Manuel Manriquez received an M.A. in Security Studies and a graduate certificate in Asian Studies from Georgetown University in 2012. At Georgetown, Manuel studied international security with a focus on nuclear weapons issues/nonproliferation and East Asian security. Manuel was the Foreign Languages and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellow for Japan studies during the 2011-2012 academic year.

Manuel has interned for the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, the Office of the Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Congressman Martin Heinrich (D-NM) at his district office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also participated in the Critical Languages Scholarship Program in Kyoto, the Japan Travel Program for Future U.S. Leaders in Tokyo, and the Pacific Forum CSIS Young Leaders Program in Hawaii. Manuel has published several works on East Asian and Japanese security issues as well as nuclear weapons issues.

From June 2012 to June 2013, Manuel served as a Nonproliferation Graduate Fellow at the National Nuclear Security Administration. He is currently the Director of Government Affairs at Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association in Washington, D.C.