As an architect turned policy analyst, Amiri brings a design-thinking approach to complex problem solving. Amiri is completing her Ph.D. at Pardee RAND, researching soft power metrics and influence dynamics in the digital age. She is also the Research Associate at the USC Center on Public Diplomacy.

Her fields of interest include public diplomacy, soft power, and foreign policy. Her focus is mainly on non-state and sub-state actors such as cities, diaspora groups and immigrants as well as on influence metrics. Her PhD dissertation tackles the notion of city diplomacy.

Much of her work at RAND entails impact measurement, system analysis, program evaluation and design, as they relate to foreign policy, public diplomacy, international development, public health, and media literacy.