The Role of Small States in Promoting International Security: The Case of Mongolia

Abstract

Multilateralism and preventive diplomacy are essential in productively addressing common interests and challenges, including issues related to nuclear security. Although the world knows about the successful negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal and the fate of the six-party talks to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, not much is known about the interaction of nuclear-weapon and nonnuclear-weapon states. A notable example of such interaction is the not so well known agreements reached by the five nuclearweapon states (P5) and Mongolia regarding the latter's nuclearweapon-free status and the significance of that status for efforts to strengthen regional confidence and predictability. Mongolia's case demonstrates that given appropriate political atmosphere and goodwill, great powers and small states can come to agreements that advance their individual and common interests.

Mongolian Hedging Strategy

“…At the same time, Mongolia started to stress its role as a corridor between Russia and China by means of railways, roads and pipelines. This is, for example, apparent in Mongolia's effort to predominantly focus its foreign policy on its two neighbouring states, thereby, preventing its possible isolation outside the regional economic integration initiated by China by means of the Belt and Road Initiative 7 project or Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (Jargalsaikhan, 2018).…”

Small is Not Vulnerable: India in Mongolia’s Third Neighbour Dilemma

“…Squeezed between gigantic Russian territory in the North and ever expanding Chinese domination in South and West, Mongolia is in critical search for a 'Third Neighbour' to hedge Mongolia from the overriding neighbourhood influence. Search travel within the empire and contributed to free and safe trade through the Silk Road corridor (Jargalsaikhan, 2018).…”

“…Several Chinese rebellions and weak Mongolian governance finally ended Mongolian control over Chinese territories (Zeidan, 2020). Towards the end of the 17 th century, Russian expansion had reached well into the lands of the Mongols (Jargalsaikhan, 2018). As the corona virus has been bothersome to the health and economy of the world today, 'Black Death', apparently emanating from Gobi desert area and traveling through silk route corridor of Mongolia, seemed to have caused devastating loss to human life, trade and economy as well as causing lasting blows to the Mongolian empire too.…”