential option for the poor and an embrace of Marxist ideology. </p>
<p>According to Austen Ivereigh prior to his becoming pope, Francis — <a href="https://sojo.net/articles/pope-francis-liberation-theologian">then Jorge Mario Bergoglio – condemned liberation theology as well</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/11/vatican-new-chapter-liberation-theology-founder-gustavo-gutierrez">He would say</a> “that they were for the people but never with them,” wrote Ivereigh, in his biography of Pope Francis.</p>
<p>Since his election as pope, however, Francis has undertaken what I call “people-focused” liberationism. In one of his first official announcements in 2013, “Evangelii Gaudium,” or “The Joy of the Gospel,” the pope <a href="https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html">wrote about the essential inclusion</a> of the poor in society, arguing that “without the preferential option for the poor, the proclamation of the Gospel, which is itself the prime form of charity, risks being misunderstood or submerged by the ocean of words which daily engulfs us in today’s society of mass communications.” </p>
<p>In other words, the Gospel’s message that all Christians proclaim doesn’t mean a whole lot if the poor are not central to the goal of personal as well as collective salvation.</p>
<h2>Journeying to Mongolia</h2>
<p>How does the pope’s upcoming visit to Mongolia factor into this decade-spanning trajectory of his people-focused liberation?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Catholic nun handing out food to children seated on a rug in two rows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/542822/original/file-20230815-27-42kbnn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Food service for homeless children in a shantytown in Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/food-service-for-homeless-children-organised-by-fraternite-news-photo/524114802?adppopup=true">Michel Setboun/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Christianity has been present in Mongolia since the seventh century. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/40463470">Nestorianism, an Eastern branch of Christianity</a> named after the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius, who lived from 386 C.E. to 451 C.E., coexisted alongside an even older religious practice, shamanism, which emphasized the natural world and dates to the third century. Nestorians believe that Christ had two natures – one human and one divine. </p>
<p>While Mary was seen as important within Nestorian theology as Christ’s mother, she is not seen as divine. This is similar to Roman Catholic theology where Mary is deemed special because she is Christ’s mother and worthy of veneration.</p>
<p>According to historian <a href="https://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/robert-merrihew-adams">Robert Merrihew Adams</a>, the missionary activity of Nestorian Christians in central Asia from the seventh to the 13th centuries was “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/monist/onab005">the most impressive Christian enterprise</a>” of the Middle Ages because of its rapid spread and influence. </p>
<p>Adams argues that Nestorianism’s spread was in part because of its belief that Christ was a two-natured individual – one divine and one human. These two natures in one body meshed well with preexisting shamanic beliefs, as shamanism sees individuals as able to harness the supernatural. </p>
<p>In addition to this branch of Eastern Christianity, Tibetan Buddhism came to Mongolia in the 13th century, as did Islam. Today, <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-religions-are-practiced-in-mongolia.html">Buddhism is the dominant religion of Mongolia</a>, while Islam and Christianity remain very small percentages at 3% and 2.5%. </p>
<p>Pope Francis has made it clear throughout his tenure that interfaith dialogue is an essential remedy to division. During his visit he will <a href="https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2023/07/18/pope-visits-mongolia-community-245698">preside over an interfaith gathering</a> and the opening of a Catholic charity house. </p>
<h2>A strategic visit</h2>
<p>The past decade has brought rapid urbanization and growth in major cities such as the capital of Ulaanbaatar, along with <a href="https://asiafoundation.org/2014/06/25/poverty-inequality-and-the-negative-effects-of-mongolias-economic-downturn/">high rates of unemployment and Covid-era</a> economic downturn. </p>
<p>And yet, according to the World Bank, the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mongolia/overview">economic forecast</a> for Mongolia remains “promising” because of its rich natural resources, such as gold, copper, coal and other minerals. </p>
<p>However, extraction of Mongolia’s resources is <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/mongolia-on-the-verge-of-a-mineral-miracle/">occurring at a rapid pace</a> – so much so that the country, according to the Harvard International Review, has been called “Minegolia.” The United States has <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/china-mongolia-taiwan/mongolia#:%7E:text=Mongolia%27s%20economy%2C%20traditionally%20based%20on,uranium%2C%20tin%2C%20and%20tungsten">made significant investment</a> in Mongolia’s mining industry, and China is a major importer of Mongolian coal. Two rail lines connecting Mongolia to China were installed in January 2022 and a third is being built. </p>
<p>In the past, Francis has made strong comments against corruption and environmental degradation, and it would not be surprising if he addressed the challenges of the mining industry during his trip. During his trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pope-francis-visit-congo/">he critiqued the Global North</a> that contributed to “the poison of greed” that has “smeared its diamonds with blood.” In 2018, the pope spent a few hours in Madre de Dios, an area in the Peruvian Amazon, where <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/bio/susan-egan-keane/popes-visit-highlights-gold-mining-problems-and-solutions">mining has led to</a> large-scale environmental degradation.</p>
<p>The pope’s visit will be bold given the challenges before Mongolia and its geographic location between Russia and China. A peace delegation on behalf of Pope Francis for the war in Ukraine, led by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, that visted Russia this summer is <a href="https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2023/07/china-could-be-next-stop-for-popes-ukraine-peace-envoy">likely to head to China in the coming months</a>. </p>
<p>As Italian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, a missionary in Mongolia for two decades, has emphasized, Pope Francis’s visit to this country with a tiny minority of Catholics will “<a href="https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope-mongolia-cardinal-china-6812de8a1cd238b88d6226cd20c8f042">manifest the attention</a> that the (pope) has for every individual, every person who embarks in this journey of faith.”</p>
<p><em>This piece has been updated to correct the depiction of the Roman Catholic Church’s view on Mary’s divinity.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210447/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristy Nabhan-Warren does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A scholar of Roman Catholicism explains why Pope Francis’ visit to Mongolia, home to fewer than 1,500 Catholics, is significant.
Kristy Nabhan-Warren, Associate Vice President of Research, University of Iowa
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202086
2023-04-03T15:28:41Z
2023-04-03T15:28:41Z
Mongolia: squeezed between China and Russia fears ‘new cold war’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519040/original/file-20230403-16-d58r1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1%2C1000%2C664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Founding father: a statue to Genghis Khan in Tsonjin boldog, Mongolia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tsonjin-boldog-mongolia-july-17-2017-2221896535">Chris Piason via Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mongolia’s prime minister, Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene, <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cold-war-fears-of-mongolia-caught-between-two-big-brothers-n65xkcp7m">recently expressed his country’s fear</a> that the world is heading towards a new cold war as the relations between Russia and China and the west – particularly Nato – have taken a turn for the worse. “It’s like a divorce,” he said. “When the parents divorce, the children are the ones who get hurt the most.”</p>
<p>The country sits landlocked between Russia and China and is fearful of antagonising either. It gets much of its power from Russia, and China buys much of its exports – mainly agricultural goods and minerals such as copper. By pursuing a nimble foreign and trade policy since it transitioned to a multiparty democracy in the early 1990s, Mongolia has established a stable economy, receiving a thumbs up from the World Bank in its <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/mongolia/overview">latest country report</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>With vast agricultural, livestock and mineral resources, and an educated population, Mongolia’s development prospects look promising in the long-term assuming the continuation of structural reforms. </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of Asia showing position of Mongolia, Russia and China." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=720&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518767/original/file-20230331-20-w1vw9k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=905&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Landlocked: Mongolia is squeezed between Russia to the north and China to the south.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Hermes Furian via Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the war in Ukraine has brought home to Mongolia just how carefully it must now navigate its foreign and trade policies to remain independent. </p>
<h2>Smooth transition to democracy</h2>
<p>From 1921 to 1990, Mongolia was effectively part of the Soviet bloc, although not <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/publication/CWIHPBulletin16_p4.pdf">part of the Soviet Union itself</a>. The country’s centralised command economy was almost entirely dependent on Moscow for survival.</p>
<p>The collapse of communism in the early 1990s resulted in what proved to be a <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/12/the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-mongolias-path-to-democratic-revolution/">smooth transition</a>. The then leader, Jambyn Batmönkh, refused to even consider quelling pro-democracy demonstrations, instead saying: “Any force shall not be used. There is no need to utilise the police or involve the military … Actually, these demonstrators, participants, and protesters are our children.”</p>
<p>His resignation in 1990 and the emergence of Ardchilsan Kholboo (Mongolian Democratic Union) paved the way for the development of a multiparty democracy. The June 1993 presidential election in Mongolia, which was ruled as <a href="https://www.ifes.org/publications/report-mongolian-presidential-election-june-6-1993">free and fair</a> by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, saw the incumbent president, Ochirbat Punsalmaa – who had been appointed after a ballot by members of the existing Presidium of the People’s Great Khural (the national assembly) – elected for a four-year term. </p>
<p>A new constitution was adopted, with a three-part structure under the speaker of the parliament, the prime minister and the president and, while there have been instances of political corruption, Freedom House gives the country a <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/mongolia/freedom-world/2021">high rating</a> for both political rights and civil liberties.</p>
<p>All of which cannot disguise that the fledgling democracy remained <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/45194063">wedged between</a> (at the time chaotic) Russia and an increasingly assertive and authoritarian China. The obvious policy for Mongolia to pursue was to attempt to balance the two great powers in the region. </p>
<p>Initially, Mongolia’s foreign policy relied heavily on “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09512748.2012.728241">omni-enmeshment</a>”. This basically meant building relationships with as many partners as possible, both regionally and globally – including, significantly, the US.</p>
<p>But since 2000, Mongolia has embraced the policy concept of “<a href="https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/mongolei/19359.pdf">balance-of-power</a>” to reduce the country’s reliance on any one nation. To this end, they have partnered with strategic states in Asia, such as Japan and India, and rekindled military ties with Russia by entering a “strategic <a href="https://theasanforum.org/mongolia-russias-best-friend-in-asia/">partnership</a>” and conducting joint military <a href="https://www.intellinews.com/mongolian-ministers-under-fire-for-failing-to-quickly-explain-appearance-of-russian-armed-forces-on-city-streets-251769/">exercises</a>, while still maintaining a strong relationship with China. Mongolia has also strengthened bilateral security relations with the US.</p>
<p>Mongolia’s relationship with China is complicated by the fact that a significant part of what was traditionally Mongolia is now an “autonomous region” of China (<a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/inner-mongolia-another-tibet-or-xinjiang">Inner Mongolia)</a>, with a population of ethnic Mongolians larger than that of Mongolia itself. This, and the activities of <a href="http://www.smhric.org/news_39.htm">secessionist groups</a> in the province, is a persistent point of conflict between China and Mongolia.</p>
<h2>Third neighbours</h2>
<p>But Mongolia sees its independence increasingly threatened as Russia and China grow closer. Since the demise of the Soviet Union, Mongolia has adopted a strategy of maintaining strong ties with “<a href="https://asiasociety.org/korea/mongolias-third-neighbor-foreign-policy">third neighbours</a>” – countries that embrace democratic values but also practice market economics, including the US (it was a term <a href="https://asiasociety.org/korea/mongolias-third-neighbor-foreign-policy">first articulated</a> with connection to Mongolian foreign policy in August 1990 by then US secretary of state James Baker). </p>
<p>The US and Mongolia formalised their relations as a Strategic Partnership in 2019 and in 2022 – clearly with one eye on Ukraine – the two countries announced they were deepening the partnership “in all areas of mutual interest”, including an “open skies” agreement which would guarantee scheduled nonstop passenger flights between the two countries. The US – with other third-neighbour allies – also takes part in the annual <a href="https://www.army.mil/article/257815/khaan_quest_2022_finishes_strong_reaffirming_multinational_spirit_of_exercise">Khaan Quest military exercises</a>. </p>
<h2>Dangerous times</h2>
<p>The war in Ukraine has brought the precarious geopolitical situation in Ukraine into sharp focus. The latest <a href="https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-the-mongolia-united-states-strategic-partnership/">joint declaration</a> from the US-Mongolia Strategic Partnership stressed that “disputes should be resolved by peaceful means and with respect for the United Nations Charter and international law, including the principles of sovereignty and respect for the independence and territorial integrity of states, and without the threat or use of force”. It added: “To this end, both nations expressed concern over the suffering of the Ukrainian people.” </p>
<p>Mongolia has abstained from the UN votes condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while also refusing to criticise the sanctions imposed on Russia by the west, despite the fact that they have affected Mongolia – for example, sanctions against Russian banks have made it difficult to pay for its imports from Russia.</p>
<p>And, for all its efforts to forge ties around the globe, Mongolia remains heavily dependent on both Russia and China. The prospect of a new cold war setting the west against the Beijing-Moscow axis is a major concern for Mongolia. As Elbegdorj Tsakhia, a former prime minister and president of Mongolia – now a member of The Elders group of global leaders – <a href="https://time.com/5953518/mongolia-china-russia-problems/">told Time magazine</a> in April 2021:</p>
<p>“I feel that we have just one neighbour. China, Russia, have become like one country, surrounding Mongolia … Every day, we face very tough challenges to keep our democracy alive. Mongolia is fighting for its survival.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202086/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christoph Bluth does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Mongolia is a landlocked country heavily dependent on Russia and China but fighting to retain its independence and democracy.
Christoph Bluth, Professor of International Relations and Security, University of Bradford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202888
2023-03-30T12:27:05Z
2023-03-30T12:27:05Z
Dalai Lama identifies the reincarnation of Mongolia’s spiritual leader – a preview of tensions around finding his own replacement
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518247/original/file-20230329-18-8z6w2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=160%2C188%2C858%2C492&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama leads a prayer in the Indian state of Bihar on Jan. 1, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tibetan-spiritual-leader-dalai-lama-leads-a-long-life-news-photo/1245919797?adppopup=true">Sandeep Kumar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than 5,600 people <a href="https://www.dalailama.com/news/2023/preliminary-procedures-for-the-chakrasamvara-empowerment">had gathered for a March 2023 ceremony</a> in Dharamsala, India, when the Dalai Lama indicated toward a young child beside him.</p>
<p>According to the Dalai Lama’s website, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism identified the boy as the latest reincarnation of the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoché, the faith’s leader in Mongolia. The previous <a href="http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php/Jebtsundamba_Khutuktu">Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa</a>, the ninth to hold the title, died in 2012.</p>
<p>Due to the tense relations between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government, however, recognizing someone as the reincarnation of a Buddhist figure is not only religiously significant, but politically fraught. After annexing Tibet in the 1950s, China has sought control over the spiritual lineages of Buddhist leaders, particularly the Dalai Lama himself. In 2011, the Chinese foreign ministry declared that only the <a href="https://boingboing.net/2014/10/24/the-dalai-lama-will-not-return.html">government in Beijing can appoint the next dalai lama</a> and that no recognition should be given to any other <a href="https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/biography-and-daily-life/reincarnation">candidate</a>.</p>
<p>The current and 14th dalai lama, <a href="https://www.dalailama.com/the-dalai-lama/biography-and-daily-life/brief-biography">Tenzin Gyatso</a>, will be 88 in July 2023, and the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa in Mongolia is traditionally one of the Buddhist leaders <a href="https://nextshark.com/dalai-lama-names-us-born-mongolian-boy-as-reincarnation-of-buddhist-leader">who recognizes the dalai lama’s successor</a>.</p>
<h2>The dalai lamas in Tibetan Buddhism</h2>
<p>All dalai lamas are thought to be <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zmAnq9yiE6oC&dq=Secret+Lives+of+the+Dalai+Lama-+Alexander+Norman&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJs--Vm5viAhWJAHwKHYa1B0kQ6AEIKjAA">manifestations of the bodhisattva</a> of compassion, Avalokitesvara. Bodhisattvas are beings who <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Bodhicary%C4%81vat%C4%81ra/m-ifbE8kyGIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=bodhisattva">work solely for the benefit of others</a>. </p>
<p>For Buddhists, the ultimate goal is enlightenment, or “nirvana” – a liberation from the cycle of birth and death. East Asian and Tibetan Buddhists, as part of the Mahayana sect, believe bodhisattvas have reached this highest realization.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Mahayana Buddhists believe bodhisattvas choose to be reborn, to experience the pain and suffering of the world, in order to help other beings attain enlightenment.</p>
<p>Tibetan Buddhism has developed this idea of the bodhisattva further into identified lineages of rebirths called “tulkus.” Any person who is believed to be a reborn teacher, master or leader is <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LnOmGAAACAAJ&dq=geoffrey+samuels+introducing+tibetan+buddhism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjp_qDciJviAhUQR6wKHfiNBRgQ6AEIKjAA">considered a tulku</a>. Tibetan Buddhism has hundreds if not thousands of such lineages, but the most respected and well-known is the dalai lama. The 14 generations of dalai lamas, spanning six centuries, are linked through their acts of compassion and their wish to benefit all living beings. </p>
<h2>Locating the 14th dalai lama</h2>
<p>The current Dalai Lama was enthroned when he was about 4 years old and was renamed Tenzin Gyatso.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The future Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, Lhamo Dhondrub, who was later renamed Tenzin Gyatso." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=841&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408008/original/file-20210623-13-12l04ch.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1057&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An undated photo of the future Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism, born Lhamo Dhondrub on July 6, 1935, in the small village of Takster in northeastern Tibet.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/DALAILAMA/894bafdfdde6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/photo?Query=Tenzin%20AND%20Gyatso&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=67&currentItemNo=23">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The search for him began soon after the 13th Dalai Lama died. Disciples <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h3yHMz8v1OsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+land+and+my+people+the+original+autobiography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOxfSNjZviAhUNDKwKHdXHAakQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20land%20and%20my%20people%20the%20original%20autobiography&f=false">closest to the Dalai Lama set about to identify signs</a> indicating the location of his rebirth. </p>
<p>There are usually predictions about where and when a dalai lama will be reborn, but further tests and signs are required to ensure the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=cy980CH84mEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+powers+introduction+to+tibetan+buddhism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidvqHnkpviAhXry1QKHX92B3IQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=john%20powers%20introduction%20to%20tibetan%20buddhism&f=false">proper child is found</a>. </p>
<p>In the case of the 13th Dalai Lama, after his death his <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h3yHMz8v1OsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+land+and+my+people+the+original+autobiography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOxfSNjZviAhUNDKwKHdXHAakQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20land%20and%20my%20people%20the%20original%20autobiography&f=false">body lay facing south</a>. However, after a few days his head had tilted to the east and a fungus, viewed as unusual, appeared on the northeastern side of the shrine, where his body was kept. This was interpreted to mean that the next dalai lama could have been born somewhere in the northeastern part of Tibet. </p>
<p>Disciples also checked Lhamoi Latso, a lake that is traditionally used to see visions of the location of the dalai lama’s rebirth.</p>
<p>The district of Dokham, which is in the northeast of Tibet, matched all of these signs. A 2-year-old boy named Lhamo Dhondup was just the right age for a reincarnation of the 13th dalai lama, based on the time of his death. </p>
<p>When the search party consisting of the 13th dalai lama’s closest monastic attendants arrived at his house, they believed they recognized signs that confirmed that they had reached the right place.</p>
<h2>Dalai lama memoirs</h2>
<p>The 14th Dalai Lama recounts in <a href="https://books.google.co.th/books?id=ZYgTHQAACAAJ&dq=Dalai+Lama+memoir&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijsMGm0I3jAhXFsY8KHUSoD3IQ6AEIKjAA">his memoirs about his early life</a> that he remembered recognizing one of the monks in the search party, even though he was dressed as a servant. To prevent any manipulation of the process, members of the search party had not shown villagers who they were. </p>
<p>The Dalai Lama remembered as a little boy asking for the rosary beads that monk had worn around his neck. These beads were previously owned by the 13th Dalai Lama. After this meeting, the search party came back again to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h3yHMz8v1OsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+land+and+my+people+the+original+autobiography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOxfSNjZviAhUNDKwKHdXHAakQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20land%20and%20my%20people%20the%20original%20autobiography&f=false">test the young boy</a> with further objects of the previous Dalai Lama. He was said to have <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=h3yHMz8v1OsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+land+and+my+people+the+original+autobiography&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOxfSNjZviAhUNDKwKHdXHAakQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20land%20and%20my%20people%20the%20original%20autobiography&f=false">correctly chosen all items</a>, including a drum used for rituals and a walking stick. </p>
<h2>China and dalai lama</h2>
<p>Today the selection process for the next dalai lama remains uncertain. In 1950 <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3024669?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">China’s communist government invaded Tibet</a>, which it insists <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/tibet-china-elections-cta-dalai-lama.html">has always belonged to China</a>. The Dalai Lama fled in 1959 and set up a government in exile. The <a href="https://freetibet.org/about/dalai-lama">Dalai Lama is revered by Tibetan people</a>, who have maintained their devotion over the past 70 years of Chinese rule. </p>
<p>In 1995 the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-32771242">Chinese government</a> detained the Dalai Lama’s choice for the successor of the 10th Panchen Lama, named Gendun Choeki Nyima, when he was 6 years old. Since then <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/15/25-years-after-disappearing-tibetan-panchen-lama-china-no-nearer-its-goal#">China has refused to give details of his whereabouts</a>. Panchen lama is the second most important tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism.</p>
<p>The Tibetan people revolted when the newly selected 11th Panchen Lama was detained. The Chinese government responded by <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2074674/china-appointed-panchen-lama-praises-nations-religious">appointing its own Panchen Lama</a>, the son of a Chinese security officer. The panchen lamas and dalai lamas have <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Spacious_Minds/ro6PDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=spacious+minds&printsec=frontcoverhttps://www.google.com/books/edition/Spacious_Minds/ro6PDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=spacious+minds&printsec=frontcover">historically played major roles</a> in recognizing each other’s next incarnations. </p>
<p>China also wants to appoint its own dalai lama. But it is important to Tibetan Buddhists that they are in charge of the selection process.</p>
<h2>Future options</h2>
<p>Because of the threat from China, the 14th Dalai Lama has made a number of statements that would make it difficult for a Chinese-appointed 15th dalai lama to be seen as legitimate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students interact with the Dalai Lama during a visit to Chandigarh University at Mohali, in northern India." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/408011/original/file-20210623-19-1qd7bpw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Dalai Lama with students in India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-dalai-lama-interacts-with-people-at-chandigarh-news-photo/1176011239?adppopup=true">Keshav Singh/Hindustan Times via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, he has stated that the institution of the dalai lama might not be needed anymore. However, he has also said it is up to the people if they want to <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OLs7BjSGGTsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+spiritual+journey+the+dalai+lama&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw-b77lpviAhV4JzQIHcAnBYoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20spiritual%20journey%20the%20dalai%20lama&f=false">preserve</a> this aspect of Tibetan Buddhism and continue the dalai lama lineage. The Dalai Lama <a href="https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/tibet-china-elections-cta-dalai-lama.html">has indicated</a> that he will decide, on turning 90 in four years’ time, whether he will be reborn.</p>
<p>Another option the Dalai Lama has proposed is announcing his next reincarnation before he dies. In this scenario, the Dalai Lama would <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OLs7BjSGGTsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+spiritual+journey+the+dalai+lama&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw-b77lpviAhV4JzQIHcAnBYoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20spiritual%20journey%20the%20dalai%20lama&f=false">transfer his spiritual realization</a> to the successor. A third alternative Tenzin Gyatso has <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=OLs7BjSGGTsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=my+spiritual+journey+the+dalai+lama&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjw-b77lpviAhV4JzQIHcAnBYoQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=my%20spiritual%20journey%20the%20dalai%20lama&f=false">articulated</a> is that if he dies outside of Tibet, and the Panchen Lama remains missing, his reincarnation would be located abroad, most likely in India. Experts believe the Chinese government’s search, however, would take place in Tibet, led by the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/asia/dalai-lama-china-death-reincarnation-dst-intl-hnk/index.html">Chinese-appointed panchen lama</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, he has mentioned the possibility of being reborn as a woman – but he added in interviews in 2015 and 2019 that he would have to be a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/23/the-dalai-lama-thinks-a-female-dalai-lama-would-have-to-be-very-very-attractive/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f4af665f572a">very beautiful woman</a>. After this comment received widespread criticism in 2019, his office <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/02/world/dalai-lama-female-successor-scli/index.html">released a statement of apology</a> and regret for the hurt he had caused.</p>
<p>The Dalai Lama is confident that <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/03/beijing-dalai-lamas-reincarnation-must-comply-with-chinese-laws/?allpages=yes&print=yes">no one would trust</a> the Chinese government’s choice. The Tibetan people, as he has said, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/14/asia/dalai-lama-china-death-reincarnation-dst-intl-hnk/index.html">would never accept</a> a Chinese-appointed dalai lama.</p>
<p>The U.S. government has expressed support for the Dalai Lama. In December 2020, the U.S. Senate passed the <a href="https://www.foreign.senate.gov/press/chair/release/risch-rubio-cardin-feinstein-welcome-passage-of-their-bipartisan-bill-in-support-of-tibet">Tibetan Policy and Support Act</a>, which recognizes the autonomy of the Tibetan people. The Biden administration reiterated in March 2021 that the Chinese government <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/chinese-govt-should-have-no-role-in-succession-process-of-dalai-lama-us-101615343510279.html">should have no role</a> in the Dalai Lama’s succession. </p>
<p>No matter the outcome, I believe the process of finding the 15th Dalai Lama will certainly be different. It will likely take place outside of Tibet and under the watch of international media and a global Tibetan diaspora – with much at stake.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/drafts/162796/edit">an article</a> originally published on July 3, 2019.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202888/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brooke Schedneck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Beijing is eager for more control over the selection of Tibetan Buddhist leaders like the Dalai Lama.
