evidence: At the Edge of the Nation: The Southern Kurils and the Search for Russia’s National Identity - About the Book - Debates over the remote and beguiling Southern Kuril Islands have revealed a kaleidoscope of divergent and contradictory ideas, convictions, and beliefs on what constitutes the "national" identity of post-Soviet Russia. Forming part of an archipelago stretching from Kamchatka to Hokkaido, administered by Russia but claimed by Japan, these disputed islands offer new perspectives on the ways in which territorial visions of the nation are refracted, inverted, and remade in a myriad of different ways. At the Edge of the Nation provides a unique account of how the Southern Kurils have shaped the parameters of the Russian state and framed debates on the politics of identity in the post-Soviet era. By shifting the debate beyond a proliferation of Eurocentric and Moscow-focused writings, Paul B. Richardson reveals broad alternatives and possibilities for Russian identity in Asia. [...] —Inner Asia - Paul B. Richardson casts a critical eye over the highly disputed Kuril Islands (Chishima in Japanese) in the North Pacific Ocean. Claimed and coveted by Japan, administered and occupied by Russia. While Europeans focus on the "near abroad" closest to their borderlands, this book reminds us that territorial visions are being made and remade in the Russian Far East. The "dots on the map" are integral to making sense of the how, what, and where of Russia. At the Edge of the Nation is an indispensable guide.