Territorial Disputes in Northeast Asia in Russia’s Pivot to Asia-Pacific

This paper is set to explore the Russian policy of pivot to Asia-Pacific and its role of managing the territorial disputes in Northeast Asia. Since Northeast Asia as well as the entire Asia-Pacific has been dominated by the United States after the end of the Second World War, Russia has never been a primary player in the region. Russia’s role could be seen as relatively passive and weak under the regional structure that was created by the United States. However, with the relative decline of the American power, it seems that a resurgent Russia could have a chance to redefine its great power status in the regional structure of the Asia-Pacific. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to assess the degree of influence Russia’s pivot to Asia-Pacific can exert upon the state of territorial disputes in Northeast Asia. Finally, this paper would argue that as long as the U.S.'s regional structure still exists in the Asia-Pacific, Russia could upgrade its instruments to manage the territorial disputes in Northeast Asia, but it would still be relatively passive to exert its great power identity in the Asia-Pacific.