Mark Goleman
The United States was one of the first western powers who, even as far back as 1946 and again in the early 1950s, intended to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia, which at the time was referred to as the Mongolian People’s Republic.
However, the struggle of the two competing systems and the existence of the iron curtain which was erected around the so-called “socialist camp”, to which the Mongolian People’s Republic belonged, did not allow for the implementation of such plans. It is indeed ironic that, the United States was one of the last major western countries to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia; that only came to pass in 1987.
In 1990 after a successful democratic revolution in Mongolia, the United States has become one of the main backers for democratic reforms in the country; and the relationship between the two states has been gaining momentum within the political, economic and social spheres ever since. At the present moment both countries attach a great deal of strategic importance to the relationship and the United States in general, has positioned itself as the “third neighbor” of Mongolia.
In this connection, it is interesting to see how cooperation has developed between the United States and Mongolia in such important sectors as the military and in military hardware-technology.
This relationship began in 1991 with the appearance of military attaches being posted at the embassies of both countries and evolved over two stages.
The first stage covers the years from 1991-1996 during which the Mongolian military actively studied English and when the first exchange visits for senior military commanders occurred.
So, in 1995 the first visit to the United States by the Mongolian Minister of Defense occurred, it was followed in 1996 by the deputy minister; in 1993 the Chief of the General Staff visited the United States. In 1992, 1994 and 1996 Ulaanbaatar hosted the naval Commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific.