Customer Reviews

Modern Mongolia: From Khans to Commissars to Capitalists

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Professor Rossabi may be a fine historian, but his foray into political and economic developments in post communist Mongolia is a disappointment. The book is billed as covering the period up to 2004. However, much of the narrative is caught in a time warp, c. 1997. Having plowed through many of the same development reports on Mongolia that are regularly cited in the text, I noted a disappointing tendency for the author to "stack the deck," eagerly emphasizing any item that supports his thesis (that virtually everything that has happened in Mongolia since the fall of communism has been an unmitigated disaster) while ignoring or discounting any views or evidence to the contrary. For example, his account of the privatization of both Trade and Development Bank and the Agricultural Bank (Xaan Bank) is unreliable. Similarly, there is no mention of survey research through 2004 showing that four out of five Mongolians continued to support the political and economic transition--an astonishing high figure in any post Soviet country and especially in Mongolia, where some elements of the transition have indeed been difficult. I started this book hoping that it would be the badly needed "classic account" of Mongolia during the post communist period, one that is nuanced and recognizes complexity. Unfortunatley, this one dimensional account of post communist Mongolia fails to deliver.

Modern Mongolia is an excellent book: balanced, easy to read and very insightful. I believe Dr. Rossaby deserves applause for being able to formulate in such a structured way all that new rulers (both Democrats and MPRP) and their advisors (USAID and IMF) inflicted on Mongolia and its people.

For years, rumors and accusations of misappropriation, corruption and erroneous policy decisions floated within the Mongolian society. And the evidence of those stared bluntly into one's face in form of new houses and prosperous companies being owned by government officials, and dire poverty into which almost 1/3 of the population descended. This book brilliantly showed that both Democrats and the MPRP essentially pursued same policies, and one was as corrupt as the other.

More importantly, this book criticized the "help" of the donor community. For too long Mongolia remained the darling of the US and IMF for implementing their advice without question. And for too long the donors lip-served the government on their "achievements". At the same time, the government was constantly undermined by the donors' insistence on certain policies, the benefits of which to the country sometimes were, at best, doubtful.

This book sets the precedent for structured criticism of donor activities in Mongolia. It adds a strong voice to growing demands for reassessment of current policies and priorities.

As a Mongol myself, I am sick and tired of foreigners painting a rosy picture of Mongolia's "democratization", it is time for a book like this!

Professor Rossabi's book on the transition years in Mongolia is the best that there is on this subject. And his account of the suffering wrought by the harsh "reforms" pushed on Mongolia by the donor community and the IFI's is spot on. Not surprisingly, he also angered many individuals who were directly or indirectly implicated by his book. My guess is that at least some of these individuals, writing anonymously as "Skeptical" and "The World", have chosen to trash the book without disclosing who they are. Professor Rossabi's book is a brilliant and detailed account of the transition years - and I highly recommend it.

The Following link is the review of the book by Baabar, a Mongolian politician who actually participated in the 1990 democratic revolution of Mongolia. Baabar says "Modern Mongolia" by Morris Rossabi is full of incorrect information and it should not be considered as a history book but a fiction. English translation will be posted soon.

This is the only book that comprehensively details the history of the post socialist period. However, it is extremely biased and ideological. The author presents every thing that happens through his anti-capitalist anti-IMF perspective. The book suffers from a complete lack of nuance and perspective. While I read it and found it useful at times, it was a slog and often infuriating in its lack of understanding and nuance. I live here in Mongolia and am very interested in its history, so I read it, but I had to grit my teeth to finish it.

While some of his critiques of the changes brought after end of the socialist period are legitimate, he fundamentally misunderstands the nature of the transition. He fails to understand that the changes were necessary because the old system was fundamentally flawed and in the end it self-destructed. For example, he faults the international financial institutions (IMF/World Bank/ADB, etc) for "forcing" a reduction in social spending missing the point that while social spending under the socialist period had some extremely positive outcomes (dramatic improvements in health care, education, etc), the government did not have a choice. The old system left the Govt broke and massively in debt to the Russians. The socialist system was fiction. Not only was the Mongolian govt massively broke and hugely in debt to Russia (something like 8 times their national GDP if I remember correctly - Mongolia is still paying it off today), but the entire basis of their economy collapsed with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Another example is his critique of the privatization of the herds. He makes it sound like the Socialist period of collective herds was really great. Except that every herder I have spoken to, hates that period. Yes, privatization has led to some serious problems, and the collective approach had some benefits, but the people themselves prefer the new system by a wide margin. A point lost in the authors anxiousness to critique privatization.

