Announcement: Hitoshi Nasu Joins West Point and the Lieber Institute
The West Point Department of Law and the Lieber Institute are pleased to announce that Dr. Hitoshi Nasu has joined us as a Professor of Law. Professor Nasu brings a wealth of expertise in the field of public international law, with many years of research and teaching experience in Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Professor Nasu has published extensively on a range of military legal affairs. In particular, he brings with him a world-class body of scholarship on advanced military technologies and the law of armed conflict, and on contemporary security challenges in the Indo-Pacific theater. His work has addressed contentious legal questions of practical significance in relation to hybrid warfare, the South China Sea dispute, and the protection of civilians in armed conflict.
In addition to supporting Lieber Institute projects, he will spend a significant portion of his time working with the West Point Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on robotics and artificial intelligence projects. He has worked previously with a team of interdisciplinary experts, bringing together military operators, legal practitioners, and scientists. This effort culminated in the publication of an edited collection on New Technologies and the Law of Armed Conflict in 2014. Since then, he has produced numerous publications tackling legal challenges arising from military applications of nanotechnology, human degradation technology, invisibility technology, and most recently, artificial intelligence.
Lastly, he is a gifted and dedicated teacher. A self-described “unorthodox legal realist and pragmatist,” Professor Nasu brings to the Corps of Cadets a practical approach to teaching international law and the laws of war. His appreciation that military operations play an inextricable role in teaching and developing the laws of war will serve West Point cadets extraordinarily well as future leaders.
Professor Nasu is an outstanding fit with West Point and the Lieber Institute. We are elated to add such a fine scholar and teacher to our team. And we look forward to enjoying his warm, selfless, and generous spirit in our department and institute.