Mercedes Trent is a Research Associate for the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where her work covers security strategy in Northeast Asia. Previously, she worked for Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA and the Japan Center for International Exchange.
She received her MA in Security Policy Studies from the George Washington University. She earned her BA in Asian Studies from Western Kentucky University. She spent four years working in Japan and Taiwan before returning to the U.S. in 2018. She speaks Japanese and Mandarin.
Mercedes’s research interests focus on alliance structure, nuclear deterrence, U.S. strategy in the Indo-Pacific, and evolving force posture with regional concentration on Northeast Asia. She is a 2020 CSIS Nuclear Scholar and a Pacific Forum Young Leader.