Sunday, April 6, 2014

Why Is U.S. Defense Secretary Hagel Going To Mongolia?

Mongolia: More Than Just a Courtesy Call -- J. Berkshire Miller, The Diplomat

The significance of US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s visit to Ulan Bator this month should not be overlooked.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will touch down in Ulan Bator this month, marking the first visit of a defense secretary to Mongolia since Donald Rumsfeld toured the landlocked country in 2005. Hagel’s trip will be the tail end of an action-packed itinerary, with stops in Japan and China, where strategic anxieties remain high over their vitriolic row in the East China Sea. Mongolia, on the other hand, presents Hagel a less challenging atmosphere. But while U.S.-Mongolia defense relations may lack the intensity of Washington’s other networks in the region, the significance and potential of the partnership going forward should not be dismissed.

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My Comment: With only a population of 2 million .... who would notice? But it is more about the location of their country (sandwiched between China and Russia) that catches everyone's interest .... the U.S. included.

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