Dr Rublee specializes in international security, international relations theory, and international organizations, with regional emphases on East Asia and the Middle East.  In particular, she uses both social psychology and the international relations theory of constructivism to understand how state elites perceive “security” and “success.” In addition, she analyzes the influence of grassroots movements and nongovernmental organizations on state security policy.  The typical refrain that states act to protect their “security” is meaningless in terms of policy predictions, since some states seek security through military build-ups and other seek security through international diplomacy.  Deconstructing “security” and understanding the intensely political process through which “security” is defined is one of her main research interests, with applications for both theory and policy.

Her current focus is nuclear proliferation, nonproliferation and disarmament.  Her most recent publication, Nonproliferation Norms:  Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint, examines why states with the capability of developing nuclear weapons instead opted out of the nuclear arms race. She examines nuclear weapons decision-making in five countries – Japan, Egypt, Libya, Germany and Sweden – and concludes that the international social environment created by the nuclear nonproliferation regime was a key factor in all these states’ construction of what “security” is and thus their nuclear policy.

Dr Rublee is engaged in a number of current research projects.  First, she is analyzing the effects of peace NGOs in Japan on both Japanese diplomacy and nuclear weapons policy.  She remains interested in the nuclear efforts of North Korea and Iran, as well as potential nuclear states, including Brazil, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and more.  She has also begun a project on the use of norms as policy tools, examining the novel ways that diplomats, policy experts and NGOs have used – and can use – normative influence as a way to reduce proliferation and encourage disarmament.

Dr Rublee welcomes postgraduate students interested in international security issues, the role of norms and ideas in international politics, the use of social psychology to understand elite behaviour in international relations, and the effects of grassroots movements and NGOs on international security decision-making.

Nonproliferation Norms:  Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint (Athens:  University of Georgia):  2009.

http://ugapress.net/0820330035.html

Rublee, Maria Rost.  “Taking Stock of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime:  Using Social Psychology to Understand Regime Effectiveness,” International Studies Review 10, no. 3 (September 2008).

Rublee, Maria Rost.  East Asian Security:  Challenges and Opportunities (Tampa:  University of Tampa):  2008.

Rublee, Maria Rost.  “Egypt's Nuclear Weapons Program: Lessons Learned,” Nonproliferation Review (November 2006).

Dickson, Bruce J. and Maria Rost Rublee.  “Membership Has Its Privileges:  Socioeconomic Characteristics of Chinese Communist Party Members,” Comparative Political Studies Vol. 33, No. 1 (February 2000):  87-113.

Maria Rost Rublee completed both her M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Political Science from George Washington University, where she specialized in international security and international relations theory.  Prior to that, she earned her BS in Government and Communication from Evangel University in Missouri, and also spent one year at the University of Otago in Dunedin on a Rotary scholarship doing postgraduate work in politics.

Dr Rublee specialises in international security and international relations theory, with regional emphases on East Asia and the Middle East.  In particular, she studies the way norms and ideas shape the way that elites perceive "security" and "success" for their states.  In addition, she analyzes the influence of grassroots movements and nongovernmental organizations on state security policy.  Her current focus is nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.  Her book, Nonproliferation Norms:  Why States Choose Nuclear Restraint, was recently published by the University of Georgia Press.

Before joining the University of Auckland, Dr Rublee was a tenure-track assistant professor at the University of Tampa in Florida, USA, for four years.  During her time there, she was honoured with university-wide awards in teaching, research, and student advising.  Dr Rublee also taught at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, as a graduate teaching fellow and part-time lecturer.