Introduction:

Cooperation changes the world. The possibilities to cooperate have boomed since progress in logistics and communication transformed distances to an almost negligible factor and forwarded globalization. These new possibilities to cooperate come along with both: a chance and a necessity as they hold vast benefits but also urge states to engage in this process to keep up with a competitive world. Even if the opportunities to cooperate are basically given, cooperation cannot always evolve unhinderedly. Conflicts between the possible cooperation partners can occur and state obstacles which may hinder or even fully prohibit collaboration. Occasionally, these obstacles seem surprisingly small. Nevertheless, they may still have a significant impact, even on the biggest players. A phenomenon like that can be observed in the East China Sea. Here, the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and Japan, the world’s second and third biggest economies, are disputing about a small archipelago. A third party, the Republic of China (Taiwan), also expresses interests in the territory, yet its demands are left aside in the context of this paper which puts emphasis on Sino-Japanese relations. The Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands measure only 7 km² of uninhabited land. Considering the island’s size, the question that rises is: what motivations drive the parties to engage in this conflict? It would be a fallacy to derive insignificance from the island’s modest dimension. Despite its size, the island group has an impact on politics as well as on economics. What consequences are entailed? Are there any mechanisms that can help overcoming such obstacles?