This research will analyze the Senkaku/Diaoyu situation by looking at the relationship between the economic, political, social and cultural aspects of the dispute. The methodology used will be a review of various American, Japanese, Chinese and Korean authors that have written on the dispute. This literature review will allow us a more accurate assessment of the economic, political, social and cultural phenomena that influence the territorial dispute. Finally, this paper will contribute to the literature on the dispute through a discussion on the relationship that exists between the different dimensions, and particularly how each dimension influences the other. Economically, the expected reward is the oil and gas that is believed to be in the disputed area. However, we also find that as tensions over the islands rise, trade relations between the two countries are negatively affected. The need to preserve the economic benefits of trade stops the conflict from ever escalating beyond a certain point. The political relationship has been following a similar dynamic. Despite the use of acrimonious rhetoric, both countries proved willing to co-operate politically whenever the long term relationship was at risk. This leads us to conclude that the bilateral political relationship is largely at the service of the economic and trade relationship that exists between the countries. Yet, from this review, it is clear that what has most contributed to keeping the dispute alive are social and cultural factors and the impact they have on the domestic politics of both countries. Reviewing the economic and diplomatic aspects of the dispute, we often noted that patriotic sentiments have a strong impact on the development of events. The islands are a nationalistic symbol for conservatives in both countries, where politicians often use this symbol for their own domestic political advantages.