Mayumi Fukushima
Assistant Professor of Politics
Associations
Politics
Asian Studies
About
Mayumi Fukushima is a political scientist specializing in international security, particularly in the areas of security alliances and nuclear weapons. Her teaching interests include international politics of East Asia, nuclear politics, and technology and international conflicts, among others.
She is currently working on a book project on asymmetric international security alliances, in addition to two research projects on nuclear extended deterrence and nonproliferation. Her research has been published in War on the Rocks, International Affairs, The National Interest, and The American Interest, among others, and it has been supported by various funding organizations including the Charles Koch Foundation, the Stanton Foundation, the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Murata Science Foundation, and the Ito Foundation for International Education Exchange. She has also held academic fellowships from the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs of Harvard Kennedy School, the RAND Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for International Studies, and Yale University’s International Security Studies Program.
She came to Bates College from Harvard University, where she was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the International Security Program of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before her academic career, she served as a Japanese career diplomat with responsibilities related to national security issues and U.S.-Japan security cooperation.
Courses:
- PLTC171 International Politics
- PLTC 213 Great Power Politics
- PLTC 261 Nuclear Politics
- PLTC 283 International Politics of East Asia
- PLTC 322 Technology and International Conflicts
Expertise
Current Courses
Winter Semester 2026
International Politics
This course explores some of the structures and processes that organize world politics, including the system of sovereign states, international organizations, global economic forces, and the varied ways religion, gender, and race form nation-states and shape their identities and interactions. To exa…
Technology and International Conflicts
This course aims to examine how technology affects international conflicts at political, economic, and military levels. New dual-use or military technologies can alter the way militaries fight one another in a profound way. New civilian technologies can disrupt trade markets to cause interstate disp…
Senior Thesis
Discussion of methods of research and writing, oral reports, and regular individual consultation with instructors. Students undertake a one-semester thesis by registering for PLTC 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both PLTC 457 and 458. Prerequisite(s): one 300…
Short Term 2026
Ethics of the Use of Force
What laws, rules, and norms govern war and the use of force? How have societies differed in what state behavior they reject or accept? Why do states often violate these rules, and under what conditions do they comply? This course’s readings and class activities will examine the Just-War Ethic in l…
Fall Semester 2026
International Politics of East Asia
This course examines the sources of conflict and cooperation in international relations and assesses competing theoretical explanations for key events in East Asia after World War II. East Asia is home to one fifth of the global population and hosts three nuclear weapons states, three virtually nucl…
Great Power Politics
This course examines various theories of war and peace among great powers and discusses the grand strategies of the United States, Russia, and China, as well as the political, economic, and military tools in their toolkits for maintaining and augmenting their power and privileges. It also assesses h…
Senior Thesis
Discussion of methods of research and writing, oral reports, and regular individual consultation with instructors. Students undertake a one-semester thesis by registering for PLTC 457 in the fall semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both PLTC 457 and 458. Prerequisite(s): one 300-l…