MARIEHAMN, Finland -- It was cruel irony that the Aug. 16 killing of a Japanese fisherman by Russian security forces in the Northern Territories took place just as a group of Japanese and Russian scholars and former government officials were meeting with a group of Alanders to discuss possible creative solutions to the territorial dispute.

Aland is an autonomous, demilitarized Swedish-speaking island nation incorporated in the broader Finnish state with a unique set of constitutional guarantees aimed at preserving its unique status. It served as a willing host for the Northern Territories dialogue, not only because it is proud of its history and eager to serve as an example for others but also because it constantly seeks greater international awareness, and reaffirmation, of its neutral status, which dates back to a post-World War II solution imposed on the Alanders (and Swedes) by the League of Nations.

The Northern Territories issue has a decidedly different history. It was born as Soviet forces occupied four islands in the closing days of World War II, deporting the roughly 17,000 Japanese that resided there. The Russians claim there is no territorial dispute since the Japanese, at the San Francisco peace talks following the war, renounced their claims to the Kurils. Tokyo says the islands are part of Japan, not the Kurils -- a position Washington supported throughout the Cold War.