Brooke Schedneck, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/193185
2022-11-22T13:26:28Z
2022-11-22T13:26:28Z
4 plays that dramatize the kidnapping of children during wars
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496548/original/file-20221121-19-gqqq2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C25%2C5665%2C3757&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">During the Russian occupation of Luhansk Oblast, 15 kids were allegedly taken from this rehabilitation center and moved to Russia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/room-inside-the-center-for-social-and-psychological-news-photo/1244950133?phrase=ukraine russia orphanage&adppopup=true">Wojciech Grzedzinski/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since February 2022, Western and Ukrainian media have reported on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/22/world/europe/ukraine-children-russia-adoptions.html">kidnapping and forced adoption</a> of Ukrainian children by Russians. </p>
<p>The exact number of Ukrainian children transferred to Russia has been difficult to pin down, but Ukrainian sources estimate that as many as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/ukrainian-children-russia-7493cb22c9086c6293c1ac7986d85ef6">8,000 children</a> have been forcibly moved there. Accounts have emerged of Russian authorities transferring them to <a href="https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/11/04/dad-you-have-five-days-before-they-adopt-us">Russian families or Russian state orphanages</a>, where they receive a “patriotic education.” Some of the kidnapped children have been falsely told that their families died or do not want them.</p>
<p>On Nov. 16, 2022, the <a href="https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-16">Institute for the Study of War</a>, a Washington private think tank, reported that Russia has been bragging about deporting as many as 150,000 children from the Donbas region alone.</p>
<p>The United Nations Security Council considers the abduction of children one of the six grave violations of the mandate of the <a href="https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/about-the-mandate/">Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict</a>. As a number of scholars and journalists have pointed out, the kidnapping, adoption and Russification of Ukrainian children is part of Russia’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-twilight-of-the-last-russian-empire-putin-kremlin-russian-federation-republics-war-ukraine-russification-mobilization-collapse-11666270992">premeditated strategy</a> to <a href="https://www.iwp.edu/articles/2022/11/04/another-genocide-russia-kidnaps-ukraines-children/">expand its falling Russian population</a>.</p>
<p>The wartime kidnapping of children is not new, <a href="https://theconversation.com/russias-reported-abduction-of-ukrainian-children-echoes-other-genocidal-policies-including-us-history-of-kidnapping-native-american-children-181451">nor is it specific to Russia</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://ces.fas.harvard.edu/people/001380-magda-romanska">As a theater scholar</a>, I’ve encountered a number of works on stage that explore the complex moral conflicts and traumas that these abductions have generated throughout history, from China to Argentina and many places in between.</p>
<h2>1. ‘The Orphan of Zhao’</h2>
<p>One of the earliest plays that center on the subject is “<a href="https://www.asianstudies.org/publications/eaa/archives/a-child-for-all-ages-the-orphan-of-zhao/">The Orphan of Zhao</a>,” a 13th century Chinese classic written by dramatist Ji Junxiang during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Mongol-empire/The-Yuan-dynasty-in-China-1279-1368">Yuan dynasty</a>. </p>
<p>Based on historical events that took place 3,000 years ago, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1768912">other narratives preceded Ji’s</a>, which he penned during the <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674072534">Mongolian invasion of China</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.7312/west16854-005/pdf">The plot</a> revolves around an orphan named Cheng Bo, who, at the age of 20, discovers that his father, General Tu’an Gu, is not his real father. In fact, his real father, Zhao Dun, along with his entire family, was murdered by Tu’an Gu during a bloody conflict. Cheng ultimately kills the general, thus avenging his blood father and his family. </p>
<p>The story of orphan Zhao has had an enduring appeal in Chinese society and has undergone a number of <a href="https://www.asianstudies.org/wp-content/uploads/a-child-for-all-ages-the-orphan-of-zhaoring.pdf">dramatic</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1726738/">film adaptations</a>. The play includes many features of classical Chinese drama, including a <a href="https://silo.tips/download/the-tragic-and-the-chinese-subject">tragic hero</a> torn between contradictory familiar loyalties, and in accordance with Confucian morality, has <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Chinese-performing-arts/The-Yuan-period">an ending that reflects poetic justice</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Actresses encircle a mother holding a baby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496546/original/file-20221121-14-2n20ar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A staging of ‘The Orphan of Zhao,’ performed by the China Opera and Dance Theatre, in October 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-dance-drama-the-orphan-of-zhao-performed-by-china-opera-news-photo/1235711371?phrase=orphan%20of%20zhao&adppopup=true">Guo Junfeng/Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to its <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/25723618.2019.1592865">revenge plot</a>, the play is often compared to Shakespeare’s “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/34546098/On_Tragic_Heroes_A_Comparative_Study_of_Hamlet_and_The_Orphan_of_Chao">Hamlet</a>,” and is sometimes even referred to as the “Chinese Hamlet.”</p>
<h2>2. ‘The Circumference of the Head’</h2>
<p>During World War II, under the Nazis’ “<a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lebensborn-program">Lebensborn program</a>,” Germany abducted and adopted as many as <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">400,000</a> Slavic children – mostly <a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hitlers-lebensborn-children-kidnappings-in-german-occupied-poland/">Polish</a> and Czech, particularly kids whose blond hair and blue eyes aligned with the Nazis’ objective to cultivate an Aryan-Nordic phenotype.</p>
<p>The abduction and forced Germanization of Slavic children went <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">largely forgotten</a> through the end of the 20th century. But recently, Polish journalists from news platform <a href="https://www.interia.pl/">Interia</a> and the German broadcaster <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/forgotten-victims-polish-children-abducted-during-world-war-ii-still-seeking-truth/a-41981284">Deutsche Welle</a> teamed up to release a book and documentary on the subject, “<a href="https://www.dw.com/en/the-children-the-nazis-stole-in-poland-forgotten-victims/a-52739589">Children Stolen by the Nazis: Forgotten Victims</a>.”</p>
<p>In theater, the Lebensborn program has not been widely explored. However, one Polish play worth mentioning is 2014’s “<a href="https://teatrnowy.pl/spektakle/obwod-glowy/">The Circumference of the Head</a>,” written and directed by Polish playwright and director Zbigniew Brzoza and dramaturg Wojtek Zrałek-Kossakowski. Incorporating archival materials, the play tells <a href="https://teatralny.pl/recenzje/gustaw-ziegenhagen,819.html">the real story</a> of two mothers, one Polish and one German, at odds over the fate of a girl who was kidnapped from the Polish mother and adopted by the German mother’s family. </p>
<p>After the war, the girl returned to Poland thanks to the efforts of the <a href="https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2021/03/17/german-genocidal-kidnapping-of-polish-children-definitive-work-lebensborn-letter-p-karpinska-morek/">Polish government</a> – one of an estimated <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/forgotten-victims-polish-children-abducted-during-world-war-ii-still-seeking-truth/a-41981284#:%7E:text=After%20the%20war%2C%20the%20Polish,was%20placed%20in%20an%20orphanage">30,000 Polish children</a> who were repatriated to Poland following the war. </p>
<p>For the children, the homecoming could be as traumatizing as the initial kidnapping, since many of them <a href="https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/hitlers-lebensborn-children-kidnappings-in-german-occupied-poland/">no longer remembered their Polish families</a>.</p>
<p>The title of the play refers to the Nazis’ use of pseudoscientific “<a href="https://www.ushmm.org/collections/bibliography/nazi-racial-science">racial science</a>” to determine which children they would send off to the death camps and which were deemed worthy enough to integrate into the German race. The circumference of the head was one such a measure.</p>
<p>Some Polish critics denounced the play for <a href="https://teatralny.pl/recenzje/gustaw-ziegenhagen,819.html">its Solomon-like depiction of the dispute</a> between the Polish mother and the German woman who adopted the kidnapped child. Although both women want the girl, both are willing to give up their parental rights for the welfare of the child. The play thus drew a moral equivalency between the two women, Polish and German. </p>
<p>However the critics largely agreed that the play exposed the intrinsically tragic aspect of wartime abductions.</p>
<h2>3. ‘Stepmother Home or My Mother the Stolen Child’</h2>
<p>Another play worth mentioning is a 2020 Polish-Greek-German production by Wicki Kalaitzi and Joanna Lewicka titled “<a href="https://lewicka.org/stepmotherhome/">Stepmother Home or My Mother the Stolen Child</a>.” </p>
<p>It is based on the story of Kataitzi’s mother, who was deported from Greece during the <a href="https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/greek-civil-war-1944-1949">Greek Civil War</a> by the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo12274715.html">Greek Communist Party</a>. A German family eventually adopted her. </p>
<p>The play traces the mother’s journey through Europe, her life and the impact of generational trauma on her daughter, who’s caught up in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2GixU8xeaU">her own search for identity</a>. The play uncovers the profound and long-lasting implications of the wartime child abductions for the victims and their future families.</p>
<h2>4. ‘A Propos of Doubt’</h2>
<p>Argentina’s <a href="https://www.history.com/news/mothers-plaza-de-mayo-disappeared-children-dirty-war-argentina">Dirty War</a> has received repeated treatments on stage. </p>
<p>An estimated 30,000 people went missing during the civil conflict, which took place in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Roughly <a href="https://www.npr.org/2007/11/11/16171480/reunions-a-milestone-for-argentinas-stolen-victims">500 were children</a>, and many of them ended up adopted by childless military families – some of which were responsible for the “disappearance” of their parents. </p>
<p>In 1977, the grandmothers of the abducted children <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/history.htm">formed an organization</a> called the Association of the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/leader-madres-de-plaza-de-mayo-argentina-dies-93-rcna58170">Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo</a> to try to find as <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33504/chapter-abstract/287812326?redirectedFrom=fulltext">many of them as possible</a>. Using <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/genetic.htm">DNA tests</a>, the organization has identified <a href="https://abuelas.org.ar/idiomas/english/cases/listado_resueltos.htm">128 kidnapped children</a> so far.</p>
<p>In 2000, Patricia Zangaro’s play about the events, “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03064220108536885">A Propos of Doubt</a>,” premiered in <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/701764">Buenos Aires</a>. The play has since inspired a yearly theatrical event, <a href="https://teatroxlaidentidad.net/">Teatro x Identitad</a> – “Theater for Identity,” or TXI for short – dedicated to plays focused on the fate of disappeared children. </p>
<p>All of the performances in the series, which started in 2000, open with the same line: “<a href="https://globalvoices.org/2017/07/21/three-decades-after-dictatorship-theater-aids-the-search-for-identity-and-truth-in-argentina/">My name is … and I can say it because I know who I am</a>.” Although the plays cover a range of themes connected to the disappearance of the children, all of them focus on the search and problems of identity.</p>
<p>The theatrical adaptations of wartime child abductions underscore the fundamentally tragic nature of such adoption. Advances in genetic testing have led to the administration of some justice: Hiding such crimes <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/27/magazine/spain-stolen-babies.html">has</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48929112">become</a> <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-criticize-alleged-abduction-of-afghan-baby-by-us-marine-/6801851.html">increasingly difficult</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193185/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Magda Romanska does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
These wartime abductions aren’t specific to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Throughout history, they’ve inflicted trauma on society’s most vulnerable – making them a rich subject matter for the stage.
Magda Romanska, Associate Professor of Theatre and Dramaturgy, Emerson College
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/191491
2022-09-28T16:42:41Z
2022-09-28T16:42:41Z
Russians flee the draft as the reality of the war in Ukraine hits home
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486952/original/file-20220928-22-zmnak8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C696%2C4603%2C2627&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A group of Russians smile at the border crossing Verkhny Lars between Georgia and Russia on Sept. 23, 2022. Long lines of vehicles have formed at border crossings into Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization to bolster his troops in Ukraine.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/russians-flee-the-draft-as-the-reality-of-the-war-in-ukraine-hits-home" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin’s <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/what-does-russias-partial-mobilization-mean">announcement of a “partial mobilization”</a> in the Ukraine war <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/09/26/russia-draft-ukraine-recruitment-center-attack">has triggered mass protests</a> throughout the country and launched an exodus of Russian citizens fearing the draft.</p>
<p>Many who previously supported Putin’s “special military operation” in Ukraine are now having second thoughts. </p>
<p>But with the price of airline tickets skyrocketing and flights to the few destinations still available to Russians fully booked, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-draft-flee-border-1.6597416">hundreds of thousands</a> have fled across land borders into Georgia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, where visas aren’t required for Russian citizens. </p>
<p>Traffic jams are stretching for many kilometres and it’s taking as long as <a href="https://eurasianet.org/russian-draft-dodgers-queue-at-georgian-border">48 hours</a> to reach border posts. When they finally arrive, Russian citizens are experiencing very different receptions in these three neighbouring countries. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A line of cars is seen along a highway with a road sign in the foreground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4838%2C3222&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486943/original/file-20220927-5931-tocl4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cars line up to cross the border into Kazakhstan, about 400 kilometres south of Chelyabinsk, Russia, on Sept. 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In eastern Siberia near Lake Baikal, the Buryat Republic bordering Mongolia is home to many ethnic Mongols. Along with other non-Russian peoples from the Caucasus and elsewhere, Mongols have been sent to the war front in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/30/coffins-in-buryatia-ukraine-invasion-takes-toll-on-russias-remote-regions">disproportionate numbers</a>.</p>
<p>Many feel it’s not their war, and former Mongolian president Tsakhia Elbegdor has <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/we-are-not-afraid-russians-flee-mongolia-evade-ukraine-mobilisation-2022-09-27/">condemned Russia</a> for using Buryats and other ethnic minorities as “cannon fodder.” </p>
<p>Elbegdor, who is currently head of the World Mongol Federation, promised a <a href="https://euromaidanpress.com/2022/09/24/president-of-the-world-mongol-federation-says-mongolia-welcomes-everybody-fleeing-mobilization-in-russia-especially-disproportionately-targeted-mongols/">warm welcome</a> to Russian citizens fleeing the war, especially ethnic Mongols. </p>
<h2>Kazakhstan is welcoming</h2>
<p>In Kazakhstan, where nearly <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/kazakhstan-massive-influx-russia-draft/32054228.html">100,000 Russians</a> have entered the country since Sept. 21, free food, cigarettes and SIM cards are being offered to arriving Russian citizens.</p>
<p>With hotels and apartments either <a href="https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-rents-rocket-as-russian-draft-dodgers-push-up-demand">full or unaffordable</a>, draft evaders are being offered accommodation in alternate spaces <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-draft-dodgers-given-refuge-in-kazakh-movie-theater/32054365.html">such as cinemas</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man with grey hair and glasses in a suit stands before a podium speaking." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486946/original/file-20220927-14-fu6ji3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, president of Kazakhstan, addresses the General Assembly of the United Nations on Sept. 20, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a longtime ally of Putin’s, has criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine and promised to “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/27/kazakhstan-to-ensure-safety-of-russians-fleeing-draft">take care of and ensure the safety</a>” of Russian citizens fleeing the country.</p>
<p>Kazakhstan, which has a <a href="https://central.asia-news.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_ca/features/2022/03/22/feature-01">sizeable Russian minority</a>, has good reason to be nervous about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, since the pretext of “protecting ethnic Russians” could be also used to attack Kazakhstan in the future.</p>
<h2>Opportunism at the Georgian border</h2>
<p>The situation in the Caucasus region is different. The border crossing at Verkhny Lars between the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania and Georgia is a scene of both panic and opportunism. </p>
<p><a href="https://eurasianet.org/russian-draft-dodgers-queue-at-georgian-border">The line of vehicles waiting to enter Georgia</a> stretches for more than 30 kilometres, all the way back to the Ossetian capital, Vladikavkaz. This slow-moving caravan has provided a range of business opportunities for enterprising locals, civilians and law enforcement officers alike. </p>
<p>Coffee and sandwich vendors have been doing a thriving business moving up and down the line. Scooters and bicycles, able to breeze past the immobilized traffic, are being <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-fleeing-mobilization-georgia/32052942.html">rented out</a> at a premium.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two smiling young men ride bicycles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486974/original/file-20220928-22-eqdocd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Two young Russian men ride bicycles after crossing the border into Georgia on Sept. 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those near the head of the line are using social media to <a href="https://eurasianet.org/russian-draft-dodgers-queue-at-georgian-border">sell space</a> in their cars to others further back for <a href="https://jam-news.net/the-letter-z-is-on-every-third-car-how-a-russian-traveled-from-moscow-to-tbilisi/">as much as $1,000</a>. Traffic police, meanwhile, have been stopping motorists on their way to the border and demanding bribes to allow them to continue on their way. </p>
<p>The Georgians, for their part, have presented some of the new arrivals with <a href="https://t.me/ossetiaFB/31513">forms to sign</a> stating that they oppose the war in Ukraine and that Russia has, since 2008, illegally occupied the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-ossetia-the-case-for-international-recognition-118299">South Ossetia: The case for international recognition</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Sent back to Russia</h2>
<p>Anyone who refuses to sign is sent back into Russia. On Sept. 26, the Russian Interior Ministry <a href="https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/09/26/russias-fsb-sends-armoured-personnel-carrier-to-verkhny-lars-checkpoint-on-border-with-georgia-news">sent tanks</a> and troops to guard the border out of fear that mobs might try to circumvent the border post. The following day, plans were announced to set up a “<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63050880">recruitment centre</a>” to serve draft papers to men attempting to leave the country.</p>
<p>Many are passing the long hours inching towards the border on their mobile phones, asking for tips on getting across and posting their experiences on <a href="https://t.me/VerhniyLars">social media</a>. </p>
<p>It’s advised to display a “Z” sticker, symbolizing support for the war in Ukraine, on cars while still on Russian territory, but remove it before reaching the Georgian border post, otherwise Georgian officials will refuse entry.</p>
<p>There’s also wealth of information on <a href="https://jam-news.net/to-america-through-mexico-whither-how-and-why-georgians-are-leaving/">getting across the United States border from Mexico</a> — assuming anyone makes it that far — and having the correct skin colour is said to guarantee preferred treatment for asylum applications. </p>
<h2>The scene in Russia</h2>
<p>Of course, most Russian citizens do not have the means to flee abroad and must stay to face their destiny. Many are resigned to this, and in time-honoured Russian fashion, accept their fate with black humour.</p>
<p>“I’ll go to the front,” an acquaintance of mine recently joked. “It will give me a break from my wife.” </p>
<p>A video circulating on Telegram shows a group of laughing drunks on the verge of being bussed off for mobilization. “We’ll go wherever we’re needed,” <a href="https://t.me/stalin_gulag/5112">slurs one</a>, waving a half-empty bottle of vodka. </p>
<p>Another clip shows a group of enthusiastic <a href="https://t.me/ossetiaFB/31556">young men dancing</a> in front of a recruitment centre, followed by a sober scene from their barracks where they complain that the rifles they’ve been issued are as <a href="https://rus.postimees.ee/7612745/video-mobilizovannym-v-rossii-vydali-rzhavye-avtomaty-kalashnikova">rusted and unusable</a> as the broken bedsprings and shredded mattresses of their cots.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A balding man gestures while speaking, a flag red, blue and gold flag behind him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486950/original/file-20220928-22-d1bp2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Putin gestures as he attends a meeting on agricultural issues via videoconference from the Bocharov Ruchei residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Sept. 27, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Immediately upon issuing his mobilization decree, Putin disappeared on a <a href="https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/09/24/claims-that-putin-escaped-mobilisation-chaos-and-is-resting-in-secret-holiday-residence/">one-week vacation</a>, leaving his lieutenants to deal with mass protest demonstrations throughout the country and the logistical nightmare of mustering 300,000 new recruits.</p>
<p>The conditions meant to determine who was eligible for the draft were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russians-being-drafted-war-despite-not-being-eligible-reports-say-2022-9">widely ignored</a>, and it was reported that new conscripts are being sent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/sep/26/russia-ukraine-war-latest-updates-anti-mobilisation-protests-in-dagestan-us-warns-of-decisive-nuclear-response">directly to the front</a>, without training, supplies or functioning equipment. </p>
<p>Conscripts are being told at orientation to bring their own sleeping bags, to fetch first-aid kits from their cars and to ask their wives, girlfriends and mothers for tampons for staunching bullet wounds. They are also <a href="https://iz.ru/export/google/amp/1401318">advised</a> to bring their own winter clothing, cooking utensils and food.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1574726637412753408"}"></div></p>
<h2>Russians voting with their feet</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63021117">The replacement</a> on Sept. 24 of logistics chief Gen. Dmitry Bulgakov by Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev — who is implicated in war crimes committed during the Russian occupation of Bucha — is unlikely to improve the situation, because Russia’s military is <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world-report/articles/2022-08-31/how-russian-corruption-is-foiling-putins-army-in-ukraine">plagued by corruption</a> and false reporting at all levels. </p>
<p>Russia’s latest “troop surge” seems doomed to fail, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/08/18/afghanistan-withdrawal-accept-defeat/">similar to how American surges failed in Iraq and Afghanistan</a> — and U.S. troops were far better prepared and equipped. </p>
<p>The risk is that every failure motivates Putin to resort to more desperate measures, and brings the world closer to the use of weapons of mass destruction.</p>
<p>A large majority of Russian citizens supported Putin’s war as long as others were fighting it, but now that the general population is implicated, many are voting with their feet. </p>
<p>Ordinary Russians have received their wake-up call regarding the actual situation on the ground in Ukraine. Decision-makers at the upper echelons of Russian society may soon receive theirs as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191491/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Foltz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Russians crossing land borders into Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Georgia to avoid being drafted into the Ukraine war are experiencing very different receptions.
