A unique opportunity for students to:
Learn how the foreign policy process really works
Develop valuable research skills
Work with documents once classified TOP SECRET
and higher
Become proficient in a 90,000-record computerized
database
THE NATIONAL SECURITY
ARCHIVE, an independent, non-profit
research institute and library, is offering internships to students who
are interested in international relations and how the U.S. foreign policy
bureaucracy functions.
Since its inception in 1985, the goal of the National
Security Archive has been to document recent U.S. policy and enrich research
and public debate on the often hidden process of national security decision
making. Scholars, journalists, present and former officials and many others
have long recognized the need for a systematic approach to obtaining and
providing access to declassified national security documentation. Through
its collection, analysis and publication of previously classified government
documents, the Archive is able to reconstruct U.S. policy making on a variety
of foreign, defense and intelligence issues and capture how government
decisions are made -- with important implications for ongoing policy.
To carry out its mission, the Archive combines
a unique range of functions in one institution. It is simultaneously a
research institute on international affairs, a library and archive of declassified
U.S. documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, a public
interest law firm defending and expanding public access to government information
through the FOIA, and an indexer and publisher of the documents.
In the process of developing its extensive collections,
the Archive has developed the world's largest non-governmental collection
of documents released through the FOIA, and has established an international
reputation as the most prolific and successful non-profit user of the FOIA.
The Archive's work has set many important precedents under the FOIA, including
less burden on requesters to qualify for waivers of processing fees and
the long-term preservation of the computer tapes from the Reagan, Bush
and Clinton White House Staffs. The Archive has gained the release of thousands
of significant, previously classified documents such as the historic correspondence
between Kennedy and Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis and Oliver
North's notebooks.
ARCHIVE PUBLICATIONS
include a series of comprehensive microform collections of documents on
U.S. foreign policy, averaging 16,000 pages of documents and including
finding aids such as indexes, catalogs, chronologies, glossaries, bibliographies,
and introductory essays, as well as a CD-ROM index to the first microform
series. The Archive publishes a series of documents readers especially
for the classroom and general public.
The Archive reading room is open to the public
without charge, and has welcomed visitors from over 30 countries and across
the U.S. The Archive fields more than 2,500 requests for documents and
information every year and Archive staff are often called on to testify
before Congress, lecture at universities, and appear on national broadcasts
and in media interviews. Delegations from many countries have contacted
the Archive to learn from this innovative model of a non-governmental institutional
memory for government documents and the FOIA.
EACH INTERN
is assigned to work with a staff analyst on a specific research project.
Assignments generally include building chronologies of events; helping
obtain, order and catalog government documents; assisting with data entry;
and performing library and archival research. Every effort is made to keep
non-substantive tasks to a minimum. While at the Archive, an intern can
expect to gain a solid body of knowledge in their project area, as well
as a familiarity with the resources available for foreign policy research
in Washington and how to obtain documents through the Freedom of Information
Act.
CURRENT PRIORITY
PROJECTS include U.S. policy on
the following: Chile; Colombia; Cuba; End of the Cold War; India-Pakistan;
Iran; Mexico; Nuclear History; Openness in Russia and Eastern Europe; Peru
and other areas. Additionally, the National Security Archive's Freedom
of Information Litigation Project seeks a legal intern each semester. Interns
are expected to stay at the Archive for a minimum of two months, although
internships of a full semester are preferred. In general, interns work
a minimum of 12-15 hours per week. The actual number and scheduling of
hours is flexible. Located at George Washington University's Gelman Library,
the Archive is easily accessible by public transportation. Internships
are unpaid. Academic credit or independent funding for work at the Archive
is sometimes possible; students should contact the appropriate persons
at their school if they wish to pursue either of these options.
To Apply:
Write, fax, or email
to Sue Bechtel at:
The National Security Archive
2130 H St., NW Suite 701
The Gelman Library
Washington, D.C. 20037
Fax: 202-994-7005
Email: sbechtel@gwu.edu
Please include:
cover letter specifying areas of interest and/or
expertise
resume
short writing sample
transcript
One or two recommendations are optional, but often
helpful. Applications are accepted from students at any point in their
college career, as well as from graduate students and recent college graduates.
For Summer internships, the application deadline
is March 15.
Fall internships begin in early September; we suggest
that applications be submitted by the end of July.
Spring internships begin in January; students should
apply by December 1 if possible.
Later applications will be considered whenever possible,
however it is strongly suggested that summer applications be submitted
by the application deadline to receive full consideration.
Internship opportunities are offered without
regard to race, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual preference,
marital status or non-job related physical handicap.
