Dr J Simon Rofe

Contact Details

• Tel: +44 (0)116 252 2703
• Fax: +44 (0)116 252 5082
• Email: jsr13@leicester.ac.uk 

Introduction  

• Dr J Simon Rofe is undertaking Leverhulme funded Overseas Fellowship at Texas A&M University during semester 1 of 2010/11 on his project on "Presidential Peacemaking in the Twentieth Century".
• Dr J Simon Rofe has been awarded a University Teaching Fellowship recognising his excellence in teaching, and particularly his leadership of the Department's burgeoning Distance Learning provision.
• Dr J Simon Rofe has been awarded a British Academy Grant for a project entitled "The American Embassy in London 1938-2008: 70 Years in Grosvenor Square" to be completed 2010-2012.

Research Interests

My research interests lie in the field of US Diplomatic and Foreign Relations in the twentieth century with a specific focus on US national security and the foreign policy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

I have previously held positions in the Defence Studies Department of King’s College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College; in the American Studies Department at Canterbury Christ Church University; the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Current Research

I have a number of ongoing research projects reflecting my research interests.

• Presidential Peacemaking in the Twentieth Century. Dr J Simon Rofe has been awarded a Leverhulme Overseas Fellowship: (£21967) for a project entitled "Presidential Peacemaking in the Twentieth Century" based at the Scowcroft Institute of Bush School of Government and Public Policy, Texas A&M College Station. This programme of activity investigates the role that American presidents played in peacemaking in the Twentieth Century. The United States was materially involved in three global conflicts in the twentieth century: The First and Second World Wars, and the Cold War. While a multitude of contextual factors were at play when each reached a dénouement, in each case an American President was crucial in the peace that emerged. This project investigates what draws Presidents to act as “peacemakers”; what opportunities it presents to further their own and US interests, with a view to establishing principles of Presidential Peacemaking.
• The American Embassy in London 1937-2008: Dr J Simon Rofe has been awarded a British Academy Grant for a project entitled "The American Embassy in London 1938-2008: 70 Years in Grosvenor Square" to be completed 2010-2012. This project explores the vital role played by the American Embassy in London not only in Anglo-American relations, but also in wider international relations over the seventy years that the Embassy has been in Grosvenor Square. The project covers this period because it effectively covers the lifespan of what is termed ‘the special relationship’ – from its birth in the Second World War and its aftermath, to the challenges of globalisation in the present day. The thematic issues of this period include not only the ‘special relationship’ in the post-war context given the conflicting explanations and contested nature of its evolution over time as well as the changing events and impact of the development and demise of ‘The Cold War’; the ongoing impact of the European Project and EU integration, the influence of nuclear weapons and NATO, as well as wider economic, cultural, demographic and environmental forces that have shaped the transatlantic relationship.
• A New Vision for International Relations: Explaining the Philosophical Foundations of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Administration’s Foreign Policy in Post-War Planning. This is the working title to a major research project currently being undertaken looking at the Foreign Policy thinking in relation to Post-War planning undertaken during the entirety of the administration and not just during the Second World War. This project involves considerable primary research; a number of grant applications to institutions in the UK and the US; a series of conference papers; articles in referred journals and in the mid-term a published volume, as well as providing the opportunity to develop new teaching opportunities and supervision of PhD students.
• International History and International Relations: This co-authored volume is in the final stages of production. Along with co-authors Prof. Andrew Williams (St Andrews) and Dr Amelia Hadfield (University of Kent), this vollume addresses the value to scholars and students of cross pollinating the disciplines of International Relations and International History.

Recent Research Activities

In recent years I have attended and presented at a variety of academic conferences on both sides of the Atlantic.