Richard Foltz, Professor of Religions and Cultures, Concordia University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/168060
2021-09-20T15:02:37Z
2021-09-20T15:02:37Z
China is financing infrastructure projects around the world – many could harm nature and Indigenous communities
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421988/original/file-20210919-47336-xvl5i4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2169%2C1446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Chinese engineers pose after welding the first seamless rails for the China-Laos railway in Vientiane, Laos, June 18, 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/june-18-2020-workers-from-china-railway-no-2-engineering-news-photo/1221809225">Kaikeo Saiyasane/Xinhua via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>China is shaping the future of economic development through its <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/ng-interactive/2018/jul/30/what-china-belt-road-initiative-silk-road-explainer">Belt and Road Initiative</a>, an ambitious multi-billion-dollar international push to better connect itself to the rest of the world through trade and infrastructure. Through this venture, China is providing over 100 countries with funding they have long sought for roads, railways, power plants, ports and other infrastructure projects. </p>
<p>This mammoth effort could generate <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/regional-integration/publication/belt-and-road-economics-opportunities-and-risks-of-transport-corridors">broad economic growth</a> for the countries involved and the global economy. The World Bank <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/regional-integration/publication/belt-and-road-economics-opportunities-and-risks-of-transport-corridors">estimates</a> that recipient countries’ gross domestic product could rise by up to 3.4% thanks to Belt and Road financing.</p>
<p>But development often expands human movement and economic activity into new areas, which can promote <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aao0312">deforestation</a>, illegal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0963-6">wildlife trafficking</a> and the spread of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2018.12.036">invasive species</a>. Past initiatives have also sparked conflict by <a href="https://ejatlas.org/">infringing on Indigenous lands</a>. These projects were often approved without the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14615517.2013.780373">recognition or consent</a> of local Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01541-w">newly published study</a>, our team of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Rebecca-Ray-2135726495">development</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e3-sujUAAAAJ&hl=en">economists</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=tAYhLjUAAAAJ&hl=en">conservation scientists</a> mapped the risks Chinese overseas development finance projects pose for Indigenous lands, threatened species, protected areas and potential critical habitats for global biodiversity conservation. We found that more than 60% of China’s development projects present some risk to wildlife or Indigenous communities. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/j8zzL2aBo2M?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Belt and Road Initiative is designed to connect China to the world.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Diverse projects and risks</h2>
<p>Our study examines 594 development projects financed by the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. We created a <a href="http://www.bu.edu/gdp/codf">database</a> to track the characteristics and locations of projects that these two “policy banks” supported between 2008 and 2019. During this period, the banks committed more than US$462 billion in development finance to 93 countries – roughly as much as the <a href="https://projects.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/projects-home">World Bank</a>, the traditional global leader in development finance, committed in that time. </p>
<p>Nearly half of all projects financed by these two banks are located within potential <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/critical-habitat">critical habitats</a>. These are areas that might be essential for conservation and require special protection considerations, <a href="https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/topics_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/sustainability-at-ifc/policies-standards/performance-standards/ps6">according to the International Finance Corporation</a>, a unit of the World Bank that promotes private investment in developing countries. </p>
<p>One in three of the projects fall within existing protected areas, and nearly one in four overlaps with lands owned or managed by Indigenous peoples. In total, we calculate that China’s development finance portfolio could impact up to 24% of the world’s <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">threatened amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Global map of China-financed development risks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/421883/original/file-20210917-13-1d700zh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=330&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Selected risks to biodiversity and Indigenous lands within countries receiving Chinese overseas development loans.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Adapted from Yang, et al., 2021</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The greatest risks lie in South America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia. All of the projects that China’s policy banks are financing in Benin, Bolivia and Mongolia overlap with existing protected areas or potential critical habitats. More than 65% of Chinese development projects in Ethiopia, Laos and Argentina are located within Indigenous lands. </p>
<p>On average, risks to Indigenous lands are greatest from extraction and transportation projects, such as mines, pipelines and roads. The greatest threats to nature are energy projects, including dams and coal-fired power plants. For example, a cascade of seven hydropower dams along the the Nam Ou River in Laos has <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/EPoverty/Lao/InternationalRivers.pdf">displaced Indigenous communities</a> that depended on local ecosystems for their livelihoods. </p>
<h2>How the World Bank addresses these risks</h2>
<p>China may be the world’s <a href="https://www.grips.ac.jp/forum/IzumiOhno/lectures/2018_Lectures_texts/S13_fp_20171109_china_development_finance.pdf">largest country-to-country development lender</a>, but it’s not the only funding source for emerging economies. The World Bank, an <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/world-bank-definition/">international organization funded mostly by wealthy nations</a>, has been a <a href="https://worldbank.org/projects">leading source</a> of development finance over the last 40 years – but its approach is markedly different from China’s.</p>
<p>In the 20th century, critics <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/mortgaging-earth">assailed the World Bank</a> for funding projects that caused environmental damage and social conflict. But in the past 30 years it has enacted a series of <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/projects-operations/environmental-and-social-framework">environmental and social reforms</a> that are designed to steer lending toward more inclusive and sustainable development projects. Just this year, the bank <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-worldbank-exclusive/exclusive-world-bank-revises-climate-policy-but-stops-short-of-halting-fossil-fuel-funding-idUSKBN2BN3HC">committed</a> to aligning its lending with the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement on climate change</a> by 2023.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1439280583415369736"}"></div></p>
<p>China’s rapid economic growth since the 1980s has made it <a href="https://phys.org/news/2021-04-china-environmental-world-biggest-polluter.html">one of the world’s top polluters</a>. Now its leaders are working to improve their country’s environmental performance.</p>
<p>China has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01563-2">created a national system of protected areas</a> and has pledged to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-10/how-china-plans-to-become-carbon-neutral-by-2060-quicktake">make its domestic economy carbon-neutral</a> by 2060. But it has made no such reforms in its foreign lending. </p>
<p>Comparing projects financed by the World Bank from 2008-2019 with our list of Chinese loans, we found that on average China’s projects pose significantly greater risk to nature and Indigenous lands, primarily in the energy sector.</p>
<p>The World Bank also has a concerning proportion of loans in high-risk areas. Notably, the roads, railways and other transportation projects that it financed during this period pose risks to biodiversity that are nearly equivalent to those posed by similar projects financed by China. </p>
<p>For example, in 2016 the World Bank financed a major road project across the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including Indigenous peoples’ territory, opening them up to the loss of property and livelihoods, as well as violence. A formal internal <a href="https://www.inspectionpanel.org/panel-cases/high-priority-roads-reopening-and-maintenance-2nd-additional-financing-p153836">investigation</a> found that “serious harm” had occurred and directed the World Bank to manage future projects more carefully.</p>
<h2>Making development finance sustainable</h2>
<p>China has an opportunity with the Belt and Road Initiative to improve infrastructure networks around the world in a way that is both sustainable and inclusive. Recently it published the inter-ministerial “<a href="https://en.ndrc.gov.cn/news/mediarusources/202108/t20210810_1293453.html">Green Development Guidelines for Overseas Investment and Cooperation</a>,” a set of voluntary guidelines produced by Chinese experts from universities, governmental and non-government organizations and international experts, including two of us (Kevin Gallagher and Rebecca Ray). This report urges Chinese investors to respect host country environmental standards. When those standards are lower than China’s, the guidelines recommend using international environmental standards. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two diplomats hold portfolios." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422015/original/file-20210920-17-13xq9z5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi L and his counterpart Lemogang Kwape at a signing ceremony for cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative in Gaborone, Botswana, Jan. 7, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jan-7-2021-visiting-chinese-state-councilor-and-foreign-news-photo/1230474930">Xinhua/Tshekiso Tebalo via Getty Images)</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a promising step, President Xi Jinping announced on Sept. 21, 2021 at the U.N. that China <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/09/21/world/un-general-assembly#china-coal-un-general-assembly">would not build new coal-fired power plants abroad</a>. Just as importantly, he announced that China will “step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy.” </p>
<p>Such a powerful shift can open renewable energy access across the developing world. However, our study shows that investments in low-impact sectors can still carry risks to vulnerable ecosystems and communities. We believe these climate commitments should be complemented with similar social and environmental performance standards that take into account local risks to biodiversity and Indigenous peoples.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 110,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Currently China is preparing to host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the <a href="https://www.cbd.int/article/new-dates-cop15-october-2021">Convention on Biological Diversity</a> – the main global agreement that commits nations to protect species and ecosystems around the world. Sessions will take place online in October 2021 and in person in Kunming in the first half of 2022. This event is a unique opportunity for China to address social and environmental risks from its global development activities.</p>
<p>We believe that China would be wise to adopt <a href="https://cciced.eco/research/special-policy-study/green-bri-and-2030-agenda-for-sustainable-development-2/">new recommendations</a> set forth by its Ministry of Ecology and Environment, in collaboration with international experts, including two of us (Kevin Gallagher and Rebecca Ray), that would require compulsory environmental management systems for projects supported by public Chinese banks to prevent and mitigate risks. This would raise the bar for Western lenders, who also need to improve their standards but <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.12.007">fear losing business to Chinese lenders</a>. </p>
<p>By minimizing harmful impacts from the projects it funds, we believe China could make the Belt and Road Initiative a win-win for itself, host countries and the global economy.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to include President Xi Jinping’s Sept. 21 announcement that China will stop building coal-fired power plants abroad.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Gn84xRsAAAAJ&hl=en">Hongbo Yang</a>, a former Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center, was joint lead author of the study described in this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168060/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Gallagher serves as the International Co-Chair for the Green BRI and 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, administered by the foreign cooperation office of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and the Environment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Ray was a member of the team of international experts that produced the report for the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development discussed in this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blake Alexander Simmons does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has become the world’s largest country-to-country lender. A new study shows that more than half of its loans threaten sensitive lands or Indigenous people.
Blake Alexander Simmons, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Boston University
Kevin P. Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy and Director, Global Development Policy Center, Boston University
Rebecca Ray, Senior Academic Researcher in Global Development Policy, Boston University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/164657
2021-08-11T12:27:50Z
2021-08-11T12:27:50Z
Melting Mongolian ice reveals fragile artifacts that provide clues about how past people lived
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413205/original/file-20210726-21-1ouh7m9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C4%2C868%2C541&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Archaeologist and paleoenvironmental researcher Isaac Hart of the University of Utah surveys a melting ice patch in western Mongolia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Bittner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the world’s high mountain regions, life needs ice. From the Rockies to the Himalayas, glaciers and other accumulations of snow and ice persist throughout the year. Often found on shaded slopes protected from the sun, these ice patches transform barren peaks into biological hot spots.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mlo_aD8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">As an archaeologist</a>, I value these snow and ice patches for the rare peek they can provide back in time through the fog of alpine prehistory. When people lose objects in the ice, ice patches act as natural deep-freezers. For thousands of years, they can store snapshots of the culture, daily life, technology and behavior of the people who created these artifacts. </p>
<p>Frozen heritage is melting from mountain ice <a href="https://secretsoftheice.com/findings/globally/">in every hemisphere</a>. As it does so, small groups of archaeologists are scrambling to cobble together the funding and staffing needed to identify, recover and study these objects before they are gone. </p>
<p>Alongside a group of scholars from the University of Colorado, the National Museum of Mongolia and partners from around the world, I’m working to identify, analyze and preserve ancient materials emerging from the ice in the grassy steppes of Mongolia, where such discoveries have a tremendous impact on how scientists understand the past. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="left panel: reindeer lounge on ice; right panel: reindeer lounge on bare ground" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=223&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413209/original/file-20210726-13-1jd4m2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=281&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Domestic reindeer in northern Mongolia cool themselves on an ice patch to escape heat and insects (left). Others attempt the same in an area that recent melting has left devoid of perennial ice, hurting herd health.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">© 2019 Taylor et al.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Life at the ice’s edge</h2>
<p>During the warm summer months, unique plants thrive at the well-watered margins of ice patches. Large animals such as caribou, elk, sheep and <a href="https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic4191">even bison seek the ice</a> to cool off or escape from insects. </p>
<p>Because ice patches are predictable sources of these plants and animals, as well as fresh water, they are important to the subsistence of nearby people nearly everywhere they’re found. In the dry steppes of Mongolia, meltwater from mountain ice feeds summer pastures, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">domestic reindeer seek out the ice</a> in much the same way as their wild counterparts. Climate warming aside, ice margins act as magnets for people – and repositories of the materials they leave behind. </p>
<p>It’s not just their biological and cultural significance that makes ice patches important tools for understanding the past. The tangible objects made and used by early hunters or herders in many mountainous regions were constructed from soft, organic materials. These fragile objects rarely survive erosion, weather and exposure to the severe elements that are common in alpine areas. If discarded or lost in the ice, though, items that would otherwise degrade can be preserved for centuries in deep-freeze conditions. </p>
<p>But high mountains experience extreme weather and are often far from urban centers where modern researchers are concentrated. For these reasons, significant contributions by mountain residents to the human story are sometimes left out of the archaeological record.</p>
<p>For example, in Mongolia, the high mountains of the Altai hosted the region’s oldest pastoral societies. But these cultures are known only through a small <a href="http://archsib.ru/articles/A501.pdf">handful of burials</a> and the ruins of a few <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y">windswept stone buildings</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XVQaZZ_nDk0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>More artifacts are melting out of the ice</h2>
<p>One of our discoveries was a finely woven piece of animal hair rope from a melting mountaintop ice patch in western Mongolia. On survey, we spotted it lying among the rocks exposed at the edge of the retreating ice. The artifact, which may have been part of a bridle or harness, appeared as though it might have been dropped in the ice the just day before – our guides even recognized the technique of traditional manufacture. However, scientific radiocarbon dating revealed that the artifact is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">actually more than 1,500 years old</a>. </p>
<p>Objects like these provide rare clues about daily life among the ancient herders of western Mongolia. Their excellent preservation allows us to perform advanced analyses back in the lab to reconstruct the materials and choices of the early herding cultures that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015">eventually gave rise to pan-Eurasian empires</a> like the Xiongnu and the Great Mongol Empire. </p>
<p>For example, scanning electron microscopy allowed to us to pinpoint that camel hair was chosen as a fiber for making this rope bridle, while collagen preserved within ancient sinew revealed that deer tissue was used to haft a Bronze Age arrowhead to its shaft. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two metal arrowheads, one lashed with sinew to a wooden shaft" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413208/original/file-20210726-16-xdnvps.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ice patches in western Mongolia preserved a nearly intact arrow from the region’s Bronze Age past – along with sinew lashing and red pigmentation that reveal previously unknown details about the region’s early occupants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Bittner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sometimes, the objects that emerge end up overturning some of archaeologists’ most basic assumptions about the past. People in the region have long been classified as herding societies, but my colleagues and I found that Mongolian glaciers and ice patches also contained hunting artifacts, like spears and arrows, and skeletal remains of big game animals like argali sheep <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">spanning a period of more than three millennia</a>. These finds demonstrate that big game hunting on mountain ice has been an essential part of pastoral subsistence and culture in the Altai Mountains for thousands of years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="a pile of sheep skulls and horns on stones at the edge of the ice" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413207/original/file-20210726-22-1w55foo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1,500-year-old pile of argali sheep skulls and horn curls, perhaps intentionally stacked by ancient hunters, melts from a glacier margin in western Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Taylor</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the clock is ticking. The summer of 2021 is shaping up to be one of the hottest ever recorded, as <a href="https://theconversation.com/extreme-heat-waves-in-a-warming-world-dont-just-break-records-they-shatter-them-164919">scorching summer temperatures</a> fry the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/17/world/europe/siberia-fires.html">wildfires ravage the Siberian Arctic</a>. The impact of escalating temperatures is particularly severe <a href="https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/arctic-meteorology/climate_change.html">in the world’s cold regions</a>. </p>
<p>In the area my colleagues and I study in western Mongolia, satellite photos show that more than <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">40% of the surface cover of ice has been lost</a> over the past three decades. After each artifact is exposed by the melting ice, it may have only a limited window of time for recovery by scientists before it is damaged, degraded or lost because of the combination of freezing, thawing, weather and glacial activity that can affect previously frozen artifacts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="satellite image showing outlines of ice getting smaller over the years" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413211/original/file-20210726-17-1d2dppd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Satellite photos show the extent of glacier and ice melting in the author’s western Mongolia study zone over less than three decades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-93765-w">Taylor, W., Hart, I., Pan, C. et al. High altitude hunting, climate change, and pastoral resilience in eastern Eurasia. Sci Rep 11, 14287 (2021).</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Because of the scale of modern climate change, it’s difficult to quantify how much material is being lost. Many of the high mountains of Central and South Asia have never been systematically surveyed for melting artifacts. In addition, many international projects have been unable to proceed since summer 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic – which has also prompted reductions, pay cuts and even <a href="https://www.museumsassociation.org/museums-journal/news/2021/07/outrage-as-sheffield-university-confirms-closure-of-archaeology-department/">complete closures of archaeology departments</a> at leading universities.</p>
<h2>Revealed by warming, providing climate clues</h2>
<p>Ice patch artifacts are irreplaceable scientific datasets that can also help researchers characterize ancient responses to climate change and understand how modern warming may affect today’s world.</p>
<p>In addition to human-made artifacts left behind in the snow, ice patches also preserve “ecofacts” – natural materials that trace important ecological changes, like shifting tree lines or changing animal habitats. By collecting and interpreting these datasets along with artifacts from the ice, scientists can gather insights into how people adapted to significant ecological changes in the past, and maybe expand the toolkit for facing the 21st-century climate crisis. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="reindeer on a patch of white ice in 2006, contrasted with the same hillside with no ice at all in 2018" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/413210/original/file-20210726-23-1vssn46.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=307&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Domestic reindeer cool themselves on a formerly permanent ice patch (left) that melted away completely during the summer of 2018 for the first time in local memory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">© 2019 Taylor et al.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, the plant, animal and human communities that depend on dwindling ice patches are also imperiled. In northern Mongolia, my work shows that summer ice loss is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224741">harming the health of domestic reindeer</a>. Local herders worry about the impact of ice loss on pasture viability. Melting ice also converges with other environmental changes: In western Mongolia, animal populations have <a href="https://www.biotaxa.org/mjbs/article/view/26803">dramatically dwindled</a> because of poaching and poorly regulated tourism hunting.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>As soaring heat exposes artifacts that provide insights into ancient climate resilience and other important scientific data, the ice loss itself is reducing humanity’s resilience for the years ahead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164657/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Taylor receives funding from The University of Colorado-Boulder Research and Innovation Office (RIO), the Franklin Research Grant from the American Philosophical Society, and the Multi-Country Research Fellowship from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC). </span></em></p>
From the high Yukon to the mountains of Central Asia, melting ice exposes fragile ancient artifacts that tell the story of the past – and provide hints about how to respond to a changing climate.
William Taylor, Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Colorado Boulder
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/160914
2021-05-19T21:04:57Z
2021-05-19T21:04:57Z
COVID-19: which countries will be the next to see a big spike in cases?
