Nalani Payson

Nalani Payson is a second-year MIA candidate specializing in International Security and Diplomacy. Her research interests include disinformation operations, economic statecraft, and the scaling of autonomous weapons systems. She is especially interested in how technological change and geopolitical competition converge to reshape defense priorities and the international security environment.

Prior to Columbia, Nalani interned at the Council on Foreign Relations and served as a research fellow with Nexus Pacific, where she researched defense innovation and the implications of emerging technologies for transatlantic security. Nalani also previously interned with the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program,e and the US Department of State’s Global Community Liaison Office, where she contributed to initiatives supporting Foreign Service personnel and their families.

On campus, Nalani serves as secretary of SIPA’s Black Student Union. Following graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in national security and foreign policy analysis, helping policymakers better understand evolving security challenges.