Levi holds a Bachelor's degree in mathematical physics from Queen's University, an MA in physics from Princeton University where he studied string theory and cosmology, and a PhD in War Studies from King's College London where he was the SSHRC William E. Taylor fellow.

Levi was previously fellow for science and technology at the Council, and, before that, a nonresident science fellow and a science and technology fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. He was previously director of the Federation of American Scientists’ flagship Strategic Security Project.

Levi is the author of the book On Nuclear Terrorism (Harvard University Press, 2007) and coauthor with Michael O'Hanlon of The Future of Arms Control (Brookings Institution Press, 2005). His 2005 monograph with Michael D’Arcy, Untapped Potential: U.S. Science and Technology Cooperation with the Islamic World, was the first comprehensive study of science and technology in the Muslim world.

Levi has been invited to testify before Congress and to present expert scientific evidence to the National Academy of Sciences. He participated in the 2010 Hertog Global Strategy Initiative, a high-level research program on nuclear proliferation. [1]. His essays have been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Nature, Scientific American, and the New Republic, among others. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times. Levi is a regular guest on major television and radio programs and was a technical consultant to the critically acclaimed television drama 24.