ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the post-Cold War “cold peace” between Russia and Japan, marked by the two countries’ inability to conclude a peace treaty by resolving their territorial dispute over the Southern Kurils/Northern Territories and develop bilateral economic ties and unlock their substantial potential for mutual benefits. The chapter offers an eclectic explanation for this state of affairs, combining elements of neorealism, neoliberalism, and constructivism. The central argument is that the end of the Cold War opened up an ideology-free space for Russia and Japan to engage bilaterally (and regionally) in the political, economic, and security spheres, and to develop relations that reflect their status as major world powers, but the efforts have been constrained by their territorial dispute as this vestige of the Second World War and the Cold War has weighed heavily on their respective political and strategic interests, commitment to international norms and principles, and their marginally overlapping identities as Asia-Pacific powers.
