Dr. Takeshi Kohno is currently professor of political science at Toyo Eiwa University, Yokohama, Japan.  Before assuming the professorship, he was Deputy Director at International Security and Safety Coordination Division, and United Nations Affairs Coordination Division of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Previously he was Special Advisor/Senior Programme Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme in New York.  Other diplomatic assignments took him to Japanese Embassies in Timor-Leste and Indonesia. He also taught as associate professor of political science at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Tokyo, Japan. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University’s political science department after earning an MA from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio and BA in law from Doshisha University, Kyoto.