<p>Beneath the many complexities of the marathon that is the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a simple hypothesis: if the coronavirus is introduced into a susceptible population, and those people are able to mix, then there will be significant community transmission. Across 2020 and 2021, we have seen this happen around the world, including, recently, <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-in-india-an-unfolding-humanitarian-crisis-159654">in India</a>. </p>
<p>Could we see further situations like those in India, with cases rapidly spiking and health systems being overwhelmed? The short answer, sadly, is yes. </p>
<p>Globally, there’s been an encouraging downturn in daily new cases in May 2021, but despite this, cases are still at a very high level overall, with worldwide statistics masking huge differences across countries and areas. The global vaccine rollout is also progressing slowly, with most of the world <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_vaccinations&Metric=People+vaccinated&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=%7EOWID_WRL">still susceptible to COVID-19</a>. These factors mean there’s potential for further spikes like those seen in India. </p>
<iframe src="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_cases_smoothed_per_million&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=OWID_WRL~IND~NPL&hideControls=true" loading="lazy" style="width: 100%; height: 600px; border: 0px none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>We only need <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/10/nepal-covid-uk-g7">look to Nepal</a> to see a similar situation unfolding. Other countries have rising caseloads too, with many eyes looking nervously at Latin America, south-east Asia and some of the smaller island nations.</p>
<h2>Who else is at risk?</h2>
<p>In terms of where <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-cases">cases are increasing</a> most quickly (at time of publication), the website Our World in Data highlights Laos, Timor, Thailand, Cambodia, Fiji and Mongolia as the countries where numbers have recently doubled in the shortest period of time (ranging from 16 to 23 days for these countries; for comparison, the doubling rate for India ahead of its second wave was 43 days). When looking at the countries whose reported deaths are currently doubling most quickly, it’s Timor, Thailand, Mongolia, Cambodia and Uruguay (range: four to 31 days).</p>
<p>For countries such as Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and also Vietnam (highly praised so far), it’s high susceptibility to COVID-19 that’s the problem. They’ve had <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_cases_smoothed_per_million&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=LAO%7EKHM%7ETHA%7EVNM">few cases in the past</a>, so there’s little natural immunity, and they’re now experiencing outbreaks amid an inability to procure a large vaccine supply. Vaccine coverage <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_vaccinations&Metric=People+vaccinated&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=LAO%7EVNM%7EKHM%7ETHA">therefore is low</a>. Thailand and Vietnam have given a first dose to just 2% and 1% of their populations respectively.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, it’s the mixing part of the equation that’s more of a concern. Japan, for example, is soon to host the Olympics, attracting athletes, dignitaries, coaches and media from every corner of the globe. Despite a <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=total_vaccinations&Metric=People+vaccinated&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=%7EJPN">ramping up of vaccine distribution over the past month</a>, the programme has been sluggish, with less than 4% of the population having received a first dose. In this author’s view, the Olympics should not go ahead this year. </p>
<p>Latin America continues to experience a huge burden of COVID-19 disease and so is also at risk. Argentina, Uruguay, Costa Rica and Colombia are all still in <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_cases_smoothed_per_million&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=IND%7EUSA%7ECAN%7EDEU%7EFRA%7EURY%7EARG%7ECRI%7ECOL%7EGBR">the top ten countries</a> in terms of daily new confirmed cases per million people. On the other hand, sub-Saharan Africa has on the face of it – with some exceptions – handled the pandemic relatively well, with <a href="https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/5/e004762">countries praised</a> for an early and decisive response, having learned lessons from the west African Ebola outbreak of 2013-16.</p>
<h2>Working with uncertain data</h2>
<p>Of course, our conclusions must be cautious. Creating high-quality real-time data during a public health emergency is complicated, and data is patchy and slow in most parts of the world. The extent of transmission within <a href="https://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/COVID-19%20progress%20report%20-%2004.10.20%20-%20FINAL.pdf#_ga=2.187962024.1633760846.1620939375-885267545.1620939375">refugee camps</a> and in conflict settings, for instance, is very much unknown. Some vulnerable areas may slip under the radar.</p>
<p>The reporting of data may also be influenced by local politics. Some countries, such as Tanzania, have chosen to downplay the severity of COVID-19. The former Tanzanian president, John Magufuli, died in March 2021 – and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/17/tanzanias-president-john-magufuli-dies-aged-61">news coverage</a> suggested he may have died of COVID-19 amid reports of uncontrolled outbreaks around the country and sharp increases in deaths. However, officially the impact of COVID-19 in Tanzania has been <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_cases_smoothed_per_million&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=Cumulative&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=%7ETZA">low</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, Belarus is reporting low death rates (27.8 per 100,000), having refused to consider COVID-19 a serious threat. But the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IMHE) <a href="http://www.healthdata.org/special-analysis/estimation-excess-mortality-due-covid-19-and-scalars-reported-covid-19-deaths">has modelled</a> the country’s actual death rate to be one of the highest in the world, at 472.2 per 100,000 people. IHME modelling puts Azerbaijan at the top of that list, with a death rate of 672.7 compared with official numbers of 46.3 per 100,000.</p>
<h2>Politics and mixing</h2>
<p>The timing of elections and volatility of political governance may be interesting factors to observe when trying to predict future spikes in cases. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/56858980">Political mass gatherings</a> in India are likely to have contributed to the extensive recent transmission. The prime minister and health minister encouraged people to attend, wrongly believing earlier in the spring that India had reached the end stages of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Elsewhere, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/31/coronavirus-trump-campaign-rallies-led-to-30000-cases-stanford-researchers-say.html">Donald Trump’s campaigning events</a> caused numerous super-spreading events in the US, while <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/10/myanmars-high-risk-election/">in Myanmar</a> there were reported breaches of COVID-19 protocols due to electioneering and mass gatherings. Myanmar’s elections in October 2020 were preceded by the highest spike in cases the country had experienced. Soon after the election, stricter policies were put in place and <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/explorers/coronavirus-data-explorer?zoomToSelection=true&time=2020-03-01..latest&pickerSort=desc&pickerMetric=new_cases_smoothed_per_million&Metric=Confirmed+cases&Interval=7-day+rolling+average&Relative+to+Population=true&Align+outbreaks=false&country=%7EMMR">case rates lowered</a>. Countries that engage in similar behaviour – or, like India, declare success too early – could well be the next hotspots.</p>
<p>Of course, the next outbreak may prove difficult to spot. Few of us could easily point to Timor on a map. This lack of knowledge influences our perception over local situations and also the news coverage that countries get. Compare Nepal and Timor to Brazil and India, on which public reporting has been extensive. Plus, some countries might not be reporting good-quality data – Belarus, Azerbaijan or indeed Russia may have much bigger burdens of COVID-19 than appears to be the case.</p>
<p>The “next big outbreak” will be reliant on a perfect storm of a few variables coming together. At the core of this storm will be a slow vaccine rollout and susceptible populations mixing freely. Political rallies, large-scale festivals and protests are examples of mass gatherings that can seed new outbreaks and facilitate sufficient spread to rapidly overwhelm a health system. But depending on where this happens, we may not even notice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160914/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Head has received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Department for International Development.</span></em></p>
Low levels of immunity and high levels of mixing are a perfect setting for the next big outbreak.
Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/146049
2020-11-04T20:33:47Z
2020-11-04T20:33:47Z
China’s push for Mandarin education in Inner Mongolia is a tool for political repression
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/367336/original/file-20201103-15-1e115vd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5455%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Changing the school instruction language to Mandarin will impact Mongolian children, their families and their communities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In early September, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/04/china-mongolian-mother-tongue-classes-curtailed">Human Rights Watch reported widespread protests over the expansion of Mandarin Chinese teaching in Inner Mongolia’s schools</a>. This new bilingual education policy threatens the Mongolian language and represents a broader policy of active assimilation that threatens the maintenance of linguistic diversity in China, more generally.</p>
<p>Inner Mongolia is an autonomous province in the People’s Republic of China. With its integration into mainland China in the early 20th century, the province’s Han Chinese population expanded, while <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvbtzm7t">its Mongolian population dwindled</a>. Today, ethnic Mongolians form the largest minority in Inner Mongolia.</p>
<p>China’s constitution <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52526-0_8">promotes the languages of officially recognized minority communities</a>, including Mongolians, in education. Since its founding, the People’s Republic of China has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02320-5_34-1">generally supported a two-track education system</a>: one for minority students who live in autonomous regions and counties based on their recognized, written native language, and one for the majority Han Chinese students, based on the nation’s official standard language, Mandarin. </p>
<p>My own research <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED601649">with children and families from greater China investigates the widespread yet deeply personal effects of assimilationist language policies</a>. </p>
<h2>Changing educational policies</h2>
<p>This summer, the Inner Mongolian Education department announced changes to the province’s primary school curriculum. Currently, Inner Mongolia’s schools use Mongolian as the language of instruction for all subjects other than Chinese and foreign languages. The new policy will introduce Mandarin textbooks for three subjects: language and literature, morality and law (politics), and history. </p>
<p>This will significantly reduce the number of hours of Mongolian instruction each day. The new policy effectively shifts the meaning of bilingual education from Mongolian schooling that teaches Mandarin Chinese as a subject to Mandarin schooling that teaches Mongolian as a subject. </p>
<p>In the short term, local Mongolian teachers will have to adapt to using Mandarin, and face heightened job insecurity. In the long term, the change will transform students’ educational trajectories, <a href="https://madeinchinajournal.com/2020/08/30/bilingual-education-in-inner-mongolia-an-explainer/">with university-level majors and subjects that are now taught in Mongolian becoming obsolete</a>. </p>
<p>In response, communities in Inner Mongolia have engaged in active protests. Alongside demonstrations in the streets, parents are refusing to send children to school, and <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/mongolia-language-08282020105851.html">children are running away from their classrooms</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WLSLsX-lotM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Al Jazeera reports on Mongolian students’ responses to the educational changes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center links protests over the new policy to <a href="https://www.smhric.org/news_681.htm">at least nine suicides and thousands of arrests</a>. On Aug. 23, it reported the shutdown of <a href="http://www.smhric.org/news_672.htm">Bainnu, China’s only Mongolian-language social media site</a>, as a way of curtailing this political activism. </p>
<h2>Minority rights</h2>
<p>The news from Inner Mongolia is part of an ongoing struggle for language recognition and rights by minority communities in China. China is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X1600072X">home to 55 officially recognized minority ethnic groups and an estimated 297 languages</a>. Extensive state support for the development of <em>any</em> minority language education is relatively rare. Indigenous communities in North America, for example, are today tasked with actively revitalizing their languages after the devastations of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/9789462092181_003/">residential schooling</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404500020182/">English-only curricula</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past 20 years, China has <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203804070">radically expanded the use of standard Mandarin in schools</a>. The news from Inner Mongolia seems to emanate from China’s so-called “Second Generation Ethnic Policy” that promotes national unity through cultural and linguistic assimilation. Scholars have noted that the endpoint of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/679274">Second Generation Ethnic Policy</a> has already been borne out <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/planting-the-seed-ethnic-policy-in-xi-jinpings-new-era-of-cultural-nationalism/">among Tibetans and Uighurs</a>. Any overt display of social and cultural otherness — including linguistic diversity — is often read as a threat to national unity. </p>
<h2>Colonialism and linguistic alientation</h2>
<p>Despite anxieties over the loss of the Tibetan language, Tibetan families in China often choose to send their children to Mandarin rather than Tibetan schools, to ensure their socio-economic mobility. </p>
<p>Multilingual Tibetan children often self-identify as Mandarin speakers when they begin attending Mandarin schools and form peer relationships outside of the home. This shift in linguistic identification can cause ruptures in family relationships, with young children actively avoiding Tibetan language interactions with their parents and grandparents.</p>
<p>In 1986, Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o wrote of the consequences of his own colonial English education: “<a href="https://boydellandbrewer.com/decolonising-the-mind.html">The colonial child was made to see the world and where he stands in it as seen and defined by or reflected in the culture of the language of imposition</a>.” </p>
<p>When children lack access to mother-tongue education, they lose the opportunity to create a vision of their selves through their community’s shared worldview. More than 30 years later, children continue to be faced with this same paradox: success in school means alienation from their native languages, families and communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shannon Ward receives funding from the University of British Columbia, SSHRC, and the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>
In Inner Mongolia, China’s new bilingual education policy comes at the expense of Mongolian language and culture.
Shannon Ward, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/148703
2020-10-29T14:55:49Z
2020-10-29T14:55:49Z
Central Asia risks becoming a hyperarid desert in the near future
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366451/original/file-20201029-15-fi2ie7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jakub Czajkowski / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around 34 million years ago, sudden climate change caused ecological breakdown in Central Asia. This ancient event, triggered by rapid drops in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide, permanently affected biological diversity in the region. Large areas of Mongolia, (geographic) Tibet and north-western China suddenly became hyperarid deserts with little vegetation cover – and stayed that way for almost 20 million years.</p>
<p>This was a surprising finding of <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/6/41/eabb8227">new research</a> I carried out with colleagues from across Europe and China, in which we reconstructed the past 43 million years of evolutionary history for the steppe, semi-desert and desert ecosystems of Central Asia (the biogeographical and political conceptions of “Central Asia” differ and we use the former: our research area is shown below). </p>
<p>Many scientists had <a href="https://cp.copernicus.org/articles/4/153/2008/">previously thought</a> that this region was forested for much of that time and only grew drier later on, culminating today in massive, exceptionally arid Asian deserts such as the Gobi and Taklimakan.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="image showing a map, some plants and a cross section of some mountains and a desert" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366386/original/file-20201029-15-1gs6mtx.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The modern Central Asian steppe-desert (A), characteristic plant families (B), and an altitudinal profile illustrating vegetation belts of the steppe subtypes (C).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Science Advances 2020; 6: eabb8227</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that fossil pollen combined with mammal fossils, geological and climatic evidence – all preserved inside ancient rocks – told a different tale. Ancient “wet” steppe-deserts that received enough precipitation to maintain high biodiversity already existed during the late Eocene (40 to 34 million years ago), but suddenly became much colder and drier over an event called the Eocene‒Oligocene Transition (EOT). </p>
<p>Scientists already knew that global climate cooling in this period caused the formation of a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08447?platform=hootsuite">permanent Antarctic ice-sheet</a>, but what happened on different continents is less clear. Our new study found that the lowlands of Central Asia became hyperarid deserts with little vegetation cover. The lack of food resources meant that larger animals were mainly replaced by small mammals like rodents, rabbits and hares. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three bits of fossilised pollen viewed under a microscope" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366235/original/file-20201028-15-1q38yll.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of fossil pollen used to reconstruct the ancient ecosystems of Central Asia. Scale bars represent 5 micrometres (0.005 mm).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Carina Hoorn and Fang Han</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This hyperaridity lasted for millions of years afterwards, and plants only recovered when the climate became temporarily wetter around 15 million years ago. But now, the major species were small, non-woody herbs, not the salt and drought- tolerant shrubs that had dominated before the ecological collapse. Despite large parts of Central Asia being very dry today, these shrubs (<em>Nitraria</em> and <em>Ephedra</em>) never again recovered their position of ecological prominence. We still don’t fully understand why, but it shows that populations can be permanently altered by sudden environmental changes even if widespread extinctions don’t occur. </p>
<p>This finding is particularly relevant today, because atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and climate are again changing rapidly. Given what we now know about the Asian steppe-desert’s climatic and ecological history, it is unlikely that these ecosystems will ever recover their present biological diversity if forced into a new state.</p>
<h2>History repeats itself</h2>
<p>The modern steppe-desert is the largest ecoregion of its kind in the world, hosting a lot more biodiversity than you might expect. Dry-adapted grasses and herbs support an array of wildlife, many of which are endemics (native to, and living only in, that region). These unique flora and fauna have evolved partly as a result of immense geological and climatic diversity: today Central Asia is home to some of the oldest deserts known, as well as the highest mountains outside of the Himalayas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Flat grassy land with snowy mountains in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6252%2C3809&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=367&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366212/original/file-20201028-17-1hw5ipq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=461&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Meadow steppes in the Qilian Mountains of northern China, surrounded by alpine steppe and tundra. Topographic growth in the Tibetan region over many millions of years has created new high-elevation ecosystems for cold-tolerant biota to thrive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Xiaoming Wang / imaggeo.egu.eu</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ancient climate change and geological forces have shaped the steppe-desert through time. The collision of India with Asia, formation of the Tibetan Plateau and uplift of the Himalaya, Altai and Hangay mountain ranges created extreme altitudinal variation, as well as distinct <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/rain-shadow/">rain shadows</a> of dry land on the downwind side. This generated a mosaic of habitats, and in turn, an astonishing number of species who call the region home.</p>
<p>But now the steppe-desert’s biodiversity is under severe threat from human-induced climate change and land degradation. Growing seas of sand are claiming native steppes, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/24/world/asia/living-in-chinas-expanding-deserts.html">imposing desertification</a> at unprecedented rates. Evidence from the past shows us that this is a sign of impending ecosystem breakdown – and it will cause irreversible changes and loss of biodiversity if allowed to continue.</p>
<h2>Claimed by the desert</h2>
<p>Desertification in Asia has major implications for humans too. It now threatens almost half a billion people, many of whom are finding it increasingly difficult to make a living in communities dominated by agriculture. Crops are ravaged by drought, livestock are losing grazing pastures, and deserts are growing towards the cities. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Large sand dunes" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/366251/original/file-20201028-23-aiirbj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sand sea of the Taklimakan Desert. Similarly hyperarid deserts may have spread across Central Asia in the past as a result of rapid climate change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthias Alberti / imaggeo.egu.eu</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Model predictions from the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/02/WGIIAR5-Chap24_FINAL.pdf">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)</a> and recent climate records show that interior Asia is fast becoming one of the hottest and driest places on the planet. Major predicted changes include highly reduced vegetation cover and rapid, severe species losses, along with more unreliable rainfall and high dust emissions generated by widespread desertification and erosion. </p>
<p>This new hyperarid desert ecosystem phase would resemble the inhospitable, barren landscapes that spread 34 million years ago. Lessons from the past make it clear that current human-induced global changes must be urgently halted in order to preserve the Asian steppe, which has now become one of the world’s most endangered habitats.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natasha Barbolini receives funding from the European Research Council (grant MAGIC 649081), the Swedish Research Council (grant VR 2017-03985), and the Bolin Centre for Climate Research (grant RA6_2019_12). </span></em></p>
We found evidence of irreversible ecological breakdown millions of years ago – this time round, we should heed the warning signs.
