Ariel STENEK is Director of the Young Leaders Program at Pacific Forum. In addition to managing Pacific Forum’s next-generation engagements, she provides support on Women, Peace, and Security activities. As a WSD-Handa fellow she researched and presented on US Freedom of Navigation Operations, and marine environment considerations in the South China Sea. Previously she was a Regional Security Studies Intern at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, and worked at UNESCO in the division of Social and Human Sciences on The Silk Roads Online Platform.
She holds an MA in International Relations from Queen Mary, University of London. She received her BA in International Studies with a minor in European Studies from the University of San Francisco. Her dissertation, “Four Cases Examining the Role of Maritime Militias in China’s Maritime Strategy,” won the J. Ann Tickner Prize for Best Masters Dissertation, and was presented at the 2018 International Graduate Student Conference at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
