Welcome to the webpage of Dr. Ariel Ilan Roth.  Dr. Roth holds a Ph.D in international relations from The Johns Hopkins University (Click here for CV), where he is currently the associate director for the graduate program in National Security Studies and the MA in Global Security Studies.

 Dr. Roth has previously taught at Goucher College, a liberal arts college in Towson, Md.  

Dr. Roth also has several published articles. Nuclear Weapons in Neo-Realist Theory, published in the International Studies Review, traces differences of opinion in the absolute deterrent value of nuclear weapons as lying at the heart of the debate between offensive and defensive Realists in international relations theory.   Balancing and the Bible, which appeared recently in Security Studies, uses the novel data set of the Hebrew Bible to show how leaders of states with immature authority structures often choose to intentionally endanger the state if doing so enhances their own personal standing.

Reassurance: A Strategic Basis of US Support for Israel, published recently in International Studies Perspectives, argues that US support for Israel restrains Israel's unilateral  impulses and renders the Middle East a more benign environment for US foreign policy than it would otherwise be, thereby reaping a strategic dividend from its investment.  

Dr. Roth has written on the tension between Israel and Iran in, "The Root of All Fears", published online in Foreign Affairs, which argues that contrary to popular belief, Israel is not afraid of a nuclear attack by Iran or Hezbollah; rather, it fears losing its nuclear monopoly in the region and the image of invincibility that comes with it. 

Dr. Roth's current research focuses on why the pursuit of nuclear weapons is rational for some states and why efforts to limit the proliferation of nuclear weapons are likely to fail.  

Dr. Roth is a member of the International Studies Association, the American Political Science Association and the Committee for the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy, and presents regularly at conferences. Roth is an occasional commentator on foreign policy and security matters in local and international newspapers and a frequent guest lecturer on international security matters.

Among Dr. Roth's newspaper columns are:

Arming Israel Lessens Nuclear Danger - The Baltimore Sun 

Dr. Roth can be contacted at: 202-452-1954