Natasha Barbolini, Senior postdoctoral fellow in palaeoecology, Stockholm University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131831
2020-03-02T20:38:31Z
2020-03-02T20:38:31Z
Humans domesticated horses – new tech could help archaeologists figure out where and when
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317952/original/file-20200302-57541-1t03zoe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1305%2C953&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Archaeologists investigate an ancient habitation site in western Mongolia, seeking clues to the early history of domestic horses.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Taylor</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the increasingly urbanized world, few people still ride horses for reasons beyond sport or leisure. However, on horseback, people, goods and ideas moved across vast distances, shaping the <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/how-taming-cows-and-horses-sparked-inequality-across-ancient-world">power structures and social systems</a> of the premechanized era. From the trade routes of the Silk Road or the great Mongol Empire to the equestrian nations of the American Great Plains, horses were the engines of the ancient world.</p>
<p>Where, when and how did humans first domesticate horses?</p>
<p>Tracing the origins of horse domestication in the prehistoric era has proven to be an exceedingly difficult task. Horses – and the people who care for them – tend to live in remote, dry or cold grassland regions, moving often and leaving only ephemeral marks in the archaeological record. In the steppes, pampas and plains of the world, historic records are often ambiguous or absent, archaeological sites are poorly investigated and research is published in a variety languages.</p>
<p>At the heart of the issue is a more basic struggle: How can you distinguish a “domestic” animal from its wild cousin? What does it even mean to be “domesticated”? And can scientists trace this process in archaeological sites that are thousands of years old and often consist of nothing more than piles of discarded bones? </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=mlo_aD8AAAAJ">As an archaeozoologist, I work in a field</a> that seeks to develop ways to do just this – and with the aid of new technologies, recent research is turning up some surprising answers.</p>
<h2>Looking for traces of domestication</h2>
<p>Analyzing horse bones from archaeological sites across Eurasia, 20th-century scholars argued over whether changes in the size and shape of horse bones might reflect the impacts of human control. They debated whether management of a domestic herd would leave recognizable patterns in the ages and sex of horses in the archaeological record.</p>
<p>Without agreed-upon criteria for how to recognize horse domestication in the archaeological record, a staggering range of different ideas emerged.</p>
<p>In nearly every corner of the world with grassland ecosystems and wild horses, various researchers hypothesized domestication began in Anatolia, Iberia, China and even North America. Some more outlandish models suggested an origin for horse domestication <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/124404">as far back as the last Ice Age</a>, about 20,000 years ago. </p>
<p>Toward the end of the 20th century, a key breakthrough in the debate came when researchers recognized that the use of bridle mouthpieces, known as a “bit,” can cause unique damage to the teeth of a horse, known as “bit wear.”</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317951/original/file-20200302-57517-1muwfsw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Horse teeth exhibiting damage to the front of the second premolar, caused by a metal mouthpiece – known as ‘bit wear.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Taylor</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Still the complicated nature of archaeological data has made the search for horse domestication a process of trial and error. For example, one famous horse with bit wear, from the site of Derievka in Ukraine, seemed to place horse domestication in Eastern Europe <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-14-wr-42503-story.html">as early as around 4000 B.C.</a> – until scientific dating showed that this animal lived around 600 B.C. </p>
<h2>Evidence from Kazakhstan</h2>
<p>In the late 2000s, a proliferation of scientific research seemed to narrow the field to a single, compelling answer for the first domestication of the horse.</p>
<p>Researchers zeroed in on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281350504_Early_horse_domestication_on_the_Eurasian_steppe">a site called Botai</a>, in northern Kazakhstan, dating back to around 5,500 years ago. Nearly 100% of the animal bones they identified there were from horses. These animals were butchered and eaten, and their bones were used to make a variety of tools. Some were buried in ritual pits.</p>
<p>Initially, skeptics argued that the age and sex patterns of Botai horses were inconsistent with a domestic herd. Pastoral management involves culling young, mostly male animals, and far too many of these remains were from adults and females. </p>
<p>However, individual teeth found at Botai showed apparent bit wear. And, in a dramatic discovery made in 2009, a new technique that analyzes ancient fat residues suggested that the ceramic vessels recovered at Botai <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1168594">once contained horse milk products</a>. If true, that finding would indicate humans had raised and cared for the horses that produced it. </p>
<p>This new biomolecular evidence appeared to place horse domestication deep into the past, around 3500 B.C. To some, if people were eating and milking horses, logic dictated that they must have also ridden them. </p>
<p>Many researchers took this thinking a step further, using this early timeline to argue that horse domestication kicked off the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691148182/the-horse-the-wheel-and-language">continent-wide dispersal of Indo-European peoples and language groups</a> around five or six thousand years ago. </p>
<h2>Newer techniques cast doubt on Botai</h2>
<p>As the 2020s begin, the pace of <a href="https://theconversation.com/archaeological-discoveries-are-happening-faster-than-ever-before-helping-refine-the-human-story-128743">technological innovation in archaeology</a> continues to accelerate. And new archaeological data have begun to trickle in from understudied areas.</p>
<p>With improving methods, new information has triggered serious doubts about the Botai/Indo-European model about domestication.</p>
<p>In a shocking 2018 study, a French research team revealed that the horses of Botai were in fact not the domestic horse (<em>Equus caballus</em>) at all, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aao3297">but instead <em>Equus przewalskii</em></a> – the Przewalski’s horse, a wild animal with no documented evidence of management by human societies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=473&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317950/original/file-20200302-57512-aj8ppb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A family of wild Przewalski’s horses at sunset in Khustai National Park, Mongolia, where they have been reintroduced following their near-extinction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Taylor</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another project using ancient DNA analysis of human remains from Botai showed <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/05/these-asian-hunter-gatherers-may-have-been-first-people-domesticate-horses">no genetic links between the area’s ancient residents and Indo-European groups</a>, undermining the idea that horse domestication at Botai stimulated a continental dispersal on horseback.</p>
<p>In the ensuing chaos, researchers must now find a way to piece together the horse’s story, and find an explanation that fits these new facts.</p>
<p>Some, including the equine DNA researchers who published the new discoveries, now suggest that Botai represents a <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/02/ancient-dna-upends-horse-family-tree">separate, failed domestication event of Przewalski’s horse</a>.</p>
<p>Other scholars now seek to reevaluate the archaeological and historical records around the horse’s initial domestication with a more skeptical eye. </p>
<p>As of the writing of this story, the oldest clearly identified remains of the modern domestic horse, <em>Equus caballus</em>, date back only as far as about 2000 B.C. – to the chariot burials of Russia and Central Asia. From here, researchers are scrambling backwards in time, seeking to find the “big bang” of the human-horse relationship.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318141/original/file-20200302-18303-8dxwf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pastoral herding is still a key way of life in Mongolia, and horses are important as both livestock and transportation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/OrsooBayarsaikhanPhotography/">Orsoo Bayarsaikhan Photography</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>No clear answers, but a path forward</h2>
<p>New data from places typically left out of the conversation, such as Mongolia, may help fill the holes in the story of horse domestication. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I, led by <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vi30G9cAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Shevan Wilkin</a>, recently recovered ancient proteins from the teeth of Mongolia’s ancient herders that suggest these pastoralists who lived around 3000 B.C. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-1120-y">drank the milk of cattle or sheep or goats</a> – with no evidence they drank milk from horses.</p>
<p>In fact, much of Central Asia may not have had domestic horses at all until well after 2000 B.C. Another recent study suggests the late second millennium B.C. saw a spike in the frequency of domestic horses <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57735-y">across the continent</a> – perhaps because the innovation of horseback riding occurred much later than researchers had commonly assumed. </p>
<p>The urgent question now becomes: Where did the first ancestors of the modern domestic horse first find themselves under human care? And what does this tell researchers about the rest of human history that followed?</p>
<p>In the decades to come, the story of humans and horses is likely to be dramatically rewritten – maybe more than once.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/318140/original/file-20200302-18303-1q59bl4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists work to extract collagen at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany, to identify ancient horse bones from Central Asia for DNA analysis.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">William Taylor</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Archaeologists must continue to use cutting-edge technology, constantly reevaluating old conclusions developed with earlier techniques. DNA and biomolecular data must be paired with other kinds of information, such as skeletal clues, that can tell us <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-dan-zebra-stopped-ill-fated-governent-breeding-program-tracks-180973542/">how horses were bridled, exerted or cared for</a>. That can help to distinguish wild horses from early domestic horses managed by humans.</p>
<p>Species identifications from archaeological sites must be made using DNA rather than assumed (as at Botai) – and each specimen must be directly radiocarbon dated to determine its age, rather than lumped in with other similar objects and dated through guesswork (as at Derievka). </p>
<p>Most importantly, archaeologists must continue to dive deeper into the archaeological record of the desert and grassland regions of the Old World – Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, Mongolia and elsewhere – where the secrets of the past have not yet all been brought to light.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131831/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William Taylor receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the Fulbright Program, National Geographic, the Germanic Academic Exchange (DAAD), and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. </span></em></p>
Archaeologists have long argued over when and how people first domesticated horses. A decade ago, new techniques appeared to have provided answers – but further discoveries change the story again.
William Taylor, Assistant Professor and Curator of Archaeology, University of Colorado Boulder
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121729
2019-10-10T12:46:42Z
2019-10-10T12:46:42Z
Conservation policies threaten indigenous reindeer herders in Mongolia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288390/original/file-20190816-192246-120f00r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rules put into place to protect endangered species have harmed people who depend on nature.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nancylangston.net/mongolia.html">Nancy Langston</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deep in the sub-Arctic boreal forest of far northern Mongolia lives an indigenous tribe who are among the world’s smallest ethnic minorities and last reindeer herding nomads. The Tsaatan, as they’re known, have been buffeted over the last century by political and economic shocks, growing resource and environmental pressures, and significant impacts of climate change. But today they’re also facing another danger which they feel may be just as big a threat as any of these to their survival: the conservation policies of the Mongolian government.</p>
<p>This June, the two of us – environmental historians who work on climate change and conservation – spent five days traveling by air, four-wheel-drive, and finally horseback to reach the Tsaatan camps near Siberia, where the nomads live in teepee-like ortzes, migrating with their reindeer across the boreal forest. Our goal was to witness the summer migration to high elevation pastures, while learning how the Tsaatan’s herding livelihoods are changing.</p>
<p>Climate change is posing perhaps the most widely known threats to Mongolia’s nomadic cultures. In the past seven decades, average temperatures in the country have <a href="https://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/1688867/Mongolia_Country_Programme.pdf/da4b9c33-75ce-3ed7-69bf-7cdadd84697e">risen 2.24 degrees C</a> – more than twice the global average. This warming has intensified both summer droughts and extreme winter conditions, contributing to waves of nomadic herders abandoning their herds and moving to the capital city of Ulaanbataar. In recent decades the city has been overwhelmed by more than <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/07/30/727688757/mongolias-capital-banned-coal-to-fix-its-pollution-problem-will-it-work">600,000 migrants</a>, leading to a sharp increase in the burning of dirty coal and contributing to a spiral of intensifying climate displacement. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a <a href="https://www.mining.com/web/mongolia-posts-6-9-economic-growth-2018/">mining boom</a> has stimulated Mongolia’s economy and offered good jobs to some of the former nomads, but has also worsened carbon pollution, urban migration and pressure on ecosystems.</p>
<p>With all of these stresses, what we found from the Tsaatan surprised us. While they are concerned about climate change and mining, they told us they believe misguided conservation policies have become a more serious threat to their nomadic culture.</p>
<h2>Special Protected Areas</h2>
<p>The Tsaatan live far from roads, sharing the boreal forest with <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1025/ofr20171025.pdf">endangered Siberian ibex, argali sheep, red deer and musk deer</a>. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/03/mongolia-reindeer-herders-defend-life-170315082203586.html">Miners began exploiting the region</a> for gold, jade and uranium in the 1990s, soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This contributed to an increase in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/aug/28/reindeer-conservation-threatens-ruination-mongolia-dukha">wildlife poaching and degradation</a> of the high alpine meadows, mountains and streams that the Tsaatan rely on and see as sacred. </p>
<p>In response to a request from the Tsaatan, in 2011 the Mongolian government set up a <a href="http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2019.Vinson.J">Special Protected Area</a> and canceled <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/03/mongolia-reindeer-herders-defend-life-170315082203586.html">all 44 mining licenses</a> in the region. But the government also went further: concerned by poaching and habitat loss, it eliminated hunting and fishing as well, and excluded reindeer from most of the area.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295676/original/file-20191005-118213-1rjwn1e.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The nomadic Tsaatan people of northern Mongolia herd reindeer and rely on it for milk and use them as pack animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nancylangston.net/mongolia.html">Nancy Langston</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Those changes had a huge impact on the Tsaatan.</p>
<p>Reindeer are a domesticated subspecies of caribou (<em>Rangifer tarandus</em>), and the Tsaatan are the southernmost reindeer-herding people in the world. Today, about 250 Tsaatan herd <a href="https://gearjunkie.com/reindeer-riders-tsaatan-mongolia">about 2,000 reindeer</a>. But rather than eating their reindeer, as other reindeer herders do, the Tsaatan milk them, ride them and use them as pack animals.</p>
<p>For millennia, Tsaatan nomads moved with their family herds <a href="https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/following-white-stagthe-dukha-and-their-struggle-survival">up to 10 times a year</a>, frequently crossing what became the border between Mongolia and Russia. During our visit to the region, Gombo, a Tsaatan elder, told us that when Stalin gained power in what was then the Soviet Union, many Tsaatan on the Soviet side of the border fled to Mongolia, fearing they would be forcibly settled and assimilated. But this also cut them off from much of their traditional land.</p>
<p>As Gombo told us, until 1960 the Tsaatan in Mongolia were people without a state, unrecognized by the government as legal residents. When they eventually were granted citizenship, some began to settle, while others continued to migrate with their reindeer, earning a salary from reindeer collectives. Some of the nomads supplemented their income by working for the Mongolian government, hunting sable whose pelts would be exported to the Soviet Union. </p>
<p><iframe id="k2oAe" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/k2oAe/1/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The demise of the Soviet Union in 1990 and the transition from communism in Mongolia to a market-based economy led to even greater disruption across the country. In the boreal forest, the struggle to survive led to <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1025/ofr20171025.pdf">an increase in poaching</a>, and as the economy began to recover in the 2000s, the government struggled to craft conservation policies that could protect both natural and human communities. </p>
<p>As an example, <a href="https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2017/1025/ofr20171025.pdf">government surveys suggest</a> that the move to forbid hunting in the Special Protected Area has helped ibex. But according to the Tsaatan we spoke with, it has also devastated their culture. As a herder named Ganbat told us, “Fathers can’t take their sons hunting anymore, so children don’t learn about hunting, or about the habits of animals anymore. We don’t know how to teach our sons if we can’t take them hunting.” </p>
<p>Ironically, that means place-based knowledge that is essential to conservation is also vanishing.</p>
<h2>Humans’ role in conservation</h2>
<p>Zaya, another herder, told us that human health is suffering as well, as key nutrients from wild meat such as moose and deer are lost. To fill the gap, some Tsaatan began eating their reindeer, a practice that was anathema to most.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/295677/original/file-20191005-118260-1v9h273.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=651&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Indigenous herders are seeking more input into conservation plans designed to protect endangered animals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.nancylangston.net/mongolia.html">Nancy Langston</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Restrictions on access to pastures have had even greater impacts. Instead of frequent seasonal migrations, the nomads now are allowed only four, <a href="https://eurasianet.org/mongolia-reindeer-culture-hangs-on-in-far-north">leading to overgrazing and poorer reindeer health</a>. Bambag, a reindeer herder who also acted as our guide, told us “the administration now orders us to move to certain places. We don’t get to decide what’s best for our reindeer. So that’s difficult for us.”</p>
<p>Community members also bitterly complained about the ways that local rangers enforced the Special Protected Area regulations – tracking their movements with trail cameras, fining them, forcing them to travel for days to the village to seek permission to move their herds, and imprisoning anyone caught hunting. There is nowhere that they can escape from the eyes of the State, Zaya told us.</p>
<p>The Tsaatan made clear that they understand the need for some protected area regulations. But as a woman named Erdenechimeg told us, they want to be partners in designing conservation policies. </p>
<p>One of the hard lessons of conservation history across the world is that national parks and protected areas were often created at the expense of indigenous peoples. Yosemite National Park, for example, was created by <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520282292/crimes-against-nature">forcing out indigenous tribes</a>, casting them as enemies of wildlife. Today we see the same process happening in Mongolia – funded in part by the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/management/sisterparks.htm">Yosemite Parks Association</a>, which has raised money to pay rangers’ salaries.</p>
<p>We’ve come to believe that sustaining nomadic reindeer herders in Mongolia while also protecting endangered wildlife requires the government re-think conservation policies that exclude human communities and livelihoods from protected areas. <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Reindeer_People.html?id=CqevpWQT3RAC">Reindeer across the north</a> have been central to human cultures for millennia. Today, they also help all of us <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aa5128/pdf">slow climate change</a>, because their grazing reduces heat-absorbing dark ground cover in the winters. </p>
<p>The Mongolian government is working hard to protect endangered wildlife, but the Tsaatan nomads insist their reindeer culture is equally endangered – and important. If consulted as equals, they and their reindeer can help sustain the boreal forest and the global climate.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121729/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nancy Langston receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kate Christen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Two scholars report on how conservation policies designed to protect reindeer are harming the nomadic Tsaatan people who rely on them.
Nancy Langston, Distinguished Professor of Environmental History, Michigan Technological University
Kate Christen, Senior Manager at Smithsonian Conservation Commons, Smithsonian Institution
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121791
2019-09-23T21:55:56Z
2019-09-23T21:55:56Z
Mongolian mining boom threatens traditional herding
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292439/original/file-20190913-8701-hu9lt7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=358%2C158%2C4221%2C2683&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Camels in the Gobi Desert.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Exploring the vastness of Gobi Desert in the 13th century, Marco Polo proclaimed it to be filled with “<a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/geoj.12071">extraordinary illusions</a>.” Today, Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world’s largest copper-gold mines, rises among Mongolia’s traditional herding lands, shimmering like an illusion across the steppe’s treeless, grassless plains.</p>
<p>Mineral-rich Mongolia, labelled “<a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2012/01/21/mine-all-mine">the next Qatar</a>” by <em>The Economist</em>, is experiencing an unparalleled mining boom. But as mega-mines like Oyu Tolgoi ramp up production, they are creating distrust and conflict with herder communities. </p>
<p>The rapid rise in mineral extraction now raises the question, “Can herding survive mining?”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=350&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288212/original/file-20190815-136176-1pllrm7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=440&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A line of trucks transporting coal and ore through the Gobi Desert to the Chinese border.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo credit: Jerome Mayaud</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Gobi, Mongolia’s high-latitude desert, is a harsh environment traditionally inhabited by mobile pastoralists. The dramatic steppe and its extreme aridity form an important backdrop to herding activities, with low rainfall, droughts and <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/proof/2018/04/extreme-winter-mongolia-dzud-environment-science/">extreme <em>dzud</em> winters</a>. </p>
<p>The unpredictable climate make seasonal animal migrations (known as <em>otor</em>) exceptionally challenging here. For six millennia, Mongolian herders adapted to water and pasture scarcity with Traditional Ecological Knowledge. But <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7050/5cc82f8feb3098274d181630c05cc0d4cf24.pdf">Soviet collectivization</a> centralized and controlled their herding practices, making them less mobile and less resilient to environmental shocks. </p>
<p>Today, these adaptive strategies are being further threatened by resource extraction. Mines can have negative environmental and socioeconomic impacts on herder livelihoods, from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969713010176">landscape degradation</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515002638">dust emissions</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27016688">water pollution</a>, to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00905992.2014.969692?journalCode=cnap20">a loss of traditional practices, community displacement and corruption</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=334&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288213/original/file-20190815-136222-u1oxl0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Highly variable rainfall and temperatures present a challenge for the herders of Khanbogd <em>Soum</em>.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud & Troy Sternberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Oyu Tolgoi’s footprint</h2>
<p>The US$12-billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, which means “turquoise hill,” is perhaps the most prominent example of herder-mine conflict in Mongolia. The mine, located in the traditional camel-breeding region of Khanbogd <em>Soum</em> (district), was acquired by Ivanhoe Mines in 2000 and expanded. The Mongolian public’s doubts about the mine first surfaced when Ivanhoe’s president announced to investors the company had found a “<a href="https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/mining-the-gobi-desert-rio-tinto-and-mongolia-fight-over-profits-a-915021-2.html">cash machine in the Gobi</a>.”</p>
<p>Now majority-owned and operated by Rio Tinto Corporation, the mine is the biggest employer in the district. Even though mining costs recently <a href="http://www.canadianminingjournal.com/news/copper-oyu-tolgoi-underground-costs-jump-35-says-rio-tinto/">jumped by almost US$2 billion</a>, Oyu Tolgoi remains Mongolia’s <a href="https://montsame.mn/en/read/124917">largest corporate taxpayer</a>.</p>
<p>Oyu Tolgoi has impacted the district in many ways. The mine funds a variety of <a href="http://ot.mn/communities/?eoi">corporate social responsibility initiatives</a>, including a community health program, business training for local entrepreneurs and a project preserving dinosaur tracks in the desert. It has also built significant infrastructure, including graded roads and an airport.</p>
<p>However, much of this infrastructure remains unavailable to herders, or actively inconveniences them. The exclusion zones around the mine site, airport and pipelines have displaced traditional migration routes. Roads have divided and fragmented pastureland, and traffic poses a collision risk to herds. Boreholes built by Oyu Tolgoi may have accidentally <a href="https://www.circleofblue.org/2013/world/mongolia-copper-mine-oyu-tolgoi-tests-water-supply-young-democracy/">connected shallow and deep water aquifers</a> in the region, and may dramatically reduce the availability of shallow groundwater used for animals. </p>
<p>These issues prompted local herders to bring a case against Oyu Tolgoi to the World Bank, <a href="https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/projectDetail/ESRS/29007">leading to a landmark agreement between them in 2017</a>.</p>
<h2>Changing priorities among herders</h2>
<p>While Oyu Tolgoi’s shadow looms large on the steppe, a variety of social and economic factors unconnected to the mine have also led herders to change their behaviours and decision-making. </p>
<p>Livestock numbers have boomed since Mongolia’s transition to democracy <a href="http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/ess/documents/apcas26/presentations/APCAS-16-6.3.5_-_Mongolia_-_Livestock_Statistics_in_Mongolia.pdf">from 20 million in the 1990s to more than 60 million in the 2010s</a>. This upward trend, which reflects herding’s transformation from a subsistence livelihood to a form of development and wealth, has also been observed in Khanbogd district. </p>
<p>A two-fold increase in animals herded in the district between 2003 and 2015 has placed much greater pressure on water and pasture resources. The poor maintenance of the water wells and limited access to some water points have exacerbated these pressures, and the growing use of motorized water pumps has slowed well refilling.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288214/original/file-20190815-136186-1fdj9kt.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A two-fold increase in the number of animals herded in Khanbogd <em>Soum</em> has led to increased pressure on water and pasture resources.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerome Mayaud & Troy Sternberg</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pastoralism thus seems to be shifting towards maximizing resource usage for personal advantage, rather than following the customary shared approach to land use. The district government has struggled to respond to this shift as it lacks the capacity or power to address local challenges related to land ownership. In the absence of clear governance, herders have increasingly come to expect Oyu Tolgoi to perform the role of the state and provide infrastructure and services.</p>
<h2>Coexistence, survival?</h2>
<p>Contrary to common narratives, mining and herding do appear to coexist in Khanbogd district — for now, at least. Herders have strategies to cope with the harshness of the desert, and the rise in animal numbers suggests this remains a viable, if not entirely sustainable, livelihood in the region.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the continuing evolution of herding away from subsistence livelihoods, combined with the presence of Oyu Tolgoi and other mega-mines, is leading pastoralism into an uncharted future. As <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative">China’s US$1-trillion Belt and Road Initiative</a> gains pace, Mongolian herders will have to navigate a complex cocktail of climate change, water risk and pressure from extractive industries and market forces. A point may soon come where traditional mobile pastoralism gives way to more settled animal husbandry, making Gobi life unrecognizable to Marco Polo’s expedition centuries ago.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jerome Mayaud receives funding from the University of British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Troy Sternberg receives funding from the ESRC.</span></em></p>
Mineral-rich Mongolia is experiencing a mining boom, but its growth is creating distrust and conflict with herder communities.
