JAPAN AND RUSSIA BEGIN FORMAL PEACE TALKS TO END WORLD WAR TWO

Yes, you read that correctly: Japan and Russia never signed any formal peace treaty ending World War Two between the two nations. One would think that it's high time for them to do so, especially given the recent Russo-Japanese agreement to allow Russia access to Japan Credit Bureau's financial clearing in the western Pacific and East Asia. But no, according to Washington D.C., whose business it is none of, now is not the time:

Can’t keep 2¢ to self? US claims it’s ‘wrong time’ for long-awaited Russia-Japan peace treaty talks

What's interesting here is not only that Washington had to chime in at all - citing the Ukraine and Syria - as if the former is any concern of Japan's, and as if the latter situation of Washington-induced chaos in the oil-rich Middle East could be satisfactory to the Japanese government and oligarchy, dependent as that nation is on vast imports of energy. One need only imagine Japanese versions of The Worricker Trilogy - perhaps with the occasional "banzai!" thrown in for good measure - to get the idea. Japan will be polite, of course, and publicly choose its words very carefully about its Washington ally. Privately, they can't be too happy. As readers here know, the Japanese rearmament program of Mr. Abe's Government may, in the short term, be about helping out Washington in its "Pacific pivot"; but in the long term I rather suspect, and have consistently maintained, that it's as much about Japanese anxieties over Washington's abilities and commitments to protect that nation.  After all, the Japanese can watch tv and read the reports from Syria and the rest of the Middle East as well as anyone else, and the forceful Russian interventions there, versus years of American diplomatic and military fumbling, will pose a stark and evident contrast for Japanese policy-makers and strategic planners. It's a good time - being "country simple" about it once again - to "make nice with Russia."

As the article avers, the sticking point will be the Kurile islands:

The southern Kuril Islands remain the main obstacle to signing the peace treaty, as Japan doesn’t agree with the decision taken by Soviet, US and UK leaders to hand all of the Kuril Islands over to the USSR after World War II.

While Russia has made it clear that it will not negotiate over the Kuriles, and while Japan has equally quietly and stubbornly insisted that at some point the problem must be addressed, the issue will probably not impede either Japanese or Russian negotiation efforts. But the issue, as indicated, will come up. So how might Russia and Japan resolve it, to their mutual benefit? Here comes my high octane speculation of the day. As I have noted in previous blogs, while Russia and China have entered into large scale bilateral agreements regarding the development of energy and infrastructure in the vast - and vastly underpopulated - region of Siberia, Russia's geopolitical problem with the region, a problem persisting since the nineteenth century vis-a-vis Japan and China, is how to prevent its more populous, and now more economically powerful neighbor to the south, from dominating the region to such an extent that it becomes a virtual province, not of Russia, but of CHina.

Enter Japan, and the Kurile islands. It is possible, just remotely possible, that in return for heavy Japanese assistance in the development of the region, that a counterbalance to China could be achieved, and that a workable agreement of the gradual transfer of the Kuriles, or a part of them, back to Japanese jurisdiction over time could be negotiated.  One might even envision a dual-jurisdiction status for the territories could be in the cards. In any case, expect the negotiations of Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Kishida to be intense, and creative. Both nations have too much to gain from mutual cooperation, and too much to lose if they do not.

The bottom line? Expect some surprises from both Tokyo and Moscow.

See you on the flip side...

 

(My thanks to all of you who brought this development to our attention.)

Posted in

Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

8 Comments

  1. goshawks on October 17, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    I wonder if there are any just-submerged “atolls” in the Kurile Islands chain…



  2. DownunderET on October 17, 2015 at 2:08 pm

    If olive branches are being offered, what’s not to like. When was the last time Washington offered olive branches???, all they offer is destruction and mayhem. There isn’t a country on the planet that hasn’t “HAD IT” with Washington, so let the waters of diplomacy find their own level and get some common sense going in the world.
    Of course there is going to be differences of opinion, that goes with the territory, but let’s just see what comes out of these talks, and hope they prevail.



  3. basta on October 17, 2015 at 9:24 am

    Just the other day I read an article on Sputnik about Russia “flight testing” their new SU-34s over the Kurils and thought, “Well, they sure aren’t about to give those islands up, are they?” and I still think this is the case, doubly so now that I know exactly why they flew those jets there, then, and then published it to boot.

    No, Russia isn’t going to budge on the Kurils as far as I can see. Why should they? Japan is hardly in a position to threaten them, and the Russians are bargaining from a position of strength and right now would not be in the most magnanimous of moods with US toadies, all things considered. After all, Japan is a US satrapy and has no offensive military capabilities to speak of, though Abe pines for them.

    And as for the US butting its nose in, Who asked them, anyway? Not only incompetent but also obnoxious, pushy boors to boot.

    Maybe Germany will also finally start negotiations to end its occupation, as well.



  4. WalkingDead on October 17, 2015 at 9:14 am

    The intent, which we see coming to fruition before us today, is to divide the world into ten economic regions, each with its own ruling body, which will then report to the world government.



  5. marcos anthony toledo on October 17, 2015 at 8:43 am

    Another leftover mess from WW2 along with Korea that festers in that area. Made in the UK-USA when will these two idiots leave the rest of the World to settle their problems among themselves without outside interference for once.



  6. kitona on October 17, 2015 at 8:09 am

    Admittedly, I do not know anything about the Kirile Islands (where are they exactly? what’s the population? any minerals? etc)…

    But having said that, Russia has plenty of land. If they can extract anything of value from Japan in a negotiation then it would seem likely that they’d be willing to give the islands back.

    Anybody have any insights?



    • Rad on October 22, 2015 at 11:38 am

      Kurile islands are a sort of barrier that protect the harbour where Russian fleet (including her nuke subs) of Far East (Pacific) is based. Russian won’t give up on them even if Japan will be its close ally.
      It will give up on them only if forced.
      Russian empire have territories taken by force in the past from pretty much every neighbor and that’s why is so easy to be encircled, nobody likes them to much.

      Japan have a culture based on honor, and even if they don’t particularly have any strategic goals with those Kurile island they cannot accept that they were taken like that from them, and that Russia rubs that in their face at every turn, sometime directly sometime more subtle.

      Is not even needed for US to push Japan into having cold relations with Russia (or is no need to push much any other ones) because the Russian politics by themselevs cause such response from her neighbors.



  7. DanaThomas on October 17, 2015 at 7:27 am

    In international politics, there is no matter that cannot be negotiated. Just as there is no treaty or convention that cannot be invalidated when “the time is ripe”.



Help the Community Grow

Please understand a donation is a gift and does not confer membership or license to audiobooks. To become a paid member, visit member registration.

Upcoming Events