00:00There's a country on Earth that keeps both China and Russia up at night.
00:04It lies north of China and south of Russia, sandwiched between two superpowers.
00:09It has the lowest population density on the planet.
00:12Its GDP is smaller than a single Chinese city.
00:16I'm talking about Mongolia.
00:17Some of you might think Mongolia is just a giant grassland.
00:21But it's way more interesting than it looks.
00:23Mongolia covers 1.56 million square kilometers,
00:27one and a half times the size of Japan.
00:30But its population is only 3.3 million.
00:34Fewer people than a medium Chinese city.
00:37Less than two people per square kilometer.
00:39Despite being sparsely populated, its geopolitical position is absolutely perfect.
00:45It sits right between Russia and China, the two largest land powers on Earth.
00:50Would Russia be happy if Mongolia fully aligned with China?
00:54Would China be happy if Mongolia fully aligned with Russia?
00:57The answer to both is no.
00:59So Mongolia has become the ultimate balancing act between two giants.
01:04It doesn't need to be rich or powerful.
01:06It just needs to exist.
01:08And both sides have to take it seriously.
01:11That is the survival wisdom of a small nation.
01:14And here's the thing.
01:15Mongolia actually has a lot of resources.
01:18Over 80 types of mineral deposits.
01:20Copper, coal, rare earth metals, gold, you name it.
01:25Asia's largest copper reserves.
01:27Second largest rare earth reserves in the world.
01:30Sitting on a gold mine, literally.
01:32The problem is technology.
01:34They don't have enough of it.
01:36So most minerals get sold to China.
01:3880% of Mongolia's exports are minerals, and 80% of those go to China.
01:43Annual trade reaches tens of billions of dollars.
01:46But here's the irony.
01:48The country Mongolia is most wary of is China.
01:51In 2016, Mongolia introduced its third neighbor policy, targeting the US, Japan, India, and South Korea.
02:01Translation, we want to keep our distance from both China and Russia.
02:05In 2017, the US Secretary of State visited and signed cooperation agreements.
02:11Some Mongolians called it, letting the wolf into the house.
02:15Could Mongolia fully pivot to the US?
02:18No way.
02:19The US is too far.
02:20Even if they wanted to, they just can't reach.
02:23So why bother with the third neighbor policy?
02:26Simple.
02:26They don't want to be squeezed to death by China and Russia.
02:30Mongolia, small as it is, doesn't want to be a pawn.
02:33This creates a surreal situation.
02:35Mongolia is both the safest buffer zone on China's border and the biggest wild card.
02:41Right now, China and Russia are friendly, so Mongolia doesn't matter much.
02:46But if that relationship ever changes, Mongolia's strategic value goes through the roof.
02:51And outside powers like the US, Japan, and India will certainly try to get involved.
02:57Mongolia is also a victim of air pollution.
03:00Olaanbaatar has unhealthy air quality for over 200 days a year.
03:04Coal burning for winter heating plus grassland degradation create dust storms.
03:10Half the dust comes from Mongolia's own desertification, half from northwestern China.
03:16Mongolia's pollution problem is half made in China.
03:19But China is suffering too.
03:21It's a mess nobody knows how to solve.
03:23Don't underestimate Mongolia.
03:25They never put all their eggs in one basket.
03:28On the surface, they're friendly with China.
03:30Behind the scenes, they flirt with the US.
03:32Openly, they sign deals with Russia.
03:34Then they discuss mining with Japan.
03:37Offend nobody.
03:38Trust nobody completely.
03:40Mongolia has two faces.
03:41One is a backward grassland nation living on herding.
03:45The other is a mineral powerhouse.
03:47Two cards to play.
03:49Cooperate with developed nations or negotiate resources with China and Russia.
03:54Call them poor.
03:55They have minerals.
03:56Call them weak.
03:57They have position.
03:59Call them irrelevant.
03:59They make two major powers sweat.
04:02Some cool facts you might not know.
04:04Mongolia is the last truly nomadic country.
04:08People still live in yurts and follow the seasons.
04:11There are more horses than people.
04:13Over 7 million nationwide.
04:15The military is only 10,000 strong but decently equipped with Russian tanks and fighter jets.
04:22Mongolian is the official language.
04:24Russian is widely spoken, but English not so much.
04:27And they use the traditional Mongolian script, different from the one used in Inner Mongolia, China.
04:34Here's the most mind-blowing statistic.
04:36Mongolia's GDP in 2023 was...
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