Manabu Hiratsuka

Manabu Hiratsuka is a visiting fellow with Chatham House’s Asia-Pacific Programme and an expert on international security and military affairs. Since joining Japan’s Ministry of Defense in 2011, he has been involved with its international cooperation activities including Humanitarian Assistance / Disaster Relief and defense policy planning. He has previously authored Japan’s Defense White Paper.

Prior to joining the Ministry of Defence, Manabu completed a master’s degree at Nagoya University focused on participatory development and the effects of water privatization on the lives of the urban poor. He was involved with UN-HABITAT’s refugee support project in Uganda simultaneously.

He also holds a master’s degree on International Affairs and Asian Security from the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego, where his research focused on the transformation of the Chinese defence industry and the effectiveness of Area Denial in the Strait of Hormuz and South China Sea.

His third master’s degree on International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, focused on Chinese and Russian Arctic strategy.