Jerome Mayaud, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Community and Regional Planning, University of British Columbia
Troy Sternberg, Researcher in Geography, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/113855
2019-03-21T12:57:02Z
2019-03-21T12:57:02Z
Drug-resistant TB: a new study offers new hope
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/264841/original/file-20190320-93051-1fi5lu7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">New research holds promise of a shorter treatment course for people with drugresistant- TB.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Irungu/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death in the world from a single infectious disease, causing more deaths than HIV/AIDS. In 2017, <a href="https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/tb18_ExecSum_web_4Oct18.pdf?ua=1">10 million</a> people developed TB disease globally and an estimated 1.6 million died. </p>
<p>One of the biggest blocks to beating the epidemic is the growing resistance to drugs that have previously cured TB. </p>
<p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared drug-resistant TB a global health crisis. Worldwide in 2017, an estimated <a href="https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/tb18_ExecSum_web_4Oct18.pdf?ua=1">558,000</a> people developed TB that was resistant to the most effective first-line drug – rifampicin (RR-TB). Of these, 82% had multidrug-resistant TB.</p>
<p>But treating drug-resistant TB is still hopelessly inefficient. The 20-month to 24-month regimen used in many countries to treat people is costly and has significant side effects. In addition, the length of the regimen makes it hard for patients to adhere to, as well as for health systems to sustain. Globally, the regimen has an average treatment success rate of little more than 50% in real-world treatment settings, although there is considerable variation from country to country.</p>
<p>As a result <a href="http://www.resisttb.org/">researchers</a> around the world have been urgently exploring shorter, more effective, and safer treatments for patients who have drug-resistant TB.</p>
<p>One of these efforts has begun to bear fruit. Results from Stage 1 of a <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1811867?query=featured_home&utm_source=Union+Global+Press+Contacts&utm_campaign=b232caad59-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_08_03_05_42_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b4b91f9ccc-b232caad59-518459861">clinical trial</a> have recently been published. The news is encouraging. The trial provides evidence that a shorter treatment regimen – of nine to 11 months – is as effective for the treatment of multidrug-resistant TB as the longer, 20-month treatment recommended by the WHO in 2011.</p>
<p>The STREAM trial presents robust evidence for the effectiveness and safety of the nine to 11-month regimen when compared to the much longer 20-month regimen. The results are as good and the fact that the regimen is shorter should make it much more acceptable to patients. It is also likely to result in cost saving to both patients and health services.</p>
<h2>The trial</h2>
<p>The STREAM trial (Standardised Treatment Regimen of Anti-TB Drugs for Patients with MDR-TB) is the world’s first multi-country randomised phase III clinical trial to test the efficacy, safety and economic impact of shortened MDR-TB treatment regimens. The randomised nature of the trial means that patients were assigned to the long or short regimen in such a way as so as to avoid bias. Treatment allocation is determined by chance not by the choice of a physician. </p>
<p>Phase III trials are designed to assess the effectiveness and safety of a new intervention in practice.</p>
<p>Stage 1 of the trial was designed to assess whether a nine to 11-month treatment regimen that demonstrated promising cure rates during a pilot programme in Bangladesh, is as effective as the longer regimen when assessed in other settings under rigorous control trial conditions. Seven sites in Vietnam, Mongolia, South Africa, and Ethiopia participated.</p>
<p>The results from Stage 1 show that the shorter regimen is as good as the 20-month regimen. </p>
<p>Nearly 80% of patients in the trial showed a favourable outcome after two and a half years of follow-up from entry into the trial. The percentage was 79.8% in the 20-month regimen. In the nine to 11-month regimen the percentage was 78.8%. </p>
<p>Results in participants with HIV, although not as good as in those who were HIV-negative, were very similar in the short and long regimen.</p>
<p>The findings on side-effects were also interesting. There were very similar rates of severe side-effects during treatment and follow-up between the two regimens. But there were differences in the types of side-effects. The most common side-effects were cardiac conduction disorders, which increase the risk of serious and potentially fatal arrhythmias, in the nine to 11-month regimen. In the 20-month regimen the most common side effects were metabolic disorders, particularly hypokalemia.</p>
<p>A health economics data analysis is ongoing and will assess potential cost savings to patients and health systems when the nine to 11-month regimen is compared to the 20-month regimen.</p>
<h2>Conclusions</h2>
<p>The final results from the trial are encouraging because they show that the nine to 11-month treatment regimen is comparable in efficacy and safety to the 20-month regimen. This supports the use of a shorter regimen for patients with rifampicin-resistant TB.</p>
<p>The nine to 11-month regimen presents substantial advantages. It reduces treatment times, may improve patient retention under programmatic conditions, and reduces the number of pills patients have to take. </p>
<p>However, the required ECG monitoring is an important consideration.</p>
<p>In its latest guidelines issued last year the WHO again highlighted the need to continue to look for regimens that are not only shorter, but are also less toxic for the patient. The STREAM Stage 1 results suggest that some progress is being made. </p>
<p>STREAM Stage 2 is currently evaluating an all-oral regimen that is potentially as effective and more tolerable than the injectable-containing regimens currently used some countries. This, too, would be another major step forward in the battle against MDR-TB.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/113855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Nunn receives funding from the Medical Research Council (UK) and for conduct of the STREAM trial from USAID.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>I.D. Rusen receives funding through a USAID Cooperative Agreement for TB Research that supported this research. Rusen is a senior advisor at the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) in Paris and Senior Vice President for Division of Research and Development, Vital Strategies, New York.</span></em></p>
New research shows that the treatment of drug resistant-TB can be reduced from the current duration of 20 to 24 months to less than a year.
Andrew Nunn, Senior scientist, MRC Clinical Trials Unit at UCL, UCL
I.D. Rusen, Adjunct Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health , University of Toronto
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/91853
2018-03-11T19:04:54Z
2018-03-11T19:04:54Z
Climate change and looters threaten the archaeology of Mongolia
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209052/original/file-20180306-146671-11f74kr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Burial sites may contain treasures, or just old bones. And looters won't know until they've destroyed them. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julia Kate Clark </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The history and archaeology of Mongolia, most famously the sites associated with the largest land empire in the history of the world under Ghengis Khan, are of global importance. But they’re facing unprecedented threats as climate change and looting impact ancient sites and collections. </p>
<p>Climate change and looting may seem to be unrelated issues. But deteriorating climate and environmental conditions result in decreased grazing potential and loss of profits for the region’s many nomadic herders. Paired with a general economic decline, herders and other Mongolians are having to supplement their incomes, turning to alternative ways of making money. For some, it’s searching for ancient treasures to sell on the illegal antiquities market.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lFvQ_XgKE0o?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The vast Mongolian landscape, whether it be plains, deserts or mountains, is dotted with man-made stone mounds marking the burials of ancient peoples. The practice started sometime in the neolithic period (roughly 6,000-8,000 years ago) with simple stone mounds the size of a kitchen table. These usually contain a human body and a few animal bones.</p>
<p>Over time, the burials became larger (some over 400 metres long) and more complex, incorporating thousands of horse sacrifices, tools, chariots, tapestries, family complexes, and eventually treasure (such as gold, jewellery and gems). </p>
<p>For Mongolians, these remains are the lasting reminders of their ancient past and a physical tie to their priceless cultural heritage.</p>
<p>Mongolia has <a href="https://www.mongoliacenter.org/official-translation-of-the-new-law-for-protection-of-mongolias-cultural-heritage-and-the-associated-official-application-form/">reasonably good laws</a> regarding the protection of cultural heritage. But poor understanding of the laws, and the nearly impossible task of enforcing them in such a large space with relatively few people and meagre budgets keep those laws from being effective. And laws can’t protect Mongolia’s cultural heritage from climate change.</p>
<h2>Looting losses</h2>
<p>The looting of archaeological sites in Mongolia has been happening for a very long time. Regional archaeologists have shared anecdotes of finding skeletons with break-in tools made from deer antlers in shafts of 2,000 year old royal tombs in central Mongolia. These unlucky would-be thieves risked the unstable sands collapsing in the shafts above them for a chance at riches, not long after the royal leaders had been buried there.</p>
<p>But many recent pits dug directly into burial sites around Mongolia, some that are more than 3,000 years old, suggest <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/oct/26/beyond-ghengis-khan-how-looting-threatens-to-erase-mongolias-history">modern day looting is on the rise</a>. For the untrained looter, any rock feature has the potential to contain valuable goods and so grave after grave is torn apart. Many of these will contain no more than human and animal bones.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209054/original/file-20180306-146655-u1rmie.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">While looters discard bones, they are invaluable to archaeologists’ research.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julia Kate Clark</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Archaeologists’ interest in these burials lie in the information they contain for research, but this is worthless on the black antiquities market. But to steer looters away from these burials would be to teach them which ones to target for treasure and so this strategy is avoided.</p>
<p>Archaeologists working in northern Mongolia in 2017 found hundreds of looted sites, including an 800 year old cemetery consisting of at least 40 burials. Each and every one of them had been completely destroyed by looters looking for treasure. Human remains and miscellaneous artefacts such as bows, arrows, quivers, and clothing were left scattered on the surface.</p>
<p>Having survived over 800 years underground, these priceless bows, arrows, cloth fragments and bones likely have less than a year on the surface before they’re gone forever. This is not to mention the loss of whatever goods (gold, silver, gems) the looters decided was valuable enough to keep.</p>
<h2>The mummy race</h2>
<p>Archaeological teams are currently working against climate change, looters, and each other for the chance to unearth rare mummies in the region that are known to <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4405232/Mongolian-mummy-buried-Adidas-boots-1-100-years-ago.html">pique public interest within Mongolia and abroad</a>. A 2017 exhibit at the National Museum of Mongolia featured two mummies and their impressive burial goods - one of which had been <a href="http://theubpost.mn/2016/10/24/archaeologist-gives-a-glimpse-into-mongolias-first-discovery-of-a-mummified-horse/">rescued from the hands of looters by archaeologists and local police</a>. Though they appeared not to have been particularly high ranking individuals, their belongings displayed incredible variety, artistry and detail. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/209053/original/file-20180306-146675-bagxdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=481&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Discovering mummies offers the opportunity to increase interest and tourism in Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">The Center of Cultural Heritage of Mongolia</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The result of natural processes rather than intentional mummification as in ancient Egypt, some of these mummies are preserved by very dry environments protected in caves and rock shelters. Others are ice mummies, interred in burials that were constructed in such a way that water seeped in and froze - creating a unique preservation environment. </p>
<p>Both preservation environments produce artefacts that rarely survive such long periods of time. This includes human tissues like skin and hair, clothing and tapestries, wooden artefacts, and the remains of plants and animals associated with the burial. </p>
<p>As looters zero in on these sites, and climate change melts ice and changes the environmental conditions in other yet unknown ways, archaeologists are racing to locate, and preserve these finds. But with little infrastructure, small budgets and almost no specialised training in how to handle such remains, there’s some concern about the long term preservation of even those remains archaeologists are able to rescue. </p>
<p>Efforts to provide training opportunities, international collaborations with mummy experts, and improved infrastructure and facilities are underway, but these collections are so fragile there is little time to spare.</p>
<h2>What Mongolia can teach us</h2>
<p>The situation in Mongolia could help us to understand and find new solutions to dealing with changes in climate and the economic drivers behind looting. Humans around the world in many different times have faced and had to adapt to climate change, economic strife and technological innovations. </p>
<p>There’s truth represented by a material record of the “things” left by ancient peoples and in Mongolia, the study of this record has led to an understanding of the impact of early food production and horse domestication, the emergence of new social and political structures and the dominance of a nomadic empire.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91853/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Kate Clark is affiliated with the American Center for Mongolian Studies, NOMAD Science, and Bioregions International. </span></em></p>
Mongolia’s important historical sites are under threat from climate change and looting - and one exacerbates the other.
Julia Kate Clark, Endeavor Fellow, Flinders University; Director, NOMAD Science, Flinders University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/80765
2017-07-18T23:12:43Z
2017-07-18T23:12:43Z
Mongolia: An unexpected bastion of democracy thanks to its youth
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178711/original/file-20170718-10334-y34mla.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A child walks past Mongolians holding up banners at a protest against offshore account holders in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, in March. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Ganbat Namjilsangarav)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>By some accounts, democracy is under pressure. Freedom House, the American think tank, entitled its 2017 report, “<a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2017">Populists and Autocrats: The Dual Threat to Global Democracy</a>.”</p>
<p>As the events in the United States, <a href="https://theconversation.com/hungary-cracks-down-on-foreign-funding-dealing-a-harsh-blow-to-ngos-and-to-european-democracy-77185">Hungary</a> and <a href="http://example.com/https://theconversation.com/turkish-referendum-grants-more-power-to-erdogan-democracy-no-more-75824">Turkey</a> illustrate, populism has played a particularly prominent role in fears about the decline of democracy. </p>
<p>Mongolia, meantime, held two national elections in the past year, one just last month. Both demonstrated that despite the temptations of populism, the country continues to embrace democracy. That embrace requires the engagement of young democrats in Mongolia and around the world.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178281/original/file-20170714-14248-1v41cxm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kh Battulga, leader of the Mongolian Democratic Party, goes to cast his vote at polling station Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on June 26. The former artist and world champion in the martial art of sambo won the election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chadraabal Baramsai)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some political transformations travel through geographic proximity or ‘contagion,’ even in an age of global communication. That holds true for democracy just as it does for the decline of democracy. </p>
<p>Proximity to the European Union reinforced democratic revolutions across eastern Europe in the 1990s. Pro-democracy revolutions in the Arab world spread from neighbour to neighbour. Setbacks to democracy in Thailand and recently, the Philippines, look like a regional pattern.</p>
<h2>Exception to ‘contagion’ rule</h2>
<p>Mongolia is an exception to such patterns since its democratic revolution in 1990. It has continued to build a democracy in a hostile region where its only neighbours are China and Russia, with North Korea and Kazakhstan just beyond those nations.</p>
<p>As populists, some with decidedly authoritarian tendencies, swept across the world’s democracies, there was a reasonable fear that Mongolia might fall victim to the temptation of anti-establishment rhetoric offering simple solutions to complex problems — the hallmarks of political populism. </p>
<p>In the aftermath of world-leading growth in 2011 on the back of investments in mining projects, Mongolia’s economic fortunes declined precipitously, requiring an IMF-led bailout earlier this spring. Mongolia’s dominant political parties have not developed ideological profiles, and are largely built around patronage. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2017/election-electorate-mood/">primacy of economic concerns in many elections and on Mongolians’ minds</a>, it seemed an electorate ripe for the picking for populists.</p>
<p>In the 2016 parliamentary election, however, virtually all members of parliament who had built up a populist profile were defeated, even though the majoritarian election system should have given them an advantage.</p>
<h2>Mongolians cast blank ballots in protest</h2>
<p>In both the 2016 parliamentary election and the 2017 presidential election — the fifth election in Mongolia for which I served as an international monitor — voters shrugged off attempts by the respective ruling parties to buy their support. </p>
<p>In 2016, it was the surprise announcement by the Democratic Party (DP) that 49 per cent of the otherwise state-owned Erdenet Mine was sold by its Russian owners to Mongolian investors. In 2017, it was the equally surprising decision by the Mongolian People’s Party (MPP)-dominated parliament to reinstate child payments and distribute shares in Erdenet Mine.</p>
<p>No candidate received more than 50 per cent of the vote in the first round of the presidential election on June 26, amid <a href="http://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/mongolian-economy/2017/07/13/the-price-an-election-split-hopes-and-political-ambivalence-in-the-ger-districts-of-ulaanbaatar/">reports of widespread vote-buying</a>. In the run-off that became necessary for the first time ever, voters revolted against two-party dominance by casting a “none-of-the-above” blank ballot.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"883343978342612993"}"></div></p>
<p>The blank ballot option had only been created with revisions to the election law in 2015. More than eight per cent of the electorate submitted blank ballots — an apparent testament to their frustration with the candidates nominated by large parties.</p>
<h2>But isn’t new President Battulga a populist?</h2>
<p>Yes, of course, the DP’s candidate — <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/07/13/mongolia-just-elected-a-former-wrestler-as-its-president-after-its-most-divisive-election-ever/">Khaltmaa Battulga, who won the run-off with 50.6 per cent of the vote</a> — is clearly a populist by the characteristics outlined above. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/178283/original/file-20170714-16563-1a43ev1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The statue of Chinggis Khaan outside the capital city of Mongolia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He’s not known for careful consideration of policy options, but instead for shoot-from-the-hip pronouncements. He parlays his sometimes odd projects — like the giant mounted statue of Chinggis Khaan just outside of the capital, Ulaanbaatar — into claims of business expertise. He certainly flirts with <a href="http://blogs.ubc.ca/mongolia/2017/presidential-election-diversion-tactics-chinese-erliiz-hybridity/">encouraging sinophobia</a>. Battulga and his opponent also embraced <a href="http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/election-2017-making-mongolia-great-aga%20in/">patriotic symbolism in their campaign</a>.</p>
<p>But these were not the reasons why he managed to win the election. Instead, many voters — beyond party stalwarts — elected Battulga to provide a counterweight to MPP dominance in parliament. This was a strategic choice to force a Mongolian version of <em>cohabitation</em> on the MPP-led government.</p>
<h2>Building democracy from Mongolia</h2>
<p>This overall rejection of populism speaks to the fact that while Mongolia may not have a long democratic history, it’s an evolving democracy that has popular support. More than a young democracy, it is a democracy that is carried by the young, as more than half of the population were born after the democratic revolution.</p>
<p>The biggest question for the fate of democracy, likely not just in Mongolia, is the engagement of a new generation of voters and democrats. </p>
<p>Will younger party members in Mongolia be able to force their parties to abandon a view of political office as an earning opportunity? Can they initiate discussions about an ideological positioning of their party, in part to give Mongolians a real voice in the future development of their country?</p>
<p>Some civil society activists will try to build on the success of the blank ballot movement as a basis for a new party aimed at redirecting political culture away from patronage to substantive debates. Along with any mobilization against corruption, that new party could transform democracy in Mongolia.</p>
<p>While Mongolians did not contract democracy from their neighbours, their political choices serve as an example to the other emerging democracies of Asia, like Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic. Mongolian voters turning away from populism could be a part of a global resurgence of democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/80765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julian Dierkes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
While democracy is struggling globally and especially in Asia, Mongolians continue to vote and engage.
