dispute. I present my analysis under three headings: economic issues; security considerations; and domestic political factors. … Greater cooperation with Russia to counter China’s influence is also in Japan’s interest. But the Northern Territories dispute remains a hindrance to deepening RussoJapanese security ties beyond the current cooperation on search and rescue. Despite a growing rapprochement between Russia and Japan, on August 22, 2013, two Russian …
Although Japan and Russia have economic and security incentives to agree to a compromise settling the sixty-nine-year-old Northern Territories dispute, domestic political concerns pertaining to nationalism remain the key impediment to resolution.