IDDS Internship Program 2006

The Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies offers many full and part-time opportunities for unpaid interns and volunteers in the fall, spring, and summer who are interested in gaining practical experience at an educational and research based NGO.

Current Opportunities

Research Intern (Full and Part-Time)
• Conducts research and writing updating topics covered for either the Arms Control Reporter, or ArmsWatch: Global Trends, Prospects, and Policy Options in War and Armaments.

I. Topics covered in the Arms Control Reporter
Nuclear Arms: • Middle East Nuclear Issues (including Israel and Iran) • Northeast Asia Nuclear Issues (including China and North Korea) • South Asia Nuclear Issues • Nonproliferation Treaty • Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty • Fissile Material Cutoff • START I and SORT Treaty • Global Nuclear Disarmament
Other WMD and Space: • Biological Weapon Convention • Chemical Weapon Convention • Missile Proliferation and Non-Proliferation Efforts • Missile Defense and Prevention Efforts • Weapons in Space and Prevention Efforts
Major Conventional Arms: • Global Arms Holdings, Production, and Trade • Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe
Landmines and Small Arms: • Land-Mine Convention • Small Arms and Light Weapons
Building Peace and Security: • UN Conference on Disarmament (Geneva) • UN Disarmament Commission (New York) • UN General Assembly First Committee • Transparency and Confidence-Building Measures • New Security Institutions in Europe • Global Action to Prevent War • UrgentCall.org.

I. Topics covered in the ArmsWatch: Global Trends, Prospects, and Policy Options in War and Armaments
IDDS conducts studies of forces, armaments, and current and alternative military policies in all countries with military spending of $1 billion or more. The top military spending countries, with their 2003 military budgets (in US$ billions at 2000 prices and exchange rates), are: USA $417, Japan $47, UK $37, France $35, China $33, Germany $27, Russia $20, and Italy $21. Other major spenders are: Iran $19, Saudi Arabia $19, South Korea $14, India $12, Israel $10, Turkey $10, Brazil $9, Canada $9, Myanmar $9, Australia $8, and Taiwan $7.
IDDS gives particular attention to major regional conflicts and associated arms proliferation in Northeast Asia (North-South Korea, China-Taiwan, Japan), South Asia (India-Pakistan), and the Middle East (Israel, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and others).

• Preference will be given to applicants with proficiency in Excel and with reading knowledge of one or more foreign languages. University classes and prior experience pertinent to IDDS’s work and mission are desirable.
• We are particularly interested in interns with personal experience, educational background, and language skills relating to areas covered in ArmsWatch. In addition, we conduct intensive studies relating to European security, Russia, and other states of the former Soviet Union, as well as the United States and Canada.
• Edited versions of intern writing are published in IDDS publications.

Fundraising Associate (Full and Part-Time)
• Supports the development and/or enhancement of the Philip Morrison Disarmament Fellowship, the College Outreach Program, and UrgentCall.org, a coalition-based campaign to reverse the spread of nuclear arms. UrgentCall.org assignments revolve around work with other public interest groups in developing ways to use the UrgentCall.org to educate the public and build public support for nuclear nonproliferation.
• Excellent writing and communication skills, and proficiency in Word and Excel.

Web Programming Intern (Part-Time)
• IDDS is seeking a skilled web programmer intern to assist in the development of new features for www.idds.org. The intern will be responsible for duties such as posting new and updated content; formatting and sending large emails; and tracking Web statistics.
• Will also assist with general computer support. Strong working knowledge of MS Office, Dreamweaver, HTML, and Windows 98/2000/XP.

Administrative Associate (Full and Part-Time)
• IDDS is seeking a skilled individual with excellent writing and communication skills, and proficiency in Word and Excel. The associate will work the Director to meet ongoing goals.

Duration and Hours
Full-time interns work 35–40 hours/week. Part-time candidates will be expected to work a minimum of 12 hours per week. Preference is given to full-time applicants.

Deadlines
Applications are accepted and offers are made on a rolling basis until all positions are filled.

• Fall term (12 weeks start early Sept): Deadline 22 July
• Spring term (12 weeks start early Feb): Deadline 20 December
• Summer term (10 weeks start in June): Deadline 22 April

How to Apply
IDDS accepts applications by email, as attachments. Please send a completed application to the Internship Coordinator Courtney Stewart at internships@idds.org.

• Application form Download here.

• Cover letter

• Please include information on classes you have taken that are pertinent to IDDS’s work and mission (if applicable);
• include any particular interest in one or more of the arms control topics, countries orregions listed;
• what would you like to get out of being an IDDS intern and what you can
bring to IDDS; and
• if you are applying for the summer term, please indicate the date of when you
are available to start in June.

• CV or résumé

• Please note any other internships, jobs, travel, volunteer activities, honors, etc.

• Writing sample

• Please include a sample of less than five pages for the Research position.

Philip Morrison Disarmament Fellowship
The first Morrison Fellowship will be awarded in summer 2006. College graduates, graduate students, and post-docs are eligible to apply. The Fellow will work on a specific research and writing project at IDDS, which falls within our area of competence and interest, likely the Arms Control Reporter, or ArmsWatch: Global Trends, Prospects, and Policy Options in War and Armaments. To apply, candidates should write an essay of any length on why the Fellowship will advance their ability to pursue a career relating to disarmament in academia, government, or the public-interest sector.
Fellows will receive a monthly stipend for three months, paid twice per month. For more information about Philip Morrison’s life, download here.
For more information about this fellowship or how to donate to it, please email internships@idds.org.

More Informtion
For Term Research Internships, IDDS matches language, computer skills and topics of interest or prior education with IDDS needs. In the Summer Term, preference is given to those who are available to work full time (35–40 hours per week). In the event that there are not enough full-time applicants to fill all positions, internships will be offered to those who can commit 4 days per week (31 hours, excluding lunch and breaks). During the fall and spring Terms—when most interns are full-time students at a university in the Boston area—the internship requires a minimum commitment of 15 hours per week (a total of 120 hours).

IDDS Term Research Internships include immersion in disparate source material, ranging from official national and international government documents to think tank studies, global news media, and on-line research. All research positions involve demanding research and writing on aspects of military policy, arms control and disarmament studies, security policy, and peace research. Edited versions of intern writing are published in IDDS publications. An effort is made to structure each term’s work so that interns can experience a variety of activities forming a complete project for each individual.

During the Summer Term, when all interns work a minimum of four days per week, IDDS offers an intensive weekly seminar on arms control, peace research, and security studies, with reading and discussion equivalent to a 3-credit course. Typically, the fall and spring terms include occasional seminars on the same topics.

Other Volunteer Opportunities
IDDS welcomes volunteers and student interns who cannot make the time commitment of a term-internship, but would like to work with IDDS for a different period of time or fewer hours per week. High school juniors and seniors are encouraged contact IDDS. Tasks are arranged by agreement, and vary according to the available time, skills, and interests of the volunteer and current IDDS needs and projects.