Geopolitical Intern

About the Internship

We are looking for curious, driven, and research-oriented individuals who want to understand how geopolitics works beyond textbooks and headlines. As a Geopolitical Research Intern, you will gain exposure to both strategic intelligence and tactical intelligence.

Key Responsibilities

• Geopolitical Research and Monitoring: Track political, diplomatic, economic, military, and security developments across assigned countries and regions. Prepare background notes, country profiles, regional updates, and research briefs.
• Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT): Conduct structured research using publicly available information from government sources, official statements, international organizations, credible media, academic publications, etc. Learn to identify, verify, cross-reference, and assess the reliability of information.
• Strategic and Tactical Intelligence: Support strategic research examining long-term geopolitical trends, power dynamics, foreign policy shifts, and changing international alignments. Contribute to early-warning briefs and scenario analysis where relevant.

What You Will Learn

By the end of the internship, you should have opportunities to:

• Build OSINT capabilities
• Understand geopolitical risk
• Explore corporate risk intelligence
• Work across both sides of intelligence
• Bridge academia and industry
• Develop analytical writing
• Gain industry exposure

Required Skills and Competencies

• A strong interest in international relations, geopolitics, political science, global affairs, security studies, or related fields.
• Good research, analytical, and information-gathering skills.
• Attention to detail, factual accuracy, and proper referencing.
• Basic proficiency in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, with working knowledge of Excel.
• Willingness to learn new research methods, accept feedback, and work independently when required.

Qualifications

• Candidates currently pursuing or having recently completed a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in International Relations, Political Science, International Security, Strategic Studies, Defence Studies, Geopolitics, Area Studies, Economics, or a related discipline may apply.
• No prior full-time professional experience is required. Relevant academic research, writing samples, internships, publications, or independent research projects will be an advantage.

Performance Expectations

The intern’s performance will be assessed on:

• Accuracy, credibility, and relevance of research and also clarity, structure, and factual consistency of written outputs.
• Ability to identify patterns, implications, and emerging risks.
• Timely completion of assignments and adherence to deadlines.

Our Approach to Intelligence

At Contested Spheres, we believe meaningful intelligence begins with asking the right questions. Research should go beyond describing events to understanding what they mean, why they matter, and what they could lead to. Across assigned projects, interns will be encouraged to consider five fundamental questions:

• What happened?
• Why does it matter?
• What could happen next?
• What indicators should we watch?
• Who could be affected?

The Opportunity

At Contested Spheres, interns will have the opportunity to learn, contribute to ongoing research, gain exposure to geopolitical and corporate risk intelligence, and develop the foundations required for a future in strategic research, international affairs, intelligence analysis, or risk consulting.