Mongolia's rich natural resource endowment offers an incredible opportunity to build new resource-based strategic alliances that facilitate the country's long-term social and economic development. Situated within a geopolitically charged region with Russia and China in the immediate neighborhood, Mongolia is keen to harness its mineral wealth to strengthen its "third neighbor" policy with countries such as the United States, Japan, India, and across the European Union (EU). Although Mongolia has not witnessed significant Western economic interest over the last three decades, shifts in Mongolia's trade relations are evident as the West actively seeks to decouple its mineral dependence from China. For Mongolia to exploit this opportunity to its advantage and foster a positive legacy for future generations, it will need to recalibrate its institutional fabric, improve regulatory structures and procedures, and work tactically to identify, embrace, and learn from past mistakes in the extractives sector.