Organizational Structure

The MENACS Steering Committee coordinates the work of the Network, including project development and implementation, outreach activities, fundraising, setting general goals, and interaction with members of the Network.

MENACS members and affiliates are invited to participate in the Network’s activities. Learn more about applying for membership and joining the Network!

MENACS Steering Committee
Dr. Nilsu Goren is a post-doctoral research scholar at CISSM. She received her doctoral degree at the University Maryland's School of Public Policy. Her research interests are Turkish security policies, NATO-Russia relations, missile defense, nonproliferation regimes in the Middle East, and nuclear security. She previously conducted research at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), Federation of American Scientists, and James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, and taught at Koc University, Istanbul. She holds a B.A. in Economics and an M.A. in Political Science from Sabanci University, Istanbul. Turkey.

Follow Nilsu @nilsugoren
Karim Kamel is a program assistant at the International Peace and Security Program at Carnegie Corporation of New York. Prior to joining Carnegie, he served as Program Associate at Social Science, Conflict Prevention and Peace Forum. Karim also worked as external relations consultant at the CTBTO and for United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs office in Vienna. Mr. Kamel graduated from CNS. He attended the American University in Cairo, then received his B.A. from San Jose State.
Aviv Melamud is an Israeli PhD student at the Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, and a research associate at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF). In her work, Aviv studies the influence of justice on compliance in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Her further interests include nuclear and WMD free zones, as well as Israeli politics and society.
Fadia Maki is an Iraqi biologist working at the Iraqi National Monitoring Authority, Ministry of Science and Technology. Her office ensures compliance with international conventions and treaties and is tasked with putting out lines of capacity building program with respect to minimizing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats. In spring 2013, she was a Visiting Fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She is currently a summer intern at the Center for Science, Technology and Security policy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Ariane Tabatabai is a visiting assistant professor of Security Studies at the Georgetown Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She was an associate in the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center in the International Security Program and Project at Managing the Atom in 2014-15, and a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow 2013-14. Dr. Tabatabai received her Ph.D. in War Studies from the Department of War Studies, King's College London. She holds an M.A. in International Peace and Security with Distinction from the Department of War Studies, King's College London and a double B.A. in Political Science and Cinema and Cultural Studies from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Follow Ariane @ArianeTabatabai
MENACS Network Founder and Managing Director
Dr. Chen Kane is the founder of the Network and Director of the Middle East Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. She serves as an advisor to the National Nuclear Security Administration and as an adjunct professor with the National Defense University. She held research positions at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Dr. Kane earned a Ph.D. from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Follow Chen @ACRSME