Founded in 1946, the Middle East Institute is the oldest Washington-based institution dedicated solely to the study of the Middle East. Its founders, scholar George Camp Keiser and former US Secretary of State Christian Herter, laid out a simple mandate: “to increase knowledge of the Middle East among the citizens of the United States and to promote a better understanding between the people of these two areas.”
MEI has earned a reputation as an unbiased source of information and analysis on this critical region of the world, a reputation it has meticulously safeguarded since its creation. Today, MEI remains a respected, non-partisan voice in the field of Middle East studies.
MEI offers an array of internship opportunities that engage a wide range of professional interests and talents. On a given day, Dr. Paul Salem's research assistant might conduct open-source news analysis of extremist and moderate Syrian groups on Twitter and YouTube, while our Programs and Communications interns might organize and help host a panel to discuss cultural racketeering and antiquities theft in Iraq and Egypt. With over 20 intern positions across 7 different departments, we have a variety of internships that attract a very diverse pool of interns. Although our internships are unpaid, MEI works to ensure that its interns are compensated for their contributions. We offer a free language class, a SmarTrip card reloaded with $100 each month, a year-long online subscription to the Middle East Journal, and a series of talks, the Intern Development Series, exclusively dedicated to advancing our interns' professional lives and their knowledge of the region.
