Word: mongolia
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Inside a fenced government compound in the heart of Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital, a traditional felt tent, known as a ger, rests on the concrete square. Inside the ger stands Mandakh Jiguur, 28, an artist who has abandoned his oils and watercolors for a higher calling: private enterprise. Spiritedly, he moves between the eight tables, pushing sausages, vodka and smoldering Mongolian hot pot on his customers. Jiguur heaves a sigh of relief that this day the authorities did not arbitrarily shut down his bar. "One day they tell you to stand up and start a business," says Jiguur...
Call those meddlesome government officials Mongolia's past and the enterprising Jiguur the future. The present is just as Jiguur experiences it: a country trying, by fits and starts, to make a graceful transition from orthodox communism to something approximating democracy. Since last December, reform-minded Mongolians have been pressuring their leaders for ever faster economic and political change. In response, the ruling Communist Party has opened Mongolia's doors to foreign investment and ceded its monopoly on power, giving rise to more than a dozen pro-democracy parties. Activists insist that the changes are merely cosmetic. But measured against...
Perhaps what surprises most about Mongolia's quiet revolution is how peacefully it is unfolding. Mongolia, after all, is the homeland of Genghis Khan, who seven centuries ago led one of history's most notorious tribes of warriors. Twentieth century Mongolian history has not been much kinder. Economic stagnation, diplomatic isolation and political repression have withered the nation of 2 million since it fell into Moscow's orbit in 1921. The most basic commodities are in scarce supply -- even meat, despite the fact that Mongolia has more than six times as many sheep as people. Half the meat production...
Against that backdrop, the gains of Mongolia's revolution seem breathtaking. Prodded by Moscow and local reformers, the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party has gingerly embraced shinechiel (renewal), the local version of perestroika. Last March, Ulan Bator opened its doors to foreign investment after the government approved a law that guarantees unlimited and tax-free repatriation of profits for investors and joint ventures. The results seem promising. The Gobi Cashmere Factory already produces garments for Japanese and European markets, and Japanese, European and U.S. traders are talking about joint ventures...
...about half the total of 174, have offered to resign in anticipation of an extraordinary party congress scheduled for next month that will select a new President. Both Batmonh and Prime Minister Dumaagiyn Sodnom, 56, have reportedly volunteered to quit their government posts when the People's Great Hural, Mongolia's parliament, next convenes. The government has also agreed to include the opposition in a commission that is to draft a new constitution...