I am a lecturer and researcher specializing in alliance politics, international security and diplomacy, and Japanese and American foreign policy. I currently hold appointments at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU), the Leiden Asia Centre (LAC), and the Centre for Security, Diplomacy, and Strategy (CSDS).
My work spans academic research and policy engagement. On the research side, I focus on Japan’s security and diplomacy, the U.S.-Japan alliance, EU-Japan relations, and Indo-Pacific security. I also contribute actively to policy debates through publications in The Diplomat, participation in Track 1.5 dialogues, and briefings for government audiences.
I previously served as a Presidential Management Fellow in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Japanese Affairs, as an Associate Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, and as a News Producer at TV Tokyo’s Washington, DC bureau.
I hold a Ph.D. in Political Science from MIT and a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. My dissertation, supported by the United States NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, examined the domestic political origins of alliances through historical cases from Japan. I have held visiting research appointments at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Social Science, and the Waseda University Institute of Political Economy.