Examining the origin and development of the "Northern Territories"/Southern Kuriles sovereignty dispute, this volume is the first to take inspiration from the multilaterally resolved Åland conflict to investigate the possibility of a solution.

Kimie Hara is the Renison Research Professor in East Asian Studies and Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo, and a Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, Canada.

Geoffrey Jukes is a Senior Fellow of the Contemporary Europe Research Centre of Melbourne University and an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (Middle East and Central Asia) of the Australian National University.

Foreword James Kelly and Fumiko Halloran. Preface Kimie Hara and Geoffrey Jukes Introduction: Northern Territories, Asia-Pacific Regional Conflicts and the Åland Experience: Untying the Kurillian Knot Kimie Hara 1. The Autonomy of Åland and Conflict Resolution Elisabeth Nauclér 2. The Northern Territories Issue: Japanese-Russian Relations and Domestic Concerns in Japan Hiroshi Kimura 3. The Territorial Dispute between Japan and Russia: The "Two-island Solution" and Putin's last years as President Konstantin Sarkisov 4. The Cold War in East Asia and the Northern Territories Problem Nobuo Shimotomai 5. Can the Southern Kuriles be Demilitarized? Geoffrey Jukes 6. US Views on the Northern Territories Issue Richard Halloran 7. The Indigenous Ainu of Japan at the Time of the Åland Settlement Scott Harrison 8. Solving the Territorial Dispute between Japan and Russia: Åland Islands and Finland's Post-World War II experiences as Source of Inspiration Markku Heiskanen 9. Envisioning Åland-Inspired Solutions for the Northern Territories Problem Kimie Hara