Amy Lightfoot is the Administrator for BASIC and the general contact for all administrative enquiries.

Policy Fellow and Programme Manager, Nuclear Responsibilities
Nuclear Diplomacy | Trust-building | Asia-Pacific
Chiara is a Policy Fellow at BASIC and Programme Manager of the BASIC-ICCS’s Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities. Chiara also collaborates with the BASIC’s Programme on Risk Reduction in the Arctic.
Chiara’s background and expertise is in nuclear diplomacy, nuclear risk reduction, and conflict resolution practices. Her work explores, through research and practice, how to develop mutual understanding and reduce distrust between nuclear adversaries. Chiara is currently researching policy options to reduce nuclear risks in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific through an applied focused on shared nuclear responsibilities. In addition, she is researching policy proposals to reduce risks to human security in the Arctic.
Chiara holds a PhD in Political Science and International Relations from the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security (ICCS) at the University of Birmingham. Her PhD focused on distrust reduction and conflict management in contemporary China-India relations. She has presented her research at several conferences, such as the British International Studies Association (BISA), the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP), and the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR).
Chiara has articles in peer-review for high impact journals and has written extensive policy commentaries on nuclear risk reduction, conflict resolution, and China-India relations. She has also authored several reports for BASIC.
In addition, Chiara holds a first-class Master from the University of Bologna in International Security and a first-class degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Pisa.
Expertise:
– Nuclear diplomacy and trust-building practices
– Nuclear Risk Reduction in South Asia and the Asia-Pacific
– Nuclear Responsibilities
– China-India relations
– Distrust reduction practices in diplomacy
Discover below Chiara’s posts ordered from newest to oldest
Our dedicated and professional team brings a diversity of expertise, approaches and perspectives. Meet its members below.
Amy Lightfoot is the Administrator for BASIC and the general contact for all administrative enquiries.
Sebastian Brixey-Williams is the Co-Director of BASIC and Director of the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities.
Fabian Hoffmann is a Policy Intern supporting the Nuclear Responsibilities Programme.
Sophie McCormack is a Nuclear Policy Analyst at BASIC.
Chris Spedding is a Policy Fellow and Programme Manager at BASIC, managing the Emerging Technologies Programme.
Timothy Choi is a Consultant on BASIC’s Emerging Technologies Programme.
Alice Spilman is a Researcher on the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities with BASIC and the ICCS, University of Birmingham.
Chiara Cervasio is a Policy Fellow, working on the Nuclear Responsibilities Programme.
Rishi Paul is a Senior Nuclear Policy Analyst at BASIC and leads our engagement in Southern Asia.
Dr Gry Thomsen is a Policy Fellow at BASIC working on the Nuclear Disarmament Programme.
Laura Rose Brown is a Policy Fellow supporting the Emerging Voices Network within the Inclusive International Security programme.
Emily Enright was a Policy Fellow and Coordinator of the Emerging Voices Network.
Read more about our main contributors and browse their latest content and publications.
Zara Rizvi joined BASIC in September 2016 to support the daily office operations and to help develop our communications strategy.
Nick researches and teaches in the areas of international relations and international security at the University of York. His particular…
A. Vinod Kumar is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), and a Visiting Faculty at the Institute of…
Norman Moss is an author, journalist and broadcaster. He was born in London in 1928 but was raised and educated partly in New York.
Anthony V. Rinna is a Senior Editor with Sino-NK, a research organization dedicated to analyzing Northeast Asia. Formerly trained as an…
Rebecca Cousins was BASIC’s Programme Director for the Next Gen project. Prior to that, she was a diplomat in the British Foreign and…
Rachel Staley Grant joined NTI in August 2016 and serves as the Director of Public Education. Between 2011 and 2016, Staley Grant…
Ted Seay is an independent arms control and disarmament consultant currently based in London. He was assigned to the U.S. Mission to…
Dr Ian Kearns is the co-Founder of the European Leadership Network and serves on the ELN’s Board of Directors. Dr Kearns served as…
Anne Penketh was BASIC Program Director in Washington from 2009 to 2012. Previously she was a staff journalist with major media…
Tim recently completed his PhD exploring the politics of nuclear disarmament at Warwick University as part of a collaborative…
Lianet Vazquez was the Herbert Scoville Jr Peace Fellow at BASIC in 2014.
Tabitha Sanders is one of the organisers of #NatSecGirlSquad, a US initiative to support women working in National Security. She was a…
Nina Sofie Pedersen is a Researcher at BASIC. Her current responsibilities include researching and developing the Programme on…
Sir John Thomson was a British Diplomat who was High Commissioner to India and Ambassador to the UN. He served as adviser to BASIC.
Christina Pena was BASIC’s Analyst and Programme Manager.
Dr Ian Davis is an independent human security and arms control consultant, writer and founding director of NATO Watch…