Laura Sorica is East Asia Research Manager at ACLED, overseeing political violence and protests in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Mongolia. Laura holds two BA degrees in Political Science and Linguistics, and a MA from University of Tsukuba’s Department of International and Advanced Japanese Studies. Her previous experiences included working in the private sector, the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo, and as an academic researcher in Japan. Her past research examined the US process of securitizing the Iranian and North Korean missile threats that led to the Aegis Ashore deployment in Romania, Poland, and Japan. She is fluent in Romanian, English, and Japanese.