Julian Dierkes, Associate Professor and Keidanren Chair in Japanese Research, University of British Columbia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/70441
2016-12-15T07:26:43Z
2016-12-15T07:26:43Z
Bird flu: learning lessons from traditional human-animal relations
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150122/original/image-20161214-5911-1wuenuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The H5N8 virus is especially dangerous for migratory birds. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.pixnio.com/fauna-animals/birds/duck-mallard-pictures/wild-ducks-in-flock-flying-over-water?download">Meinzer Wyman/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bird flu is back. London Zoo has <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-zoo-bird-enclosures-avian-flu-fears-latest-a7461816.html">shut down</a> its bird enclosures, and South Korea is taking more restrictive <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/12/116_220194.html">measures against</a> the spread of a new form of avian influenza, which has already forced its government to cull 14.5 million chickens and ducks since November 16. On December 13, Japan’s Higashiyama Zoo Botanical Gardens in <a href="http://www.poultrymed.com/poultry/templates/showpage.asp?DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=178&FID=1868&IID=46137">Nagoya declared</a> that three black swans there died this month from the H5N6 virus. </p>
<p>In France, following the <a href="http://agriculture.gouv.fr/influenza-aviaire-le-suivi-des-foyers-en-france">discovery of 12 outbreaks of the H5N8 virus</a> in domestic poultry and wild birds, the French minister for agriculture <a href="http://agriculture.gouv.fr/h5n8-ce-que-veut-dire-lelevation-du-niveau-de-risque-eleve-sur-le-territoire">raised</a> the flu risk level to “high”, triggering containment measures to protect farms. <a href="http://www.lafranceagricole.fr/actualites/elevage/grippe-aviaire-6000-canards-supplementaires-abattus-dans-le-lot-et-garonne-1,0,3750614717.html">Several thousand</a> domestic birds have since been slaughtered. To add to the discouragement of farmers in the South West, these measures followed the <a href="https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000032000306">suspension</a> of a surveillance plan set up last year after similar cases were found.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150147/original/image-20161214-2515-ouhv3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Foie Gras is a South-Western French delicacy highly sought after during Christmas and New Year. It is usually made from duck liver.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foie_gras_IMGP2377.jpg">Nikodem Nikaji</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They had hoped to get business back on track in the lead up to Christmas — <a href="http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2016/12/07/2473891-grippe-aviaire-un-cumul-de-negligences.html">the region</a> is famous for its foie gras.</p>
<p>H5N8, which arrived in Europe from Asia in <a href="http://www.who.int/influenza/human_animal_interface/avian_influenza/riskassessment_AH5N8_201611/en/">early 2015</a>, is not transmissible to humans but it is <a href="http://www.eurosurveillance.org/images/%E2%80%A6/art21069.pdf">highly pathogenic</a> in domestic poultry. Instead of attacking the respiratory system, as the flu virus does in humans, it destroys the birds’ digestive system.</p>
<p>It triggers an epizootic — a disease event involving a species of animal in a specific area — rather than an epidemic, a term that applies only to outbreaks in humans.</p>
<p>However, health authorities fear that H5N8 could cross with H5N1, a virus that affects humans. H5N1, identified for the first time in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11938498">Hong Kong in 1997</a>, infected poultry farms in the East of France between <a href="http://www.medecinesciences.org/en/articles/medsci/full_html/2008/05/medsci2008243p314/medsci2008243p314.html">2005 and 2007</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6FKth6gNgE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">TVB News on the avian flu break in 1997 in Hong-Kong.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It surfaced again in the country’s southwest in <a href="http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2015/12/16/01016-20151216ARTFIG00373-grippe-aviaire-quinze-nouveaux-foyers-dans-le-sud-ouest.php">December 2015</a>.</p>
<p>H5N1 causes a <a href="http://www.vulgaris-medical.com/encyclopedie-medicale/zoonose">zoonosis</a>, meaning it can be transmitted between different species after having spread in an animal reservoir displaying few or no symptoms. The 2009 <a href="http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/fr/">H1N1 flu pandemic</a> resulted in fewer fatalities than had been feared because the virus passed via swine, rendering it less lethal. H5N1, however, can be transmitted directly from birds to humans.</p>
<p>Due to the great differences between these two host species, H5N1 provokes severe inflammatory reactions in humans, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17428885">killing two-thirds</a> of infected people.</p>
<h2>Crossing the species barrier</h2>
<p>The flu virus’ ability to mutate and <a href="http://www.em-consulte.com/ecomplementfile/BIO/emm417.pdf">cross the species barrier</a> was discovered in the 1960s. The World Health Organization (WHO) now classifies these viruses according to the proteins found on their surface: hemagglutinin (H) and neuraminidase (N), which determine the way viruses enter and exit targeted cells. </p>
<p>Costly precautionary measures were only imposed on farmers worldwide following the emergence of H5N1 in 1997. Since then, billions of birds have been slaughtered, and around 500 people have died of this virus.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149507/original/image-20161210-31367-1t848sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chinese health authorities carry out an investigation in Dongguan during the 2014 H7N9 flu outbreak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdcglobal/17056225722/">Shuqing Zhao/CDC Global/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>How many animals should be slaughtered in order to protect populations against a potential virus pandemic? This cannot be left entirely up to health authorities, who naturally tend to emphasise the risk to humans. When weighed up against a human life, a bird’s life counts for little in their eyes.</p>
<p>French agricultural authorities have been in charge of large-scale poultry slaughter since the 1960s. The upsurge in industrial farming, where animals <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4787e.pdf">lacking genetic diversity</a> are kept in close quarters, has exponentially increased the risk of infectious diseases. Thus, when the H5N2 virus, highly pathogenic in birds but not transmissible to humans, was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1983, the US Department of Agriculture ordered the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC254772/pdf/jvirol00121-0161.pdf">slaughter of 17 million poultry</a>.</p>
<h2>Transmission from the wild to the domestic</h2>
<p>What do these precautionary measures mean for farmers? Financial compensation for slaughter is never equivalent to the real market value of the destroyed animals, especially when, as is the case this time, the poultry were bred to produce foie gras, a product with significant added value. </p>
<p>The psychological impact of these measures must also be taken into account. Not only can they damage the reputation of a farm, or of an entire sector (the US is as quick to denounce the foie gras industry as a neighbour is to criticise a farmer’s lack of transparency or cleanliness), but they destroy farmers’ emotional investment in the care and conservation of their flock.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=381&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149506/original/image-20161210-31379-4gyd8c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A poultry farm in Hautefeuille, centre of France, at the beginning of the 20th century.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHautefeuille_%C3%A9levage_de_volailles.jpg">CM</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Poultry require daily care for selection, feeding, and monitoring. France witnessed an outpouring of empathy from farmers during the slaughter of bovines with suspected spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease), which spread <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/436033">through Europe</a> in the 2000s. While we are unlikely to see the same for duck farmers who force-feed their animals, it is still fair to say that these farmers are attached to the birds they have domesticated — that is, taken into their homes (domus), according to the root of the word.</p>
<p>Through a project on <a href="https://gallery.axa-research.org/en/news/frederic-keck.htm">social representations</a> of pathogens at the frontiers between species, I managed <a href="http://las.ehess.fr/?1751">a team of anthropologists</a> who studied how zoonoses are managed outside of France and Europe. The risk of infection from the wild is perceived differently, depending on the kind of attachment people have to their domestic animals.</p>
<p>Zoonoses are the result of pathogens passing from the wild into the domestic sphere. However, the boundary between the two is not fixed and varies in each society based on its <a href="http://www.fayard.fr/lhomme-et-les-animaux-domestiques-9782213643700">relationship to animals</a>.</p>
<p>In Laos, for example, elephant owners and mahouts do not see their animals as being wild, but rather as companions. They take care of them by calling on their “spirits”. Mahouts work seasonally <a href="http://www.theses.fr/2013PA100215">with their elephants</a> to gather wood in forests and parks. In 2012, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25170549">cases of tuberculosis</a> were discovered in elephants. Tourists, who enjoy a ride on the back of these quintessentially wild animals, may risk infection.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149527/original/image-20161211-31367-1dnu62j.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In Laos, mahouts have a special relationship to their elephants.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AUn_cornac%2C_son_%C3%A9l%C3%A9phant_et_son_b%C3%A9b%C3%A9_%C3%A9l%C3%A9phant_01.JPG">Sophie47</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The owners of infected elephants do not mention these risks when talking to tourists, not only for fear of losing lucrative business, but also because the tuberculosis bacillus is not one of the “spirits” they invoke when caring for their animals.</p>
<p>Likewise, in Australia, the bat is not seen by Aboriginal people as a wild animal living separately from humans. Rather, bats are <a href="http://books.openedition.org/editionscnrs/2111">totemic</a>. Some groups trace their ancestral roots back to them, while others eat them for medical reasons, which explains their frequent representation in indigenous art. </p>
<p>Yet bats are thought to be a <a href="https://en.ird.fr/the-media-centre/scientific-newssheets/403-bats-a-reservoir-of-resurgent-viruses">reservoir</a> for several zoonoses, such as Ebola, Hendra, Nipah and SARS, due to the great diversity of bat subspecies and their proximity to caves and trees.</p>
<p>Mongolia is another interesting case, because the bulk of its economy relies on <a href="https://emscat.revues.org/2049?lang=en">raising livestock</a>: bovines, sheep, camels and horses.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149505/original/image-20161210-31364-1d2twt9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A farmer in Mongolia milks a mare.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/jmenj/9458276231">JeanneMenjoulet&Cie/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The country recently opened up to international flows, exposing it to an increase of zoonotic and epizootic outbreaks, including brucellosis, anthrax, and foot-and-mouth disease. Farmers protect themselves and their animals from these diseases by <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-anthropologie-des-connaissances-2015-2-page-237.htm">combining</a> vaccination with traditional shamanic or Buddhist techniques. </p>
<p>In recent years, the Mongolian government has ordered the <a href="http://www.lhnet.org/update-on-fmd-in-mongolia-life-stock-vaccination-or-killing-wild-life">large-scale slaughter of gazelles</a> living on the Chinese and Russian borders, in order to limit the transmission of pathogens to livestock. But it is now involved in attempts to recognise the value of the knowledge of nomadic shepherds, in partnership with the World Organisation for Animal Health, which would like <a href="http://www.oie.int/fr/pour-les-medias/communiques-de-presse/detail/article/the-president-of-mongolia-and-the-director-general-of-the-oie-join-forces-to-protect-pastoralism/">this knowledge</a> to be registered as world heritage.</p>
<p>The lessons of Laos, Australia and Mongolia could be applied in France and other Western countries. The <a href="https://www.cairn.info/revue-esprit-2016-2-page-16.htm">reluctance of French farmers</a> to apply precautionary measures they have trouble understanding echoes that of police officers who must apply increasingly stringent anti-terrorism measures.</p>
<p>The French state could recognise the value of farmers’ work, not only by promoting the label “South-Western foie gras” but, more importantly, by highlighting the <a href="https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00521740/document">traditional practices</a> farmers use to take care of the animals we eat, and the benefits of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21856195">their vigilance for public health</a>.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=121&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/202296/original/file-20180117-53314-hzk3rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=152&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Created in 2007, the Axa Research Fund supports more than 500 projets around the world conducted by researchers from 51 countries. To learn more about the work of Frédéric Keck and his team, visit the <a href="https://gallery.axa-research.org/en/news/frederic-keck.htm">dedicated site</a>. This article was translated from the French by Alice Heathwood for <a href="http://www.fastforword.fr/en/">Fast for Word</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fréderic Keck receives funding from Axa Research Fund.</span></em></p>
Studies of animal-human interactions in various settings could perhaps help prevent bird flu and the mass slaughter of animals it inevitably leads to.
Frédéric Keck, Directeur du département de la recherche, musée du Quai Branly, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/41954
2015-05-20T03:26:33Z
2015-05-20T03:26:33Z
India and China move closer as Modi tours ‘Act East’ policy
<p>This past week, Narendra Modi has visited China (May 14-16), Mongolia (May 17) and South Korea (May 18-19). The Indian prime minister’s tour has demonstrated his nation’s diplomatic approach, which aims to maximise common interests and minimise political differences and potential obstacles.</p>
<h2>Focus on ‘Act East’ and ‘Make in India’ policies</h2>
<p>“Act East” and “Make in India” are the key words to understand the purpose and achievements of Modi’s tour. “Act East” is an <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/look-east-policy-now-turned-into-act-east-policy-modi/article6595186.ece">upgraded version</a> of the “Look East” policy. The latter has been pursued since 1991 when the Indian economy experienced liberalisation and started to pay attention to East and South Asian countries for potential economic partnerships.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/30/us-india-joint-statement">India-US Joint Statement</a> in September 2014 introduced “Act East” as a more pro-active extension.</p>
<p>In the same month, Modi launched the “Make in India” campaign. According to India’s <a href="http://www.makeinindia.com/">Investor Facilitation Cell</a>, this national program aims to facilitate global investment and build manufacturing infrastructure. A total of <a href="http://www.makeinindia.com/sectors">25 sectors</a> from automobiles to wellness are open to investors under this slogan.</p>
<p>An example of an investing model under the two significant directions is the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. It was implemented by a body in which the Indian government and Japan Bank for International Cooperation are stakeholders (49% and 26% respectively). </p>
<p>Philosophically, as Modi has implied at <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/25265/Prime_Ministers_remarks_at_the_Asian_Leadership_Forum_at_Seoul_May_19_2015">the Asian Leadership Forum</a>, the two slogans are pursued as a roadmap to realise shared prosperity in Asia and extend the era of Asia’s re-emergence. This explains why Modi has outlined the details of “Make in India” in each of the recently visited states.</p>
<h2>What does Modi have to show for his tour?</h2>
<p>During his visits, Modi and his counterparts announced joint statements. These are extensive, ranging from political and security issues to culture, education and people-to-people exchanges. </p>
<p>In China, two joint statements have been signed, including the <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/25238/Joint_Statement_on_Climate_Change_between_India_and_China_during_Prime_Ministers_visit_to_China">Joint Statement</a> on Climate Change. In addition, <a href="http://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/25260/List+of+Agreements+signed+during+the+visit+of+Prime+Minister+to+China+May+15+2015">24 agreements</a> and MOUs have been inked between India and China, <a href="http://mea.gov.in/outoging-visit-detail.htm?25252/List+of+AgreementsMoUs+exchanged+during+the+visit+of+Prime+Minister+to+Mongolia+May+17+2015">13</a> with Mongolia and <a href="http://pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/list-of-agreementsmous-signed-during-the-visit-of-prime-minister-to-republic-of-korea-may-18-2015">seven</a> with South Korea.</p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/25240/Joint_Statement_between_the_India_and_China_during_Prime_Ministers_visit_to_China">Joint Statement</a> with 41 articles, the Indian and Chinese leaders agreed on strengthening political dialogue and strategic communication, along with a closer economic partnership. In the India-China Summit last September, China promised to invest US$20 billion in the Indian manufacturing sector in the next five years and to set up industrial parks in Maharashtra and Gujarat. </p>
<p>One area of exemplary co-operation between India and China is the railway sector. China wants to export its express railway technology and India wants to establish a fast-rail system across its territory. India’s efforts to expand the breadth of communication with China were exhibited at the launch of the India-China <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/cms-to-meet-chinese-provincial-leaders-today/">Forum of State Provincial Leaders</a>.</p>
<p>In Modi’s <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/25251/Press_Statement_by_Prime_Minister_during_his_visit_to_Mongolia_May_17_2015">press statement</a> in Mongolia, that nation is described as “an integral part of India’s Act East Policy” which shares closely linked goals in the Asia-Pacific region. He promised US$1 billion in credit for Mongolia’s economic capability, institutions, infrastructure and human resources.</p>
<p>Further, the relationship between India and Mongolia has been upgraded to the status of a strategic partnership. Co-operation between national security councils is agreed and will provide a strategic framework for joint actions in border security and cyber security.</p>
<p>India has described South Korea as “an indispensable partner” in its “Act East” strategy in the <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/25261/India__Republic_of_Korea_Joint_Statement_for_Special_Strategic_Partnership_May_18_2015">Joint Statement</a> between Modi and President Park Geun-hye. Modi discussed in detail the reciprocal strengths in Indian and South Korean industries at <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/25266/Prime_Ministers_statement_at_IndiaRepublic_of_Korea_CEOs_Forum_in_Seoul_May_19_2015">the CEOs Forum</a>. </p>
<p>For example, India’s software and Korea’s hardware industry, India’s iron ore and Korea’s steel-producing capacity, India’s port development plan along with constructing LNG tankers and Korea’s ship-building ability have been mentioned. Modi has promoted India’s national projects on housing, city constructing, renewable energy generation and transportation while reassuring that India would be a very easy place to do business. Modi promised that Korean investors would be supported favourably in India under his government’s “Korea Plus” commitment.</p>
<h2>India’s approach to obstacles and solutions</h2>
<p>Modi’s visits to three East Asian countries seem to have answered a couple of questions on India’s approaches to security concerns, regional issues and diplomatic platforms.</p>
<p>The border dispute between India and China is a persistent one, which raises issues of territorial integrity for both countries. Troubles in border areas and the boundary question have been dealt with in three articles in the <a href="http://pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/joint-statement-between-the-india-and-china-during-prime-ministers-visit-to-china">Joint Statement</a>. This stresses the importance of frequent communications. </p>
<p>In his <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/25239/Prime_Ministers_Media_Statement_in_Beijing_during_his_visit_to_China_May_15_2015">statement</a> in Beijing, Modi describes this as a problem holding them “back from realising the full potential of our (India and China) partnership” while suggesting “intensifying confidence-building measures”. When he met <a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/25242/Address_by_Prime_Minister_at_the_Tsinghua_University_Beijing_May_15_2015">Qinghua University</a> students, he pointed out that the solution for the instability and uncertainty over the border dispute is “clarifying” “where the Line of Actual Control is”.</p>
<p>India’s trade deficit is another obstacle in dealing with China as a stable economic partner. Indian industry’s accessibility to the Chinese market and India’s growing deficit have been discussed between Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.</p>
<p>India and South Korea have more common security concerns, ranging from the North Korean nuclear issue to maritime security. However, their relatively modest level of economic engagement is an issue. South Korea ranks only 14th in foreign direct investment in India. </p>
<p>Several diplomatic attempts at closer engagement have been made. Firstly, during Modi’s visit to South Korea, the two countries elevated the bilateral relationship to “<a href="http://pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/india-republic-of-korea-joint-statement-for-special-strategic-partnership">Special Strategic Partnership</a>” from the “<a href="http://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/1216/IndiaRepublic+of+Korea+Joint+Statement+Towards+a+Strategic+Partnership">Strategic Partnership</a>” announced in 2010. Secondly, Korea becomes the second country with which India establishes a 2+2 diplomatic and security dialogue, following the India-Japan dialogue in the same format. </p>
<p>Thirdly, the Korea-India <a href="http://aric.adb.org/fta/india-korea-comprehensive-economic-partnership-agreement">Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement</a> will be reviewed in terms of market-access issues. Lastly, the two countries have agreed to form a joint working group on shipbuilding.</p>
<h2>Economic needs drive co-operation</h2>
<p>Economic motivations are driving the focus on mutual interests in relations between India and respective countries. Meanwhile, security concerns represent possible obstacles that could prevent more tangible developments. </p>
<p>Modi’s Asian tour also sends a significant signal to Australian policy-makers and businesses that India is further positioning itself as the next manufacturing hub.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41954/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jiye Kim does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
India wants closer engagement with its neighbours as it aspires to become a global manufacturing hub. Narendra Modi’s visits to China, Mongolia and South Korea are all about promoting this agenda.
Jiye Kim, PhD Candidate, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40025
2015-04-14T05:21:36Z
2015-04-14T05:21:36Z
Lake Baikal: incredible ecosystem threatened by Mongolian dam and pipeline
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77807/original/image-20150413-24307-lwyq7g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Baikal seal is found nowhere else on Earth.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/gabdurakhmanov/3636073116">Sergey Gabdurakhmanov</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mongolia is hoping a massive dam on its largest river could provide much needed power and water for the country’s booming mining industry. However environmental groups are concerned that the hydroelectric power plant and a related pipeline project will do immeasurable environmental damage to oldest and deepest freshwater body in the world: Lake Baikal.</p>
<p>As Baikal sits just over the border in Russia, Mongolia risks seriously annoying its northern neighbour at at time when the lake is already experiencing problems with <a href="http://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/38cb2223012b73f2,0d364c3231692cd5,6629477b5bc109ac.html">invasive algae</a> along its coasts, unregulated mining and a water level which just passed a “<a href="http://sputniknews.com/environment/20150124/1017302020.html">critically low</a>” point.</p>
<p>The Shuren Hydropower Plant, planned on the Selenga River in northern Mongolia, was first <a href="http://www.hydroworld.com/articles/2013/05/mongolia-seeks-feasibility-study-plan-for-300-mw-shuren-hydro-pr.html">proposed in 2013</a> and is currently the subject of a World Bank-funded environmental and social impact assessment. In tandem, Mongolia is also considering building one of the world’s largest pipelines to transport water from the Orkhon River, one of the Selenga’s tributaries, to supply the miners in the Gobi desert 1,000km away.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=436&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77830/original/image-20150413-24322-vy135s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=548&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Baikal’s depths are home to some odd and unique creatures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://csironewsblog.com/tag/lake-baikal/">CSIRO</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The impact of these projects will be most keenly felt downstream in Lake Baikal. The lake formed in a tectonic rift zone more than 25m years ago in southern Siberia. With a maximum depth of almost 1,700m, Baikal contains 20% of the world’s unfrozen freshwater. </p>
<p>Due to it’s great age, depth and remote location, more than 2,500 species have been documented in the lake, of which more than 75% are believed to be endemic and are found nowhere else in the world – from the microscopic plants that provide the lake with most of its energy to one of the world’s few truly freshwater seals, the nerpa or <em>Pusa sibirica</em>. Because of its unique characteristics and biodiversity, Lake Baikal was made a <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/754/">UNESCO World Heritage Site</a> in 1996.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77820/original/image-20150413-24299-1in0a8k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Selenga is itself an important ecosystem.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anson Mackay</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>By far the largest and most important of the 350-plus rivers that flow into Lake Baikal is the Selenga River, which contributes almost 50% of the lake’s water. The Selenga and its tributaries cover a vast area, much of it in northern Mongolia, and the catchment of Lake Baikal is bigger than Spain. The river enters Lake Baikal through the Selenga Delta, a wetland of <a href="http://www.ramsar.org/selenga-delta">internationally recognised</a> importance. </p>
<p>The delta is crucial to the health of Lake Baikal. Its shallow waters are a key spawning ground for Baikal’s many endemic fish and is on the migratory route for millions of birds every year. It also filters out impurities flowing through the river before they reach the lake.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77803/original/image-20150413-24307-1bpitr0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Selenga drains much of northern Mongolia into Lake Baikal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Selengerivermap.png">kmusser</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Shuren dam isn’t the only threat to the delta, but it may be the most important. The Selenga is already very polluted; mining for gold and other minerals in northern Mongolia has resulted in <a href="http://pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/ArticleLanding/2012/EM/c2em30643c#!divAbstract">elevated levels of heavy metals</a> in the water. Sewage and waste-water treatment plants along its banks are often old, leading to elevated concentrations of nutrients and other contaminants. </p>
<p>However, actually disrupting the river flow into the Selenga delta and Lake Baikal has the potential to cause untold damage to the lake and its life. Any lowering of the delta’s shallow waters will disrupt the spawning grounds of many endemic fish species – and other species, including birds and aquatic insects will lose their homes. </p>
<p>Biodiversity loss has the potential to degrade Baikal’s unique ecosystems, resulting in severe economic implications for local and regional economies. Such is the concern that several environmental NGOs such as <a href="http://www.transrivers.org/2015/1498/">Rivers Without Boundaries</a> and academics from Mongolia and Russia have lodged a request for the <a href="http://ewebapps.worldbank.org/apps/ip/Pages/ViewCase.aspx?CaseId=107">World Bank to be investigated</a> as they claim the bank is disregarding its own regulations by funding an assessment for a project on a unique river system that is home to endangered species. The Russian Security Council, which advises the president on national security issues, has also <a href="http://rbth.co.uk/news/2015/04/03/new_hydroelectric_facilities_in_mongolia_may_harm_lake_baikal_44973.html">voiced its concern</a>.</p>
<p>But Russia cannot be let off the hook either. In the early 1950s, a hydroelectric dam was built in the city of Irkutsk on the Angara River, Lake Baikal’s only outflow. On completion, the water levels of Lake Baikal increased by more than a metre, flooding almost 150,000ha of land, displacing 15,000 people and disrupting the Selenga delta spawning grounds. More recently, the Irkutsk dam has been implicated (along with lower than expected rainfall) in contributing to some of <a href="http://rt.com/news/227251-lake-baikal-low-water/">Lake Baikal’s lowest water levels</a> for several decades.</p>
<p>But these problems may pale into insignificance if the Shuren Hydropower Plant and the Orkhon-Gobi Water Diversion schemes in Mongolia get the green light.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40025/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anson Mackay receives funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council for research on detecting pollution in Lake Baikal and the Selenga River. </span></em></p>
Plans to dam Lake Baikal’s most important tributary could kick off an international dispute.
