Takeshi Kohno

Dr. Takeshi Kohno is currently professor of political science, studying terrorism and transnational issues, at Toyo Eiwa University, a premier women’s university in 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. He was responsible for counter-terrorism coordination with United Nations and key regional powers, and regions responsible were Southeast Asia, South Asia and Africa. Previously he was Special Advisor and Senior Programme Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme in New York. As a UN senior official, Dr. Kohno managed $400 million annual contributions from the Japanese government for programs in Afghanistan, Sahel region, and global programs in international health and disaster response. He also assisted funding and communication partnerships with key donor nations in Europe. 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. During the time at GRIPS, Dr. Kohno won extensive research funding from Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) to conduct field research on Islamic education institutions in Southeast Asia, working with researchers from Universitas Islam Negri Syarif Hidayatullah in Indonesia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and the University of the Philippines. He was also a member of expert group on counter-terrorism in various government offices. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University’s political science department after earning an MA from Ohio University, Athens, Ohio and LLB from Doshisha University, Kyoto. His publications include, ”The Political Background of Islamic Education Institutions and the Reach of the State in Southeast Asia.” Studia Islamika (2009), “The Japanese Civilian Participation in Maritime Security in Asia.” Sam Bateman and Joshua Ho eds, Southeast Asia and Rise of Chinese and Indian Naval Power. Routledge, 2010.