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Kuril Islands

NASA JSC/Science Faction/Getty Im ages

THE KURIL ISLANDS

Even the remotest sounding places can become objects of discord. In August, Russia and Japan clashed over the little-known southern Kuril Islands, located in the northeastern Pacifi c Ocean. Russian naval forces killed a group of Japanese fi shermen accused of conducting illegal fi shing and placed further strains on Russo–Japanese relations. Previously occupied by Japan between 1875 and 1945, the Kuril Islands were eff ectively handed to Stalin’s Soviet Union by Japan’s Second World War defeat. Soviet forces, which had occupied the islands and displaced the population of 17,000 Japanese residents, remained in place after the war. The Soviets didn’t sign the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Forces and Japan. While claims to the Kuril Islands were renounced by Japan under Article 2c, argument continues over what territories are implicated because earlier treaties established diff erent international boundaries over the archipelago. In 1956, the Soviet Union considered a return of two of the four disputed islands once a formal peace treaty was signed between both countries, but little progress was made. Soviet heel dragging was, in part, due to the strategic military bond between Japan and the USA. Resolving the dispute will be diffi cult. The sea surrounding the fog-bound islands is rich in fi sh and thought to contain gas and oil reserves, and tourism is on the rise. The islands are also strategically close to the Korean Peninsula, China and the USA – in the form of its stationed naval forces. And their fate is linked to national pride, with Japanese political leaders facing pressure from the national media and public opinion. Should Japan reclaim even some of the Kuril Islands, agreement over resource management and military

activity would be essential. Japan and its allies would have to concede that the islands would be kept free from military deployments. However, the prospect of resolution looks remote in the short term, despite improvements during the 1990s, including visa-free visitor exchanges involving the Russian-speaking Kuril Islanders and Japanese tourists. These were intended to facilitate relations between the two sides and allow Japanese citizens with family connections to visit the islands. Russia’s parliament has just approved a draft programme for further investment in the region, including a yearround airport. While further Japanese investment in Russian pipeline projects in Siberia might expedite matters, the Kuril Islands’ population is set to increase from the current 19,000 to 30,000 by 2015, with the Putin government off ering economic incentives to encourage more Russians to settle in the disputed Islands and thereby strengthen Russian sovereignty.

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� Klaus Dodds is professor of geopolitics at Royal Holloway, University of London

DECEMBER 2006 www.geographical.co.uk 15