Political Regime Research Fellow - The Middle East and North Africa

Position description

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is looking for a Political Regime Research Fellow for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This fellowship will run from late October 2023 through late April 2024, with the possibility of extension. 

About the Human Rights Foundation:

The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. HRF is one of the few international organizations that focuses exclusively on promoting human rights in authoritarian regimes. 

Through our Political Regime or “Tyranny Tracker” research, we are able to focus our resources on more than 90 countries ruled by authoritarian regimes — countries whose regimes systematically deny their citizens meaningful electoral competition, basic political freedoms, and an independent judiciary willing and capable of checking the regime’s ability to repress basic democratic freedoms. 

About the Position:

The Political Regime Research Fellow for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region will contribute to a long-term research project that monitors political freedom in 206 countries and territories in the world. The research project supports HRF’s mission statement of promoting and protecting human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies. 

The Research Fellow will be asked to research and prepare a summary and full report on the countries in the MENA region. Using our checklist of indicators covering issues of electoral competition, freedom of dissent, and judicial independence, the Research Fellow will be expected to make a convincing argument why a given country should be classified as democratic, hybrid authoritarian, or fully authoritarian. The Research Fellow will work with members of HRF's Legal and Policy Team and Regional Experts.

This position can be remote.

Skills & Requirements:

• Prior experience in or knowledge of international relations or affairs, political science, human rights, or international or comparative law (Required)
• Prior experience in the democratization field or knowledge of democratization literature is a plus
• Strong research, analytical, and writing skills (Required)
• Relevant regional knowledge of the MENA Region (Required)
• Knowledge of Arabic and French (Strongly Preferred)
• Knowledge of Farsi and Turkish is a plus
• Passionate about research and writing
• Detail-oriented and self-motivated
• Able to work well in a collaborative environment, as well as independently
• A strong affinity for HRF's mission statement
• Based in the United States (Preferred), but highly qualified candidates from other regions will be considered.

Time commitment: 40 hours/week. 

Stipend: $2,500/month for full time.

Application instructions

Please submit your resume, cover letter, and two brief writing samples (maximum 5 pages each) by Friday, September 29.

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