Mohri Tadaatsu. The Japan-Russia border and stability in Northest Asia: toward a pragmatic approach to territorial disputes

Paper, The Brookings Institution, Center for Northest Asian policy studies, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington D.C. 20036-2188, February 2011This paper will hold the Sino-Russian border demarcation between Russia and China as a successful example of efforts to create mutual trust and examine the role of cross-border cooperation in its context.
The U.S. has played and likely will continue to play a significant role with regard to the Japan-Russia territorial problem. This paper will also explore how the U.S. can contribute to the solution of this issue and how it will serve U.S. interests in the Northeast Asia.Finally, the paper will focus on the fight against cross-border crime as an opportunity to create trust between Japan and Russia. A focus on this common interest in fighting crime may reconcile conflicting interests of the countries involved in a given territorial disputes. Preventing crime is a very practical task, directly linked to people’s daily life, which can avoid political arguments in most cases.