There are legitimate and serious critiques that can be made about the world's response to Mongolia's predicament, but this book completely misses the target. In the end, if you are really interested in learning about the post-socialist period, then you should read it (but with a healthy dose of skepticism).

Morris Rossabi's Modern Mongolia is an excellent book, an essential read for the development assistance community and a fascinating source for any serious student of comparative politics, international relations, and the history of nation-building in Asia. Rossabi writes from a unique vantage point. As a major historian of China and Mongolia with extensive firsthand experience in the region, he is able to draw upon an extraordinary range of materials to present his analysis of Mongolia in the post-Soviet era. At the same time, this role allows him enough distance from his central subject--the impact of the shock therapy, pure market approach to development--that he can provide an assessment based not on policy intentions but on actual results. And, as he so convincingly demonstrates, rapid, across-the-board privatization with minimal state involvement has resulted in serious degradation of social services, growing income disparities, and deepening poverty, particularly within Mongolia's traditional herding community. This is hardly the outcome desired by any of the people involved in shaping Mongolia's development programs. Rossabi's biggest contribution is to encourage government planners and outside aid donors alike to come up with more Mongolia-specific, innovative solutions in the face of obvious setbacks, solutions that take as a starting point ensuring a minimum safety net for the poor and building the institutional capacity within government to monitor and implement enterprise development efforts. As a China-Japan historian who spent a decade working on World Bank China projects (including the preliminary study for the southwest China poverty reduction project), I find Rossabi's arguments for a history and institutional knowledge based approach to development planning most refreshing. If Modern Mongolia serves to excite discussion and debate, so much the better for Mongolia's future.
Paula Harrell

I find the comments below by Mr. Bikales disingenuous in light of his position as an economist for the Asian Development Bank, one of the donor organizations responsible for the debacle in Mongolia. Not only does he fail to acknowledge his vested interest in Mongolian development, he makes several specious allegations in an attempt to undermine the character and credibility of the author of "Modern Mongolia." Mr. Rossabi does not have a private plane or live in lavish comfort in New York. His interests in the situation in Mongolia stems from his deep knowledge of Mongolian-Chinese relations and Mongolian history and culture having studied and lectured on these subjects for nearly 40 years. Mr. Rossabi is deeply committed to social and economic justice in Mongolia (and the world in general), and the way he lives his life is a reflection of that.

Mr. Bikales is right about one thing though, Mongolian political leaders do live in the real world - unfortunately that world is often controlled by more powerful invested donors and agencies.

"Modern Mongolia" is the most comprehensive and thoughtful assessment of the situation to date. You may want to read "Bounty from the Sheep" a wonderful autobiography of a nomadic herder translated by Mr. Rossabi's wife, Mary Rossabi, for a more personal look at the plight of the newly "liberated" and thereby impoverished people of Mongolia.

Darren Byler, Grad. Student, East Asian Studies, Columbia University

Dr. Rossabi's account of Mongolia's recent history is a compelling read and excellent starting point for anyone interested in this remote country. This book's well-researched and factually accurate narrative of events and people will prove to be invaluable experience for both researchers and casual readers of contemporary history in the region. Dr. Rossabi's criticism of international donor organizations is well-argumented and long-deserved. It is a welcome change from endless rhetoric and self-righteousness of "experts" and "consultants". Highly recommended!!!

P.S. to "Sceptical": 4 out of 5 Mongols would like to see better reforms and more equitable changes in society, and any support for further changes does not indicates endorsement of policies thus far implemented by both Government and international donor community.

Morris Rossabi has now provided us with a book that is simultaneously the best account of recent Mongolian history and also the best critique of development run amok thanks to the misplaced goals of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other authorities. The book is gripping, it reads like a novel, and frightening in view of what we may be doing to other countries besides Mongolia in the name of globalization and promotion of the market place. Especially noteworthy is the range of source materials employed, including an extremely large collection of interviews with participants, as well as the usual articles, books, statistical collections, etc. This is must reading for anyone interested in Mongolia and in the world we live in.

Paul D. Buell

For those of us who have written and spoken out about the dangers of globalization, there has long been a need for serious, carefully researched, sympathetic and nuanced case-studies highlighting the origins, processes and impacts of neo-liberal economic transitions. With the publication of Modern Mongolia, Morris Rossabi offers the gift of such a case study. For persons critically attuned to the worldwide application of 'cookie cutter' development models by powerful governments and multi-lateral lenders, but less familiar with specific Mongolian cultural and institutional contexts, this book is a most interesting and welcome contribution. Under cover of international indifference, Rossabi details beautifully how collapsing economic and political structures combined with ideologically zealous and often arrogant development agencies to create the 'poster child' of globalization run amok.