Lynchburg Reporter

JOSH BOWES ’23 PURSUES PASSION FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS WITH THINK TANK INTERNSHIP, PUBLISHED PAPER

Josh Bowes ’23 has spent the past month channeling his passion for global affairs into research for a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The Millennium Project is a global futures research think tank that connects futurist researchers around the world to improve global foresight.

Bowes, who is double majoring in global studies and comparative philosophy with a minor in French, is interning remotely as a research assistant with the think tank’s new South Asia Foresight Network.

His research focuses on the affairs of South Asia and how they can be addressed through a multi-pronged and multi-perspective approach, working with high-level geopolitics scholars and academics.

“I’ve always kept up with current events, so having the privilege to conduct research and write about global affairs and issues is so rewarding,” said Bowes, who also serves as Student Government vice president, a Community Fellow, Presidential Ambassador, and Model United Nations delegate. “Knowing that I am actively working toward addressing the most pressing issues in the world today is so enlightening and humbling.”

Bowes was offered the internship after meeting Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, a senior fellow with the Millennium Project who served as a guest mentor for Randolph’s Student Ambassador Program this fall.

The two connected about their shared interests and Bowes’s senior seminar project on contemporary populist movements in the United States and Brazil.

Before offering Bowes the internship, Abeyagoonasekera proposed they collaborate on a paper together.

Synergetic Thinking for the Absence of Multilateralism in South Asia, which also included a contribution from Millennium Project co-founder Jerome Glenn, was published by the Nepal Institute of International Cooperation and Engagement in February.

“The process was very smooth,” Bowes said. “I wrote my part and sent it to Mr. Abeyagoonasekera. He wrote his part and sent it to me. We went from there, making frequent edits and adding to the argument until it was fully fleshed out.”

After Bowes graduates this spring, he’d like to continue working for a think tank or find a position in geopolitics, global affairs, or policymaking.

“I would love to work in geopolitical research and writing or work for a government agency like the State Department, National Security Agency, or United Nations,” he said. “Through this internship, I’m learning how to conduct high-level research on important topics, how to think creatively about critical issues, and write intelligently and astutely about major global affairs.”

Original source can be found here