He taught at Oxford University, and was the founder of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy.
As a visiting student at Princeton, he regularly shared a taxi with Albert Einstein.
In 1946, Seton-Watson was elected to a fellowship in Modern History and Politics at Oriel College, Oxford, on being awarded an MA as a war degree.
He remained at Oriel until his retirement in 1983 and worked on liberal Italy (1870–1922) and its foreign policy.
[3] While at Oriel, he focused on teaching and also served as a "talent scout" for the British security services.