Hiroyasu (Hiro) Akutsu is professor of International Politics and Security Studies at Heisei International University. He was previously head of policy simulation at the National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS). He specializes in policy simulation and wargaming; political and military affairs in and around the Korean Peninsula; security issues in Northeast Asia; security cooperation between Japan and Australia; Japan-U.S. alliance; defense cooperation between Japan and the European Union; open-source information analysis and strategic operations research (OR).