• Media Appearance, Dr J Simon Rofe appeared on BBC Radio Leicester on 20th July 2010 discussing the UK-US Special Relationship in light of Prime Minister David Cameron's visit to Washington to meet US President Barack Obama.
• Conference Paper at Transatlantic Studies Association conference, University of Durham, July 2010 'Joseph Kennedy's Ambassadorship to London'
• External Lecture, Lecture on the United Nations to the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy, January 2010
• Conference Paper at Transatlantic Studies Association conference, Canterbury Christ Church University, July 2009 ‘Presidential Manoeuvres in the Dark: TR & FDR: internationalists negotiating with isolationist publics’
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered to School of History at University of Nottingham, 10th March 2009
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered at University Research Colloquium, University of Hertfordshire ,13th February 2009
• External Lecture, Lecture on UN/US Relations, Irish Defence Academy, The Curragh  27th February 2009
• Chair/discussant, The Foreign Policy Prospects of the New Administration, inc Prof. Robert Jervis, Prof. Mick Cox, Prof. Tony Smith at ISA New York February 2009
• Invited participant of Active Learning in International Affairs (ALISA) Workshop at ISA New York February 2009.
• External Presentation, Research Paper delivered at University of East Anglia, 10th February 2009
• External Lecture, Lecture on the United Nations to the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK Defence Academy, 4th February 2009
• Chair/commentator at United States Foreign Policy Group conference, on panel on US Foreign Policy Under Bush, ISA/LSE, London 19th September 2008.
• Chair/commentator at Canadian Studies Association conference, Canada House, London 11th July 2008.
• 2 Conference Papers delivered at the Transatlantic Studies Association Conference, Dundee, Scotland July 7th-10th 2008 Papers entitled “‘Anti-Imperial Imperialists’ or ‘Imperial Anti-Imperialists’? The Two Presidents Roosevelt and the Concept of Empire” and “Lothian as Wartime US Ambassador: Strategies for Success”
• Convened panel and delivered paper at Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations Columbus OH, June 2008. Paper entitled The Roosevelt Administrations’ conception of US National Interest during the Phony War: Pre-war Postwar planning.
• External Lecture at the Institute of International Studies University of California, Berkeley 3rd April 2008 entitled "A Special Relationship": National Security inUnited States-Russian Relations
• Conference Paper at International Studies Association Conference, San Francisco, CA March 2008 entitled “Expressions of the National Interest in US-Russian Relations since the end of the Cold War.”

I am of Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and between 2007-2008 was a Fellow of the Institute for the Study of the Americas (ISA), at the University of London’s School of Advanced Study.

In early 2006 I was a Fulbright Fellow selected alongside 17 other international academics and policymakers to spend two months in the United States on a programme entitled  “US National Security: US National Security Policymaking in a Post 9/11 World”, run by the United States Department of State Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Branch for the Study of the United States.

PhD Supervision

I would welcome the opportunity to supervise PhD Students in areas relating to my own research interest. My prime research interests lie in the field of US Diplomatic and Foreign Relations in the twentieth century. I have a specific focus on the era of Franklin Roosevelt, Presidential peacemaking and post-war planning, and competing views of US National Security.

Possible areas of supervision would include:

• US Foreign Policy and National Security since 1898
• The Anglo-American ‘Special’ relationship during the Twentieth Century
• US Presidential Politics from 1900 to the present day
• The United Nations and Peace
• The Era of Franklin D Roosevelt
• New World Orders of the Twentieth Century
• Diplomatic and Ambassadorial relations
• Peacemaking and post-war planning

Please do not hesitate to contact me to discuss your topic.

Current Phd Students

• Mr Tom Girn – The Federalist Papers, Constitutional Ratification and Internationalism in the United States
• Mr Ed Brown – States within States - The effects of secession on failed states
• Mr Ashley Cox – America’s Wars of Choice in the Twentieth Century
• Mrs Talat Farooq – US-Pakistan Relations since Clinton
• Mr Allen Hyem – Reappraising the Imperial Presidency in the 21st Century

Teaching

I have over ten years of experience teaching in Higher Education in the United Kingdom, and am committed to my ongoing professional career development in academic practice.

• Diploma in Academic Practice (DIPAP) King’s Institute of Learning and Teaching (KILT) 2009 Distinction.
• Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) HEA Approved. King’s Institute of Learning and Teaching (KILT), pass with Merit 2006.

