Marina Lorenzini

Marina Lorenzini is responsible for the Middle East Initiative (MEI)'s research programs, which include several fellowship cohorts, faculty and student research grants, and MEI policy reports and private roundtables. Her research focuses on the intersection of Russia's nuclear energy exports, sovereign debt profiles, and sanctions across the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions. She has published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Lawfare, and the National Interest. Alongside Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Marina led the Belfer Center's Iran Working Group from 2021 - 2023. She has also held roles with the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom and Senior Fellow Dan Poneman.

Prior to joining the Belfer Center, she held positions at McLarty Associates, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School, and Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco. Marina holds a M.A. in Law & Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University. She wrote her thesis on Russian-Turkey energy trade, with a focus on the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. She earned her B.A. from Franklin University Switzerland as well as an Arabic Language and Linguistics Certificate from the University of Pittsburgh. Having used the languages extensively throughout her career, she is a fluent Italian speaker, with advanced proficiency in Arabic (MSA and Levantine dialect), and has a strong proficiency in Latin and Persian translation.