Dr Sarah Tzinieris is a Lecturer in Security Studies Education at the Department of War Studies. She holds an MPhil and PhD in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Before taking up an academic position, Sarah worked at the BBC as a Strategist and prior to that in consultancy focusing on political risk and economic development. She also served as a UN Security Council Advisor for the European Union Delegation to the United Nations.

The nature of Sarah’s work has evolved significantly over the course of her career, enabling her to take an interdisciplinary and synthesised approach. She is based in the Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS), a multidisciplinary group that conducts scholarly and policy research at the complex nexus of conflict, security and science. She is the Programme Director of the new MA in Security Studies.

Sarah contributes to the Nuclear Security Capacity Building Programme, a multi-million-pound project funded by the British government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). This academic-industry programme works to strengthen non-proliferation and the security of nuclear and radiological materials around the world.

Most recently Sarah’s research has concentrated on emerging challenges to world order, with a focus on the Indo-Pacific region, the AUKUS security pact, and supply chains of strategic technologies and critical minerals. One of her recent highlights was co-editing The Oxford Handbook of Nuclear Security, published by Oxford University Press. She has also contributed to three inquiries in UK Parliament. Sarah is on the Advisory Board of the Compass Journal of the UN Security Council’s 1540 Committee.

Research Interests

• Grand strategy and world order
• Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific
• Coercion and grey zone activities
• Deterrence, especially by-resilience strategies
• Sanctions
• Supply chains of strategic technologies and critical minerals
• Global nuclear order, especially non-proliferation and nuclear security
• CBRN terrorism
• British foreign policy

Teaching

MA modules in the War Studies Department:

• Foreign Policy Analysis in an Age of Great Power Competition

• Non-Proliferation and International Security (occasional lectures)
• Armchair Intelligence: Open Sources and Online Investigation (occasional lectures)
• Current Issues in Science and Security (occasional lectures)

MA modules in the Defence Studies Department:

• Sanctions, Strategy and Statecraft

• Conflict in International History

MA modules for the Advanced Command and Staff Course (ACSC) at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom:

• International Security and Strategy (occasional lectures)

Publications

A list of Sarah’s publications is available on her PURE and ORCID research profiles.