Ariel Petrovics

Ariel F.W. Petrovics is a PhD candidate at the University of California, Davis and a research assistant at the Center for Global Security Research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Her research focuses on foreign policy effectiveness with specific application to contemporary nuclear proliferation and security issues. Her dissertation project uses mixed method designs to assess the effectiveness of common counterproliferation strategies, examining the conditions that lead to nuclear reversal and those that risk perverse proliferation instead.

Her ongoing research projects employ critical case studies, cross-national duration and longitudinal analysis to measure the effectiveness of international nonproliferation efforts, and introduces new data to foster greater
precision in nuclear security research. Her previous work has examined the conditions that affect foreign policy outcomes including the importance of credibility for the success of economic sanctions, and methods for effectively engaging renegade regimes like Iran and North Korea.

Ariel is a member of the Nuclear Science and Security Consortium’s Nuclear Policy Working Group, and holds a BA with honors from Bucknell University. Before her PhD, she worked with American Enterprise Institute’s Foreign and Defense Policy Department as project manager and contributing author to the IranTracker and Critical Threats Projects. Her work is published in the Goldman School Policy Matters Journal and the Critical Threats Project, and has appeared at multiple conferences including the APSA and ISA Annual Conventions, MPSA, and SAIS Asia Conference. Ariel is also a five-time U.S. National Team athlete, and has represented the United States at many World Championships, World Cups, and the Pan-Am Games.