Meanwhile, exports of valuable Mongolian products such as cashmere, leather, furs, suede, wool, carpets, raw materials, and even tourism are hampered by inadequate transport facilities. For at present, the only routes in or out of this landlocked nation are either through Russia or through China. And they lack cargo aircraft as well as primary aviation support services. From a political, sociological, and technical perspective, Mongolia is similarly isolated. Most foreign degrees in higher education have, understandably, been obtained in Moscow.
Most books are in Russian or at least in Cyrillic script.
And direct contacts with the West have been few. This appetite has, however, led to two hazardous tendencies. The second hazardous tendency is their inclination to draft laws that are overly detailed, overly comprehensive, and inflexible. It is as though they are trying to substitute one complete and absolute body of dogma with another. It is within this economic and political context that our delegation was privileged to witness what, despite Mongolia's problems, can only be described as their impressive and substantial strides toward a free and democratic political process.