Adam Roberts (scholar)


Sir Adam Roberts is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Oxford, a senior research fellow in Oxford University's Department of Politics and International Relations, and an emeritus fellow of Balliol College, Oxford.

Background

Roberts was born in Penrith, Cumbria, the son of the poet and teacher Michael Roberts and the writer and editor Janet Adam Smith. He went to Westminster School, London, 1953–8. He studied modern history at the University of Oxford, 1959–62, winning the Stanhope essay prize, 1961.

Career

Assistant Editor, Peace News, London, 1962–5. Noel Buxton Student in International Relations, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1965–8. Lecturer in International Relations at the London [School of Economics and Political Science], 1968–81. Alastair Buchan Reader in International Relations at University of Oxford, 1981–6. Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at Oxford University, 1986–2007.
With interests in civil resistance, international law, the United Nations, strategic studies, and the history of international relations, his publications include works on the United Nations and on Hugo Grotius jointly edited with Professor Benedict Kingsbury. Roberts was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1990, serving as its President. He served on the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies ; on the Council for Science and Technology ; and on the United Kingdom Defence Academy Advisory Board.
In 2002, he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George for services to the study and practice of international relations. He is an Honorary Fellow of the London School of Economics & Political Science, of St Antony's College, Oxford, and of Cumbria University. He has a Guest Professorship at Nankai University, Tianjin, China ; and is honorary professor, Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at St Andrew's University. He has been awarded honorary doctorates by King's College London ; Aberdeen University ; Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, and Bath University. He was elected a Foreign Honorary Member, American [Academy of Arts and Sciences], in 2011; and a Member, American Philosophical Society, 2013. His interests include mountaineering and cycling.
He has published articles in numerous journals, including American Journal of International Law, British Yearbook of International Law, International Affairs, International Security, Review of International Studies, Survival and The Times Literary Supplement. His publications include:

Recent articles and book chapters

  • 'Pandemics and Politics', Survival, London, vol. 62, no. 5, October–November 2020, pp. 7–40. Available at .
  • 'Foundational Myths in the Laws of War: The 1863 Lieber Code, and the 1864 Geneva Convention', Melbourne Journal of International Law, vol. 20, no. 1, July 2019, pp. 158–96. ISSN 1444-8602. Available at .
  • 'The Use of Force: A System of Selective Security', in Sebastian von Einsiedel, David M. Malone and Bruno Stagno Ugarte, , Lynne Rienner, Boulder, Colorado, 2016, pp. 349–71. ; 978-1-62637-259-7.
  • 'Terrorism Research: Past, Present and Future', Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, vol. 38, no. 1, January 2015, pp. 62–74. Print edition. Online. Available at .
  • 'The Long Peace Getting Longer', Survival, London, vol. 54, no. 1, February–March 2012, pp. 175–83. Print edition. Online. Available at .
  • 'Simon Frederick Peter Halliday, 1946–2010', Proceedings of the British Academy, vol. 172: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows no. X, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011, pp. 143–69... Available at .
  • 'The Civilian in Modern War', in Hew Strachan and Sibylle Scheipers, The Changing Character of War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2011, pp. 357–80. .
  • 'The Civilian in Modern War', Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, vol. 12, 2009, T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague, 2010, pp. 13–51. ;.
  • 'Lives and Statistics: Are 90% of War Victims Civilians?’, Survival, London, vol. 52, no. 3, June–July 2010, pp. 115–35. Print edition. Online. Available at .
  • 'Detainees: Misfits in Peace and War', in Sibylle Scheipers, Prisoners in War, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010, pp. 263–80..
  • 'An "Incredibly Swift Transition": Reflections on the End of the Cold War', in Melvyn P. Leffler and Odd Arne Westad, The Cambridge History of the Cold War, vol. III, Endings, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2010, pp. 513–34..
  • 'The Equal Application of the Laws of War: A Principle under Pressure', International Review of the Red Cross, Cambridge, vol. 90, no. 872, December 2008, pp. 931–62.. E. Available at .
  • 'Doctrine and Reality in Afghanistan', Survival, London, vol. 51, no. 1, February–March 2009, pp. 29–60. Print edition. Online.
  • 'Torture and Incompetence in the "War on Terror"’, Survival, London, vol. 49, no. 1, Spring 2007. Print edition. Online. Available at .
  • 'Transformative Military Occupation: Applying the Laws of War and Human Rights', American Journal of International Law, Washington DC, vol. 100, no. 3, July 2006.. Available at .
  • 'The Laws of War in the War on Terror', in Fred L. Borch and Paul S. Wilson, International Law and the War on Terror, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, 2003. Available at .

    Books

  • . , Oxford University Press, Oxford, January 2016.. . Article arising from the book in Discussion of the book with Professor Rashid Khalidi at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, New York, 10 February 2016, on
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  • 全球治理：分列世界中的联合国, trans. Zhicheng Wu and colleagues at Nankai University, Central Compilation & Translation Press, Beijing, 2010..
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  • Lectures

  • in the
  • the 2010 Gresham Special Lecture delivered in the Guildhall, City of London.