Only in 1992 Mongolia started building an integrated system of legal regulations covering all aspects of security, armed forces and defense issues. Under the former socialist system, these questions were handled in the form of decrees issued by the Politburo of the MPRP and the Council of Ministers. This structure now being defunct, legal provisions had to be designed to fill the vacuum. The first and most significant step was to cover all basic aspects of national security and defense in appropriate articles in the Constitution promulgated in February 1992, the Law on the Defense of Mongolia was adopted in 1993, and in 1994 the State Great Xural adopted a document called ``Fundamentals of the Military Doctrine of Mongolia''. The Doctrine puts forward the principles of conformity with universally recognized principles of international law, and in particular Mongolia discards the use of force or the threat to use force as a means of settling disputes. Furthermore it will not participate in wars and conflicts unless it falls victim to foreign aggression. Mongolia shall fulfill her UN Charter obligations and support UN activities
by dispatching observers and/or by offering its good offices, mediation and conciliatory services; (p. 44)Mongolia will not be part of any Military alliance unless the independence and sovereignty of Mongolia is directly threatened, and will strictly adhere to the policy of not allowing foreign troops to enter, be stationed in or pass through the national territory in the absence of relevant Mongolian legislation. Formal agreements on military-to-military cooperation have been signed with the United States of America and at least 15 other regional and international partners including Japan, Kazakstan, India, France and Germany.
The White Paper offers detailed information on the structure of the defense system, Mongolia's framework of international cooperation, its defense budget and its personnel, and reveals an outline of the armed forces and their mission, structure and organization. It offers additional information on civilian activities of the armed forces (Construction Corps), and shows trends and pending issues like linking defense expenditures to a fixed percentage of the GNP (following Japan's example).