Navigating Science Diplomacy in a Multipolar World: Analyzing Mongolia's International Research Partnerships through Clark's Triangle of Coordination

This study examines how the transition from hyperglobalization toward an increasingly multipolar and deglobalized world order reshapes international research collaboration opportunities for small developing states, with Mongolia as the empirical case. Drawing on Burton Clark's Triangle of Coordination, the study maps Mongolia's externally funded collaborative research partnerships across two contrasting periods —2005–2008 (hyperglobalization) and 2022–2024 (deglobalization) —using data from the Science and Technology Foundation of Mongolia and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, tracing shifts in partner composition, disciplinary scope, and the balance between basic and applied research. The findings reveal significant asymmetries in the strategic orientations of Mongolia's international research partners. Across both periods, Western engagement remained overwhelmingly concentrated in basic archaeological research driven by individual archaeological institutes and scholars. The deglobalization period has brought a more diversified landscape: China has emerged as a prominent applied research partner targeting shared environmental challenges, Russia has sustained exceptional disciplinary diversity rooted in Soviet-era institutional ties, and multilateral organizations — including the IAEA and APSCO — have introduced new pathways for engagement in strategically sensitive fields independent of bilateral geopolitical conditionalities. Applying Clark's Triangle reveals a research governance system strongly oriented toward the state–academe axis with minimal market integration — a Soviet-era configuration that provides a degree of coordination autonomy while chronic domestic underfunding compels institutions to accept externally driven research agendas serving foreign priorities rather than Mongolia's own developmental needs. The growing securitization of scientific research across the collective West raises important questions for Mongolia as a small buffer state situated between China and Russia —most critically, how it navigates the implications for its research security, intellectual property protection, and national sovereignty. The findings contribute to emerging debates on science diplomacy, small developing states, and the politics of knowledge production in an era of geopolitical fragmentation.