[1] In 2017, Roberts was appointed as a professor of political science and director of the School of Public Policy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

He has been cited in publications including The Boston Globe,[5] The Christian Science Monitor,[6] The San Diego Union-Tribune,[7] The Times (London),[8] Prospect,[9] and the National Journal.

[10] His essays have appeared in numerous periodicals in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and elsewhere, including The Guardian,[11] Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy,[12] Government Executive,[13] Prospect,[14] The Globe and Mail (Toronto),[15] Dnevnik,[16] Saturday Night,[17] and The Washington Post.

[18] Roberts was a vice-president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario from 1982 to 1984, during the Big Blue Machine era.

He was an ex officio delegate to the federal Progressive Conservative leadership election of 1983 where he supported David Crombie.