Education

2024 Hitotsubashi University, Graduate School of Law, Japan, PhD candidate
2017 The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA
2010 Concordia University, Canada

Professional Experience

Mao Takahata joined the Japan Institute for International Affairs in 2024 as a Research Fellow at the Center for Disarmament, Science and Technology.
In her previous positions at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), she was mainly responsible for emergency response in conflict zones and natural disaster sites, protection work including compliance with international humanitarian law, and external relations to promote the entry into force and universalization of the CTBT. In 2016, she assumed the position of Head of Office at the ICRC East Malaysia Office, where she was responsible for project planning, budget management and strategic planning. As an advisor to the Secretariat of the International Peace Cooperation Headquarters of the Cabinet Office in Japan and a research fellow at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), she also contributed to a research group on emerging technologies.

Publications

• 2022 “The pre-history of enactment of the Act on Cooperation with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Other Operations", Researcher's Note, PKO Secretariat, Cabinet Office, Government of Japan
• 2021 “Advancing Nuclear Test Verification without Entry into Force of the CTBT”, Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, Vol 4, 2021,Issue 2 (peer-reviewed).
• 2017 “Japan’s Nuclear Geopolitics” (Fletcher School Master's Capstone project).

Associations/Memberships

Mao was a cohort for the AILA International Fellowship at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA, in September 2018.