Mitsuru Yamada is a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Waseda University. Yamada is a president of Japan Society for Humanitarian Action Studies, Co-director of Japanese Studies program at Vietnam-Japan University, VNU Hanoi, and a vice president of the Association of Japan-Timor-Leste. Yamada earned a Ph.D. in political sciences from Kobe University and an M.A. in international relations from Ohio University (USA). Her recent publications include The Trilogy for Peacebuilding: Beyond Obstacles of Democratization, Development and Peace (Japanese: Akashi-shoten, 2021; co-authored, Springer,2023); Introduction for International Cooperation: How to create the world peace (Japanese: Tamagawa University Press, 2024) , Governance and Peace in Asia II (Japanese: co-authored, Yushindo,2025).
Kazumi Abe, Ph.D. is an assistant professor at the Faculty of International Politics and Economics, Nishogakusha University. Abe holds a Ph.D. in Social Sciences from Waseda University. Prior to entering academia, she worked as a research fellow in Institute of International Studies, Department of International Relation, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gajah Mada University in Indonesia, an electoral advisor in The United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT), and an official for Bureau of Defense Policy, Japan Ministry of Defense. Her major publications include The Chaotic Independent Movement in West Papua: Whereabouts of the struggle for “the land of peace” (Japanese: Akashi Shoten, February 2022).