Resolving the Russo-Japanese territorial dispute : Hokkaido-Sakhalin relations / Brad Williams.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, Brad, 1969-

Series:

Nissan Institute/Routledge Japanese studies series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International relations.

Kuril Islands (Russia)--International status.

Kuril Islands (Russia).

Hokkaido (Japan)--Relations--Russia--Sakhalin (Sakhalinskai͡a oblastʹ).

Hokkaido (Japan).

Sakhalin (Sakhalinskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)--Relations--Japan--Hokkaido.

Sakhalin (Sakhalinskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia).

Russia (Federation)--Foreign relations--Japan.

Russia (Federation).

Japan--Foreign relations--Russia (Federation).

Japan.

Physical Description:

xvi, 223 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2007.

Summary:

The unresolved territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the Northern Territories/South Kuril Islands remains the largest obstacle to concluding a peace treaty and fully normalising bilateral relations between the two nations. The book traces the evolution of transnational relations between subnational public authorities in Hokkaido and Sakhalin, examining the relationship between these ties and the Russo-Japanese territorial dispute.

The book investigates why the development of Hokkaido-Sakhalin relations failed to create, at the subnational level, an environment conducive to resolving (kankyo seibi) the Northern Territories/South Kuril Islands dispute during the 1990s. Brad Williams suggests that kankyo seibi did not work primarily because Russia's troubled transition to a liberal democratic market economy manifested itself in ways that ultimately increased the South Kuril Islands' intrinsic and instrumental value for the Sakhalin public and regional elite. This in turn had limited the impact from the twin transnational processes of cultural and economic exchange in alleviating opposition to the transferral of these disputed islands to Japan.

Drawing upon a wealth of primary and secondary sources from both countries, this book utilises levels of analysis and an analytical framework that incorporates national and subnational, as well as governmental and non-governmental forces to discuss a relatively unexplored aspect of Russo-Japanese relations. As such, Resolving the Russo-Japanese Territorial Dispute will appeal to students and scholars of Asian politics, international relations and post-communist states.

Contents:

Introduction : subnational governments as international actors

Tokyo, Moscow and the disputed islands

Determinants of Russian and Japanese subnational diplomacy and the rise of the 'Sakhalin factor'

Hokkaido-Sakhalin transnational relations

The Sakhalin political elite and the South Kuril Islands

Sakhalin public opinion and the South Kuril Islands

Sakhalin's commercial environment and local trade

Conclusion : Yeltsin, Putin and the 'Sakhalin factor'.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [195]-216) and index.

ISBN:

9780415413213

0415413214

9780203960998

0203960998

OCLC:

76074231