Sarah Gamberini

Senior Policy Fellow

Sarah Jacobs Gamberini is a Senior Policy Fellow at the National Defense University (NDU) Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction (CSWMD). Her research includes emerging technologies, arms control, influence operations, and information warfare activities with a focus on understanding the intersections of disinformation and WMD. In her recent report on Social Media Weaponization, Gamberini describes the methods and goals of Russia’s influence operations and assesses the implications for targeting matters of public health like COVID-19 and the vaccination debate. Gamberini coteaches the NDU Elective on WMD and Mass Media which provides a baseline understanding of WMD threats with an emphasis on media literacy in a post-truth world. Sarah Gamberini also chairs the monthly CSWMD Spotlight Speaker Series featuring thought leaders on a range of WMD topics.

Prior to joining CSWMD, Gamberini was a Senior Policy Analyst with SAIC where she supported various WMD and arms control offices in the Department of Defense including the Defense Science Board. Her portfolio included implementation of and compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and New START and research on a range of emerging issues for the Air Force including international space norms and non-strategic nuclear weapons. Gamberini supported the Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L) Office of Treaty Compliance where she focused on landmines, cluster munitions, and lethal autonomous weapons systems. Prior to this she supported the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) on matters associated with the U.S.-Russia Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.

Gamberini holds a Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Contemporary War from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Studies and Arabic from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. As an active member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) Mid-Career Cadre and Next Generation Arms Control Negotiators, she is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of nuclear experts.

Publications: