Now Hiring – Middle East Editors

As part of our drive to deepen and expand our range of accessible expert content on current affairs, we want to build a team of volunteer editors in the Middle East to seek out, and post, expert content on the Middle East. The role is an excellent experience for anyone looking to build a career in education, policy making, or the non-governmental sector. It will help you build skills, build professional relationships, and add proven results to your resume.

About the role

Authoring is a flexible and rewarding role designed for those who study at a higher level, research, and are immersed in scholarly discussions. We are generally looking for students, at any level, who have a strong interest in the Middle East. We expect that beyond that, you will also have some theoretical/country/approach (etc.) foundations in your interest that will make your interest more specific. Some examples below of previous applicants:

• Gender politics in Islam
• Nuclear proliferation and the Saudi-Iranian rivalry
• Migration after the Syrian War
• Terrorism in failed/failing states, with lessons from Libya, Syria (etc.)
• The geopolitics of the wider Middle East considers the strategies of the Indians and the Turks
• LGBTQ activism in Arab communities
• Climate change and water scarcity
• The wider implications of the war in Yemen
• The continuing importance of petropolitics
• The role of major foreign powers (China, US etc.) in the region
• How to find a new Israeli/Palestinian peace process
• The spread of the Islamic State in Africa

As the list of references above shows, we define this role in a very broad sense, and we are willing to hear applications from all areas of interest, as long as they include the Middle East (broadly defined) in some way. It is our mission at E-International Relations to marry expertise with accessibility, not just to provide free content to all – but to do so in a readable and understandable format. Although many journals have adopted open access (in whole or in part) they fail to achieve the latter. Similarly, many online magazines exist that cover current affairs, but often do so within a narrow range of thought, and/or without academic theory or methodology on display. As the only fully open access, completely unique scholarly publication – IE-International Relations welcomes all voices and provides space for global discussion. We sincerely hope you can join us and help fill the important void for such discussions on Middle East issues.

How does this work

This is a planning role. He is not to join us to write content, but to post and edit it to present that content to our audience. You will be responsible for researching and contacting potential professional writers yourself – although we will provide guidance and advice on the process. All work that an Authorizing Editor contributes is given permanent credit from the output – up to a proven track record of your efforts. You are empowered to set your own agenda and adapt this role to your busy schedule as it suits you best, but you must understand that it is a self-starter role… so you need to bring your own drive, passion and motivation. If you can’t work for yourself and come up with your own ideas, then this role is not for you.. Everything we publish is fully open access, so you can easily share your success with anyone who can click a link.

This role is remote, and optional. Volunteering with E-International Relations is not your typical ‘work experience’. First, we coordinate our tasks remotely using Slack. So, you don’t need to go to the workplace to volunteer with us. Second, we have no paid staff, we are all volunteers. We donate some of our free time because we want to contribute to maintaining the best online resource for students and scholars of international politics. Finally, we empower our editors to learn skills, manage their time and develop their projects. The result is that the more volunteers volunteer, the more they take away from the experience. It’s no surprise that many of our editors have built on their experience with us to move on to senior positions in the publishing industry, politics, and academia.

What do you get out of it

• By interacting with our editorial team and other academics in a professional setting you will raise your profile and build collaborative links with future projects that will add value to your academic and professional journey.
• You’ll hone your editing skills, which in turn reflects back to helping you become a better writer.
• You will learn about the education and publishing industries in a new environment.
• You will get something valuable to put on your CV, and you can ask for a reference/letter of recommendation in case you need it in the future.
• In addition to working, you can take part in other activities and projects (if you want) in all our activities – this includes contributing to podcasts and books.
• If you stay long enough, there are always senior roles in our team open.

If you are interested in contacting this position, send us an email with the subject ‘Middle East Editor’ at recruitment.e.ir@gmail.com. In that email please:

1. Briefly describe your academic and professional path by describing what you have studied in the past, what you are studying/doing now, and what you intend to do next (250 words max).
2. Details on the type of content, and authors, you would like to send to E-International Relations, within the Middle East section. The more specific you are here, the better (350 words max).
3. Attach (or link to) one academic writing sample that best represents your skills to date.
4. Attach a one-page CV/resume, or link to a professional web page.
5. Confirm to us in your email that you are able to set aside at least 5 hours per week and can foresee committing to the role for at least 6 months. As this is a voluntary role, we are flexible. But these are the minimums that would allow you to get the most out of the role.

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