Ariane Tabatabai

Dr. Ariane Tabatabai joined the Council in 2026 as the vice president of research, security and defense. She also serves as senior fellow for the Middle East, focusing on nuclear security and regional security dynamics in the Middle East.

Previously, Dr. Tabatabai served in the US Departments of State and Defense, including as US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Education and Training. She is an expert on nuclear issues, Iranian foreign and security policy, and regional security in the Middle East, and her current research focuses on US alliances and NATO. 

She is the author of No Conquest, No Defeat and co-author of Triple Axis. Her scholarly work has appeared in International Security and the Journal of Strategic Studies, and her policy writing has been published in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, among other outlets. She is also a frequent media commentator.

Dr. Tabatabai has held senior positions at the RAND Corporation, the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and Columbia University. She also served as Director of Curriculum and Visiting Assistant Professor in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University, and as a Civilian Consultant to NATO. She holds a PhD from King's College London and completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship and Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship at Harvard University.