Anson Mackay, Professor of Environmental Change, UCL
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/36721
2015-01-26T16:50:42Z
2015-01-26T16:50:42Z
Russia’s borders: Mongolia looks to its old
Big Brother to counterbalance China
<p><em>This latest part of our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours focuses on the huge empty land of Mongolia, Moscow’s original Soviet satellite state in the 1920s. These days it sits on the verge of a mineral mining boom for anyone who can reach a deal with the government. With Western investments in doubt, David Sneath explains that Putin has been renewing old ties.</em> </p>
<p>Mongolia owes its political sovereignty to Russia. Despite some bitter memories of the Soviet era, Mongolians have not forgotten this fact. In 1911, as the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112846/Qing-dynasty">Qing empire</a> that ruled China collapsed, the “outer” portion of Mongolia <a href="http://countrystudies.us/mongolia/26.htm">declared independence</a> with Tsarist Russian support. </p>
<p>At first the newly independent nation was ruled by the head of the Buddhist church, the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m25DE10G3mg">Bogd Khaan</a> or “living Buddha of Urga [latterday Ulaanbataar]”, but in 1919 the capital <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupation_of_Mongolia">was occupied by</a> the Chinese warlord Xu Shuzheng. In 1920 the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/higher/history/russia/russiancivil/revision/1/">Russian civil war</a> spilled over into Mongolia when a <a href="http://spartacus-educational.com/RUSwhite.htm">White Russian</a> army led by the “mad baron” Ungern Sternberg <a href="http://www.brightreview.co.uk/ARTICLE-Urga-February-1921.html">attacked the</a> Chinese, taking the capital from them the following spring. </p>
<p>The Soviets reacted by sending troops in support of Mongolian revolutionaries to oust Sternberg the same year. After the Bogd Khaan died in 1924, they established the first Soviet satellite state – the Mongolian People’s Republic. </p>
<h2>Soviet-era Mongolia</h2>
<p>For much of the 20th century Mongolia developed along Soviet lines. A <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/148713/Cyrillic-alphabet">Cyrillic alphabet</a> was introduced and Russian was widely taught as a foreign language. Much of the elite went to university in the USSR or other <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/399860/Comecon">Comecon</a> countries. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=640&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70006/original/image-20150126-24510-18thbu9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=804&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Choibalsan: Mongolia’s Stalin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khorloogiin_Choibalsan#mediaviewer/File:Choibalsan.jpg">Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mongolia’s domestic politics mirrored that of its Soviet Big Brother. The 1930s saw purges, mass executions and the ruthless centralisation of power by “Mongolia’s Stalin,” <a href="http://www.ovguide.com/khorloogiin-choibalsan-9202a8c04000641f8000000000247626">Marshal Khorloogiin Choibalsan</a>. In 1939 a Japanese invasion <a href="http://www.historynet.com/mongolia-1939-stalins-shrewd-opening-act.htm">was repulsed</a> by a combined Soviet–Mongolian army led by the celebrated Russian general <a href="http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/georgy_zhukov.htm">Georgy Zhukov</a>, a victory that <a href="http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/8015/53/">is commemorated</a> to this day. </p>
<p>In 1952 Choibalsan was succeeded by the Russophilic <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1741088/Yumjaagiin-Tsedenbal">Yumaagiin Tsedenbal</a>, whose wife was Russian, and who followed Khrushchev in criticising his predecessor’s “cult of personality”. Relations with communist China were good until the <a href="http://novaonline.nvcc.edu/eli/evans/his242/notes/sinosoviet.html">Sino-Soviet split</a> of the 1960s saw Mongolia side with Russia. This led to an intensification of anti-Chinese sentiment and the return of Soviet troops. </p>
<p>Mongolia subsequently became entirely dependent on the USSR and Comecon for large-scale investment in urban centres, public services and industry, but it was not disappointed. Industry was developed, including the huge joint Russian-Mongolian <a href="http://www.erdene.com/assets/pdf/Erdene%20Cu%20Au.pdf">copper mine of Erdenet</a>, and national annual income <a href="http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2003/wp03217.pdf">grew at</a> around 5%-6% in the 1970s and 1980s.</p>
<h2>From Soviet satellite to third neighbour</h2>
<p>In the Gorbachev era, Tsedenbal was succeeded by the reform-minded <a href="http://www.edenhell.net/en/persons/detail/70595/">Jambyn Batmönkh</a>, who launched his own versions of glasnost and perestroika. Reform led to the remarkable <a href="http://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/mongolians-win-multi-party-democracy-1989-1990">bloodless revolution</a> of 1990 in which the ruling party simply resigned in the face of peaceful protest and introduced a multi-party parliamentary democracy. </p>
<p>But the USSR had supported Mongolia’s economy with a subsidy <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=orsMGx_2aHYC&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=Mongolia+Mineral+and+Mining+Sector+Investment+%26+Business+Guide&source=bl&ots=106dXlzuFG&sig=anjhj5pnsVYYGQsCsD7kIiLiqKY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=b1PGVPKgCoS07gb644DYDg&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Mongolia%20Mineral%20and%20Mining%20Sector%20Investment%20%26%20Business%20Guide&f=false">estimated at</a> 37% of the country’s GDP. As the Soviet system collapsed, Russia withdrew both its troops and its economic support. A <a href="https://www.erina.or.jp/en/Research/dp/pdf/0703e.pdf">“shock therapy”</a> campaign of privatisation saw most people lose out to a small rich elite as Mongolia was flung into a deep economic crisis. Incomes collapsed and unemployment soared. </p>
<p>The 1990s saw a political and public move away from Russia. The state turned to nationalism, which had been carefully regulated in the Soviet period, to create a new populist politics in the wake of the collapse of Marxist-Leninism. The imperial heritage of the great 13th-century conqueror <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/genghis-khan-9308634">Chinggis Khan</a> was glorified to an extent impossible in the Soviet period, since in Russian history he was seen as the notorious architect of the “Mongol yoke” of tartar rule. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70003/original/image-20150126-24546-dc97m3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mongolia’s central square was renamed after Chinggis Khaan in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.epa.eu/arts-culture-and-entertainment-photos/festivals-photos/chinggis-khaan-s-850th-birthday-photos-50595885">EPA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Mongolia adopted the <a href="http://asiasociety.org/korea/mongolias-third-neighbor-foreign-policy">“third neighbour” policy</a> – seeking political, economic and cultural connections with partners other than Russia and China, particularly the US, EU, Japan and South Korea. With Russia in <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11296233/Russian-economic-crisis-live.html">economic crisis</a> in the late 1990s, China <a href="http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/mng/">became</a> the country’s chief trading partner and a major source of foreign investment, much to the disquiet of the Mongolian public, who remained deeply wary of Chinese influence. </p>
<p><strong>Mongolian foreign trade</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=323&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/70032/original/image-20150126-24521-dyfspe.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Source: Mongolian Foreign Trade.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Putin’s charm offensive</h2>
<p>When Putin came to power, he took steps to repair relations with Mongolia. He visited the country in 2000, the first Russian leader to have done so since Brezhnev. Three years later he <a href="http://bnn-news.com/russia-writes-mongolia%E2%80%99s-debt-11431">wrote off</a> nearly 98% of an $11bn (£7.3bn) debt that Russian had claimed it was owed from the Soviet era.</p>
<p>In part this reflected Mongolian domestic politics. The <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389406/Mongolian-Peoples-Party">Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party</a> (shortened to Mongolian People’s Party since 2010) had been the ruling Communist-style party in the Soviet era. Although rebranded as a moderate socialist party fully committed to a market economy, it retained a relatively pro-Russian stance. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/711253/Nambaryn-Enkhbayar">Nambaryn Enkhbayar</a>, had the makings of a Mongolian Putin. He served as prime minister (2000-04) and president (2005-09). The personal chemistry between Enkhbayar and Putin was said to be good, and Enkhbayar took credit for the waiving of the national debt. However, the success of the more pro-western <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1006176/Democratic-Party">Democratic Party</a> in presidential and parliamentary elections in 2009 and 2012 cooled relations with Moscow and strengthened third-neighbour policies once more. </p>
<h2>A new courting season</h2>
<p>One of the country’s most important economic prospects is the enormous copper and gold deposit at Oyu Tolgoi in the Gobi desert that <a href="http://www.riotinto.com/copper/oyu-tolgoi-4025.aspx">has attracted</a> the Anglo-Australian multinational Rio Tinto. The prospect of a mining boom <a href="http://www.ceicdata.com/en/press/ceic-newslert-mongolia%E2%80%99s-foreign-direct-investment-crossroads">attracted</a> other foreign investment and created high hopes for rapid economic growth. </p>
<p>Yet wrangling between Rio Tinto and the government over the terms of the deal <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101227980">has stalled</a> the development, slowed the economy and led to public disillusionment. The Democratic president, <a href="http://www.president.mn/eng/president/biography.php">Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj</a>, has had to turn to his first and second neighbours for loans and bilateral trade agreements, receiving the Chinese premier Xi Jinping <a href="http://www.eias.org/asian-news-outlook/mongolia-and-china-upgrade-bilateral-ties-during-xi-jinpings-visit">last August</a> and Putin <a href="http://www.dw.de/mongolias-rebalance-towards-russia-and-china/a-17892498">in September</a>. </p>
<p>Although China is by far the bigger trade partner, Russia remains the more popular of the two, and Putin played his hand well. He agreed to visa-free travel between Russia and Mongolia to widespread satisfaction. The Mongolian public retains a certain amount of nostalgic sympathy for Russia and this has been strengthened by the recent flight of western investment. </p>
<p>Elbegdorj is now looking to Russia for further investment in the jointly owned railway network to benefit from continental trade with China. Neither the crisis in the Ukraine nor the Western chill towards Russia has had a serious impact upon Mongolian relations with its onetime Soviet ally. He may be persona non grata in Kiev, but Vladimir Putin is far from unwelcome in Ulaanbaatar.“</p>
<p><em>To read previous instalments from our Russia’s borders series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/search?q=russia%27s+borders">click here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36721/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David has received research grants from a number of funding councils, most of which are concerned with Mongolia. None are directly related to the subject matter of the article. The closest, in terms of topic, is a 2010 ESRC Research Grant as PI for a one-year project entitled "Where Empires Meet: The Border Economies of Russia, China and Mongolia" (Rising Powers Networks scheme). </span></em></p>
This latest part of our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours focuses on the huge empty land of Mongolia, Moscow’s original Soviet satellite state in the 1920s. These days it sits on the verge…
David Sneath, Director of the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit, University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/26722
2014-08-20T12:21:13Z
2014-08-20T12:21:13Z
China and Mongolia clash over how to exploit the Gobi desert
<p>The Gobi Desert in East Asia conjures images of a remote landscape, with nomads riding across the steppe. In fact, today it is home to herders and farmers, the world’s fastest-growing economy, vast copper and gold mines and is China’s main domestic energy source. The imagined expanses and agro-pastoral livelihoods exist alongside mountains of coal, modern cities, desert agriculture and environmental challenges to its viability and future well-being.</p>
<p>As Chinese president Xi Jingping arrives in Mongolia to discuss a series of <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/08/18/uk-china-mongolia-idUKKBN0GI0SW20140818">trade and energy deals</a> that would give Mongolia better access to global markets, it is worth looking at the shared desert that lies between Beijing and Ulaan Baatar. As the two nations work together, reconciling differences in the Gobi will be a major challenge.</p>
<p>At 2.3m km<sup>2</sup> the Gobi is the world’s third largest desert, covering most of Mongolia and much of northern China. Yet 25m people live in an area that stretches from the edge of Beijing to the Kazakh and Russian borders in the west and north. Across the Gobi, conservation reflects a shifting balance between human development and natural fragility.</p>
<p>Home to the world’s highest sand dunes (more than 300 metres), most of the Gobi is a dry gravel plain and sparse rangeland. The landscape challenges residents with extreme cold (to -40C), hot summers (to 40C), periodic droughts and minimal surface water. Humans drive the need for extensive groundwater use, particularly in China, where the government encourages farming even though annual precipitation is often less than 200mm.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/56919/original/rk22hkmv-1408536732.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=612&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The dunes can reach the clouds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/lupus83/1307094208/">Radek Krol</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This leads to competition for limited environmental resources between agriculture, cities such as Hohhot, Baotou and Urumqi (each more than 2m people), mining and traditional herding (Mongolia) and settled livestock-raising (China). Today the vast majority of water in Inner Mongolia – the autonomous Chinese province that borders Mongolia itself – goes for coal extraction and processing to meet China’s energy demands.</p>
<p>Conservation of the tenuous desert environment and rural livelihoods encounter several socio-economic forces and physical challenges. Though a shared landscape, the issues differ greatly between China and Mongolia as policy, culture, history and democracy/autocracy separate the neighbours.</p>
<p>In Mongolia water is essential for animals and household needs yet supply is obscured in shallow and deep aquifers that are difficult for locals to tap. Groundwater, essential for the desert’s new copper, gold and coal mining, requires money and technology to exploit and thus is pursued by regional and international mining companies. This results in conflict between local residents and businesses for limited water and raises issues of land use and livelihood viability among mobile herders, still the dominant lifestyle in rural Mongolia.</p>
<p>In China strong state control and intervention has resulted in a manipulated water system where farmers need swipe-cards to get allocated water, use of natural pastures for animals is restricted and ecological resettlement sees once-mobile herders settled in villages by government decree. Removal of livestock opens land for farming and most importantly, for profitable mining that often is owned, or directly benefits, local governments. Mining in the region has led to economic growth, jobs, pollution, land degradation, dust generation and settlements that lack basic infrastructure.</p>
<p>The notion of conservation and the role of nature in everyday life is integral to the Mongolian conception of the world whereas the Chinese model is focused on economic and infrastructure development irrespective of environmental impact. This splits the Gobi at the border; on one side roads, fencing, settlement, degradation and policy has ended free movement in China and sees the environment as something to be managed and exploited to ultimately benefit the several layers of government. </p>
<p>This leaves one to ask “what conservation” as water, land and vegetation are used for financial benefit, not as an inherent social good to protect. In Mongolia national parks comprise 13% of the country and species such as the Gobi bear, gazelle, marmot and Saker Falcon benefit from social conceptions of nature’s importance and varying degrees of protection.</p>
<p>Though a vast area, the Gobi’s harsh environment and intricate ecosystem make wide swathes of open land and limited human use of nature key to conserving flora and fauna. This means creating non-financial value for wild steppe and desert regions. Without care the environment can become less productive and potentially experience desertification. Preserving nature takes insightful policy, sustainable land use, recognition of environmental benefits and the support of rural and mining communities. </p>
<p>In the Gobi this takes place against Mongolia’s weak institutional framework and China’s all-powerful bureaucracy. While the Communist Party remains in power conservation will be sacrificed for perceptions of growth and social stability. The picture in Mongolia is more optimistic as history and cultural preferences favour a strong role for nature in Mongolia’s conception of the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/26722/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Troy Sternberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The Gobi Desert in East Asia conjures images of a remote landscape, with nomads riding across the steppe. In fact, today it is home to herders and farmers, the world’s fastest-growing economy, vast copper…
Troy Sternberg, Researcher in Geography, University of Oxford
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/6348
2012-04-16T20:20:58Z
2012-04-16T20:20:58Z
Beyond China: Australia and Asia’s northern democracies
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/9477/original/wbfxzrbg-1334117368.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Julia Gillard needs to do more to impress in South Korea.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Adam Gartrell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-in-the-asian-century-6391">AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY</a> – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Here, Dr Craig Mark - currently based in Japan - argues that with all the talk of China, we are at risk of ignoring more democratic powers in Asia’s north.</strong></p>
<p>Among all the attention given to Australia’s relationship with China, good relations with the other states of Northeast Asia are no less important. </p>
<p>Japan and South Korea are Australia’s <a href="http://apo.org.au/research/assessing-australia%E2%80%99s-trade-and-investment-asia">next largest export markets</a>, and unlike China, share Australia’s democratic political values. And the oft-overlooked Mongolia, experiencing a resource boom of its own, will be of great importance as we enter the Asian century.</p>
<h2>Japan</h2>
<p>The security relationship between Australia and Japan has steadily grown over the past two decades, to the extent that Japan is now Australia’s second-closest security partner, after the United States. </p>
<p>The ADF (Australian Defence Force) and JSDF (Japan Self-Defence Forces) have operated together in deployments as far back as the UN Cambodian peacekeeping operation in the early 1990s, again in East Timor, and in Iraq. </p>
<p>Joint naval exercises have increased, and both navies have cooperated in the multinational anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. More covertly, intelligence cooperation is believed to be increasing, particularly after Australia and Japan signed their first treaty-level defence agreement, the <a href="http://www.lowyinstitute.org/Publication.asp?pid=1486">Acquisitions and Cross-Servicing Agreement</a>, in May 2010.</p>
<p>Japan’s whaling program remains the main sticking point in its relations with the international community, and particularly with Australia, as the Sea Shepherd activist group uses Australian ports in its annual anti-whaling cruises. </p>
<p>The increasing expense for a declining catch and political pressure both within and outside of Japan may encourage the Japanese to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3449987.htm">abandon the program</a> altogether in future. Sadly, there is no indication of this at present.</p>
<h2>South Korea</h2>
<p>Since moving to democracy in the 1980s, South Korea’s economic growth has been of great importance to Australia, becoming our third largest export market. </p>
<p>Migration to Australia has seen the growth of a substantial Korean community. Korean students, working holiday makers and tourists provide a <a href="http://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/rok/brief_index.html">key component</a> of these valuable markets for Australia. </p>
<p>But in her recent trip to Korea for the Nuclear Security Summit, it appeared prime minister Julia Gillard was <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/gillard-strikes-wrong-note-with-ordinary-koreans-20120327-1vvsr.html">not as sensitive</a> to Korean concerns as would be desirable, seeming to ignore questions from Korean students.</p>
<p>South Korea, of course, always has to confront North Korea, whose WMD program is <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-10/seoul-warns-north-may-conduct-nuclear-test/3940210">potentially destabilising</a> for the whole region. Japan’s military has been on <a href="http://ajw.asahi.com/article/asia/korean_peninsula/AJ201204070055">increased alert</a> due to the recent failed North Korean rocket test. </p>
<p>The Japanese have deployed anti-ballistic missile systems to Okinawa, and increased JSDF forces in its southern islands overall.</p>
<p>While not directly involved, Australia certainly has an interest in strengthening non-proliferation measures against North Korea. We are after all a founding member of the <a href="http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL34327.pdf">Proliferation Security Initiative</a>, aimed at denying North Korea access to nuclear-related materials.</p>
<p>To this end, Australia should continue to press for nuclear arms control, counter-proliferation and nuclear security, as outlined in the <a href="http://icnnd.org/Pages/default.aspx">International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament</a>. </p>
<h2>Mongolia</h2>
<p>Often overlooked in the scope of Northeast Asian relations is Mongolia. A democracy since the end of the Cold War, with parliamentary elections due in June, the nation is presently undergoing its <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/21543113">own mining boom</a>. </p>
<p>Australian mining companies are <a href="http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2012-03-18/426208">already engaging</a> in joint ventures for exploration and in mines already under development. New opportunities are rising to pursue positive relations with this rapidly developing nation. </p>
<p>Indicating a desire to align itself more closely to the West, Mongolia has also <a href="http://www.centcom.mil/mongolia/">contributed troops</a> to the US-led multinational deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to UN peacekeeping missions in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Chad and the Congo.</p>
<p>Mongolia has long held an important strategic position between China and Russia, which remains a Pacific power via its Far East region. There is a large minority population across the border in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia, where there are more ethnic Mongolians than in Mongolia itself. </p>
<p>This had led to accusations that Mongolians in China have long had their <a href="http://the-diplomat.com/china-power/2011/06/13/why-inner-mongolia-matters/">rights and ethnic identity suppressed</a>, as with the Tibetans, and the Uighurs in Xinjiang province.</p>
<h2>Tricky territory</h2>
<p>As well as these conflicts, Japan has <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11687880">long-running territorial disputes</a> with Russia over the Kuril Islands, and with China over the Senkaku Islands. </p>
<p>Even more contentious is the maritime dispute over the South China Sea, primarily based around the <a href="http://oilandglory.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/04/03/will_china_climb_down_in_the_south_china_sea">Spratly Islands</a>. China claims the entire area as its territory, which is contested by Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan. </p>
<p>While Australia has no direct part in all these controversies, it does have very a real interest in ensuring the shipping lanes through which our most of our trade flows are not disrupted by any deterioration of the security situation in Eastern Asia. </p>
<p>Fortunately, at the moment most states in the region, including China, appear to be no less concerned about defusing these tensions diplomatically. </p>
<p>By remaining an active participant in the multilateral diplomatic institutions of the region, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) and the East Asia Summit, Australia can play its part in ensuring relations in our region remain peaceful. </p>
<p>But, given our <a href="http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/first-wave-of-us-marines-bound-for-australia-1.173446">increased military cooperation</a> with the USA, and with other nations such as Japan, there is a real danger we are taking sides in a looming contest between the “great powers” for hegemony in the Asia-Pacific.</p>
<p><strong>This is part three of Australia in the Asian Century. You can read other instalments by clicking the links below:</strong></p>
<p><strong>Part One: <a href="https://theconversation.com/want-to-get-ahead-this-century-learn-an-asian-language-6247">Want to get ahead this century? Learn an Asian language</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Two: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-great-untapped-resource-chinese-investment-6197">Australia’s great, untapped resource … Chinese investment</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Four: <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-than-a-farm-on-top-of-a-mine-australias-soft-power-potential-in-asia-6328">More than a farm on top of a mine: Australia’s soft power potential in Asia</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Five: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-lead-the-fight-against-asias-lifestyle-disease-epidemic-6239">Australia can lead the fight against Asia’s lifestyle disease epidemic</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Six: <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-needs-an-asian-century-institute-6217">Why Australia needs an Asian Century Institute</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Seven: <a href="https://theconversation.com/taming-the-tigers-tourism-in-asia-to-become-a-two-way-street-6198">Taming the tigers: tourism in Asia to become a two-way street</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Eight: <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-will-need-a-strong-constitution-for-the-asian-century-6249">Australia will need a strong constitution for the Asian Century</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Nine: <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-focus-on-skills-will-allow-australia-to-reap-fruits-of-its-labour-6306">A focus on skills will allow Australia to reap fruits of its labour</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Ten: <a href="https://theconversation.com/engaging-with-asia-weve-been-here-before-6455">Engaging with Asia? We’ve been here before</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Eleven: <a href="https://theconversation.com/china-india-and-australian-gas-who-controls-energy-in-the-asian-century-6243">China, India and Australian gas – who controls energy in the Asian Century?</a></strong> </p>
<p><strong>Part Twelve: <a href="https://theconversation.com/dealing-with-the-threat-of-deadly-viruses-from-asia-6504">Dealing with the threat of deadly viruses from Asia</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Thirteen: <a href="https://theconversation.com/defence-agreements-with-us-harm-australias-reputation-in-asia-6298">Defence agreements with US harm Australia’s reputation in Asia</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Fourteen: <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-asia-faces-climate-change-upheaval-how-will-australia-respond-6308">As Asia faces climate change upheaval, how will Australia respond?</a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Part Fifteen: <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-australia-can-become-asias-food-bowl-6202">How Australia can become Asia’s food bowl</a></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Mark is affiliated with Kwansei Gakuin University</span></em></p>
AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government. Here, Dr Craig Mark - currently based…
Craig Mark, Associate Professor of International Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.