Rosen taught political science and international relations from 1968 to 1978 at the
University of Pittsburgh,
Brandeis University and
Australian National University. a best selling textbook that went through four editions from 1974 through 1982. From 1978 to 1982, he served as associate director of the National Security Strategies Program at think tank
RAND Corporation, conducting and supervising research and analysis of
classified material under contract with
the Pentagon and the
US State Department.
The Washington Post wrote, "Rosen has been a mainstay of AIPAC and the architect of the group's ever-increasing clout."
National Public Radio called him "A larger-than-life figure" (May 20, 2005) who "helped shape AIPAC into one of the most powerful lobby groups in the country" (September 30, 2005).
Haaretz said, "In the eyes of many, he is AIPAC itself." In particular, "Rosen helped pioneer 'executive-branch lobbying,' a style of advocacy that was not widespread when he began it in the mid-1980s, but is now a routine complement to the more traditional lobbying of Congress" according to
The Washington Post.
The Nation said Rosen is "a brilliant and, some say, ruthless bureaucratic infighter at the country's premiere Mideast lobbying group, who was emboldened by his long relationships with figures in and around the Bush Administration and the Washington scene to behave almost as an unofficial diplomatic entity in his own right" (July 14, 2005). "The special relationship between the US executive branch and AIPAC was the triumph of twenty years of work by … Rosen." Rosen's early work with the executive branch focused on expanding military cooperation between the United States and
Israel. Rosen authored reports such as The Strategic Value of Israel (1982) and Israel and the U.S. Air Force (1983). Columnist
William Safire and
defense correspondent Drew Middleton credited one of Rosen's reports with helping to launch the U.S.–Israeli dialogue that resulted in the
Strategic Cooperation Agreement during early the
Ronald Reagan administration.
The Washington Post later said (June 14, 1991): "[Rosen] helped convince key members of the Reagan administration that the Jewish state was a U.S. 'strategic asset' in the struggle with the Soviets. … Rosen helped encourage more cooperation than the two countries had ever enjoyed." A
New Yorker profile (July 4, 2005) said: "Rosen used his contacts to carry AIPAC’s agenda to the White House. An early success came in 1983, when he helped lobby for a strategic cooperation agreement between Israel and the United States, which was signed over the objections of
Caspar Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense, and which led to a new level of intelligence sharing and military sales." The
Times said (July 6, 1987), "AIPAC cannot take sole credit. … But Mr. Rosen has reportedly worked to flesh out the strategic cooperation. … Despite initial opposition in the Pentagon, the relationship has become institutionalized." A major focus of Rosen's efforts in the 1990s was
Iran. Rosen and his codefendant in the AIPAC/Franklin case Keith Weissman were among the first to advocate a strategy of graduated American
economic sanctions for leverage against Iran's alleged involvement in sponsoring
terrorism and its purported acquisition of
nuclear weapons capabilities. Milestones in this campaign were President
Bill Clinton's March 14, 1995
Executive Order banning
Conoco from investing in Iranian oil and gas production; his May 8, 1995 Executive Order extending this to all U.S. companies; and enactment of the
Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) on August 4, 1996. The Executive Orders and ILSA (later the Iran Sanctions Act) were the foundation of a Bush Administration effort to get
multilateral cooperation for stepped up economic pressure to end the
Iranian uranium enrichment program.
Pentagon official Lawrence Franklin was indicted on May 26, 2005, and Rosen and Weissman were indicted on August 4, 2005. "Between in or about April 1999 and continuing until on or about August 27, 2004, in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, defendants Lawrence Anthony Franklin, Steven J. Rosen, and Keith Weissman did unlawfully, knowingly and willfully conspire, confederate and agree together and with others, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to commit the following offenses against the United States: • "having lawful possession of, access to, and control over information relating to the national defense, did willfully communicate, deliver and transmit that information directly and indirectly to a person or persons not entitled to receive it, having reason to believe that said information could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of any foreign nation, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(d); and • "having unauthorized possession of, access to, and control over information relating to the national defense, did willfully communicate, deliver and transmit that information directly and indirectly to a person or persons not entitled to receive it, having reason to believe that said information could be used to the injury of the United States and to the advantage of any foreign nation, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 793(e)."
Failed conspiracy allegations The indictment stated: • "It was part of the conspiracy that, in an effort to influence persons within and outside the United States government, Rosen and Weissman would cultivate relationships with Franklin and others and would use their contacts within the U.S. government and elsewhere to gather sensitive U.S. government information, including classified information relating to the national defense, for subsequent unlawful communication, delivery and transmission to persons not entitled to receive it. • "It was further part of the conspiracy that Franklin would use his position as a desk officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense to gather information relating to the national defense, for subsequent unlawful communication, delivery and transmission to Rosen and Weissman and others not entitled to receive it. • "It was further part of the conspiracy that Franklin, Rosen and Weissman would meet at locations in the Eastern District of Virginia and elsewhere, to exchange information, including classified information relating to the national defense. • "It was further part of the conspiracy that Franklin would unlawfully deliver, communicate and transmit classified national defense information in an effort to advance his own personal foreign policy agenda and influence persons within and outside the United States government. • "It was further part of the conspiracy that Rosen and Weissman, without lawful authority, would communicate to persons not entitled to receive it, classified information relating to the national defense."
Prosecutors drop charges On May 1, 2009, prosecutors announced they would ask the judge to dismiss the cases against Rosen and Weissman because of "the diminished likelihood the government will prevail at trial under the additional intent requirements imposed by the court and the inevitable disclosure of classified information that would occur at any trial." ==Later career==