Module that I have taught include:

• 'The Ascent to Pre-eminence: The United States' emergence as a Global Power 1898-1948' – (MA). This MA module addresses both conceptually and historically the emergence of the United States as a global power by 1948 from being a continental power at the end of the 19th century. Beginning with the Spanish-American War, this module addresses Washington’s relations with the world through the experiences of the First and Second World Wars, and culminates once the Cold War becomes the dominant ethos in Washington.
• The Modern American Presidency 1945-2000 – (MA). This course considers differing analytical approaches to the study of the Presidency alongside the narrative of the different administrations since the end of the Second World War, with a particular emphasis on presidential foreign policy making.
• “From Rough Riders to Kosovo” – Military interventions in the American Century – (Year3/MA). This module examines the rationale behind ‘sending in the marines’ with a conceptual background providing the base line for the students to explore specific case studies, such as intervention in the Spanish-American War, the Korea crisis, through Vietnam, to Somalia, and Kosovo, thus examining the evolving concept of US National Security and the rationale for military action.
• “For Freedom” - The Era of Franklin D Roosevelt – (MA). With clear links to my own research agenda and running from 1914-1952, this module provides an opportunity for students to understand the importance of Franklin Roosevelt diplomacy, the antecedents of his political beliefs and his ability to face down the challenges of his era at home and abroad.
• National Interest, Military Interventionism and Legitimacy in IR – (MA) Reflecting best practice in research led teaching, this module will investigate the relationship between contested notions of national interest, military intervention and legitimacy in historical and contemporary International Relations.
• International Organisations: The UN System (Year 3). This course presents students with the important role international organisations play in the modern world. By focusing on the United Nations, and providing a historical context to the wider UN system through a political analysis of the Charter, the course provided an understanding of the relevance and impact of the UN system in global politics.
• International History and International Relations (Year 1) – This module has a dual purpose: to consider the use of ‘History’ in contemporary international relations, while also introducing the fundamental conceptual approaches and key schools of thought within international relations.

Most Recent Publications

Books

Franklin Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy and the Welles Mission. (Palgrave: New York, 2007). UK link: Palgrave, US link: Macmillan.

International History and International Relations, with Prof. Andrew Williams and Dr Amelia Hadfield, (Routledge: Oxford, 2011)

The London Embassy – 70 Years in Grosvenor Square 1939-2009, with Alison Holmes Co-Authored Collection (Palgrave 2011) Forthcoming

Diplomats at War: the American Experience, with Andrew Stewart (KCL) (Republic of Letters: Dordrecht, 2011) Forthcoming

Recent Journal Articles and Chapters

• “The “IR model”: A Schema for Pedagogic Development through the integration of learning technologies into Distance Learning (DL) programmes in International Relations.” European Political Science, Vol. No.10 2011 pp.103-117.

• ‘“Internationalists in Isolationist times” – Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and a Rooseveltian Maxim’, Journal of Transatlantic Studies Vol.9 No.1 2011.

• “Isolationism and Internationalism in Transatlantic Affairs”, Journal of Transatlantic Studies Vol.9 No.1 2011.

• “The IR Model and E-moderating” case-study in Gilly Salmon, E-Moderating: The key to teaching and learning online 3rd Edition, (Routledge Falmer: New York and London, 2011).

• ‘Preparedness and Defense: The Origins of Theodore Roosevelt's Strategy for the United States on the International Stage’ in A Theodore Roosevelt Companion, ed. Serge Ricard (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).

• ‘Lord Lothian's Ambassadorship in Washington August 1939-December 1940’ in Lothian and Anglo-American Relations 1900-1940. Priscilla Roberts (ed.) (Republic of Letters: Dordrecht, 2010) forthcoming.

• 'Lord Lothian 1939-40' in British Embassy in Washington between 1939 and 1974. John Young, Saul Kelly, and Micheal Hopkins (eds.) ( Palgrave: NY & Basingstoke, 2009.)

• ‘An Abortive Special Relationship? - US-Russian Relations in the Post Cold War World’, with Dr Alex Marshall, in “Allies and Clients: America’s ‘Special Relationships’”. John Dumbrell and Axel Schafer (eds.), (Routledge: Oxford 2009).

• 'Under the Influence of Mahan: Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt and their Understanding of American National Interest', Diplomacy and Statecraft, Vol. 19:4 2008. pp.732-745.

• 'Prescription and Remedy: Lothian’s influence upon Anglo-American relations during the Phony War' in The Round Table – The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs 2 2007.

• 'The United States Security Dilemma – a Nation at War', in My US: Views on the US National Security and Foreign Policy, Mireille Radoi (ed.) (Tritonic: Bucharest and Washington: State Department publications, 2007).

I am one of the founding editors of Argentia, the academic newsletter of BISA’s US Foreign Policy Group.