Michael Roberts

Senior Fellow, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology

michael_roberts

At A Glance:

Michael Roberts is a senior fellow with Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology.

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Biography

Michael Roberts is a senior fellow with Hudson Institute’s Center for Defense Concepts and Technology. His work focuses on policy issues impacting the American commercial maritime industry in light of geopolitical competition with China.

Mr. Roberts joined Hudson Institute in 2022 following a decades-long career in the American maritime industry. Prior to joining Hudson Mr. Roberts was a senior executive of a leading American maritime company (Crowley), serving as general counsel, board secretary, and senior vice president of government relations. He provided senior leadership on key Crowley initiatives, including in risk management (updating risk mitigation strategies and founding a for-profit insurance company), corporate business strategy (increasing focus on government business), and ESG (founding a non-profit charitable foundation). Roberts also helped establish and lead key industry groups. He was a founding board member of the American Maritime Partnership and its immediate past chairman and president (2020-2022).

Mr. Roberts is an av-rated lawyer admitted in Washington, DC, and Florida. He holds a BA with high honors from Michigan State University and a JD cum laude from American University, Washington College of Law.

Events
Back to Michael Roberts
30
April 2025
Past Event
Rebuilding America’s Maritime Industrial Base with Senators Mark Kelly and Todd Young
Featured Speakers:
Senator Todd Young
Senator Mark Kelly
Michael Roberts
Bryan Clark
Fast-attack submarine USS North Carolina (SSN 777) enters Dry Dock 1 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Hawaii, on September 4, 2024. (US Navy photo by Justice Vannatta)
30
April 2025
Past Event
Rebuilding America’s Maritime Industrial Base with Senators Mark Kelly and Todd Young

Hudson will welcome Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Todd Young (R-IN) to discuss their proposal to restore America’s shipping and shipbuilding industries to help deter Chinese aggression.

Fast-attack submarine USS North Carolina (SSN 777) enters Dry Dock 1 at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Hawaii, on September 4, 2024. (US Navy photo by Justice Vannatta)
Featured Speakers:
Senator Todd Young
Senator Mark Kelly
Michael Roberts
Bryan Clark
Learn More
04
March 2025
Past Event
How US Maritime Industries Can Help Deter China
Featured Speakers:
Jennifer Carpenter
Michael Roberts
USNS Harvey Milk departs the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard after a ceremonial address in San Diego, California on November 6, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)
04
March 2025
Past Event
How US Maritime Industries Can Help Deter China

Jennifer Carpenter, president of the American Waterways Operators and the American Maritime Partnership, will join Senior Fellow Michael Roberts to discuss how America’s maritime industry can help counter China’s shipping and shipbuilding dominance.

USNS Harvey Milk departs the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard after a ceremonial address in San Diego, California on November 6, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Jennifer Carpenter
Michael Roberts
Learn More
19
February 2025
Past Event
Righting the Ship: Strengthening US Navy Shipbuilding and Ship Repair
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Nickolas Guertin
Glen Kim
Brian Holland
Greg Little
Tom Moore
Paul Clifford
Brad Moyer
Rob Lehman
Chris Clark
Moderators:
Timothy A. Walton
Michael Roberts
Caption: Fast-attack submarine USS Scranton (SSN 756) prepares to depart the floating dry dock ARCO (ARDM 5) at Naval Base Point Loma, California, on September 4, 2024. (US Navy photo by Aaron T. Smith)
19
February 2025
Past Event
Righting the Ship: Strengthening US Navy Shipbuilding and Ship Repair

Please join Hudson Senior Fellow Tim Walton for a discussion with Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition Nickolas Guertin. Following the discussion, two panels of industry experts will address further challenges and opportunities to expand the US Navy fleet.

Caption: Fast-attack submarine USS Scranton (SSN 756) prepares to depart the floating dry dock ARCO (ARDM 5) at Naval Base Point Loma, California, on September 4, 2024. (US Navy photo by Aaron T. Smith)
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Nickolas Guertin
Glen Kim
Brian Holland
Greg Little
Tom Moore
Paul Clifford
Brad Moyer
Rob Lehman
Chris Clark
Moderators:
Timothy A. Walton
Michael Roberts
Learn More
15
April 2024
Past Event
Is China the Big Winner in the Red Sea?
Featured Speakers:
Salvatore Mercogliano
Michael Roberts
Moderator:
Michael Doran
The cargo ship Rubymar sinking after it was targeted by Yemen's Houthi forces in international waters on March 7, 2024, in the Red Sea. (Photo by Al-Joumhouriah channel via Getty Images)
15
April 2024
Past Event
Is China the Big Winner in the Red Sea?

Shipping experts discuss the Houthi attacks’ consequences for the global economy and the balance of power between the US and its global rivals.

The cargo ship Rubymar sinking after it was targeted by Yemen's Houthi forces in international waters on March 7, 2024, in the Red Sea. (Photo by Al-Joumhouriah channel via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Salvatore Mercogliano
Michael Roberts
Moderator:
Michael Doran
Learn More
09
April 2024
Past Event
Restoring America’s Commercial Maritime Industrial Base
Featured Speakers:
Joe Courtney
Michael Roberts
(Courtesy of Crowley Maritime)
09
April 2024
Past Event
Restoring America’s Commercial Maritime Industrial Base

Join Michael Roberts and Representative Joe Courtney (D-CT) for a discussion on America’s critical shipping and shipbuilding industries.

(Courtesy of Crowley Maritime)
Featured Speakers:
Joe Courtney
Michael Roberts
Learn More
13
March 2023
Past Event
Rethinking Supply Chains and Shipping to Reduce America’s Vulnerability to China
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Peter DeFazio (D-OR, ret.)
Michael Roberts
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: Shipping containers are stacked on a container ship at the Port of Los Angeles on February 7, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. posted its largest-ever trade deficit in 2022, $948.1 billion, as Americans imported large quantities of machinery, medicines and industrial items amid weakened global demand and high inflation. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
13
March 2023
Past Event
Rethinking Supply Chains and Shipping to Reduce America’s Vulnerability to China

Former Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Peter DeFazio joins Hudson Senior Fellow Michael Roberts for a conversation on shipping and international trade.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 07: Shipping containers are stacked on a container ship at the Port of Los Angeles on February 7, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. The Commerce Department reported today that the U.S. posted its largest-ever trade deficit in 2022, $948.1 billion, as Americans imported large quantities of machinery, medicines and industrial items amid weakened global demand and high inflation. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Hon. Peter DeFazio (D-OR, ret.)
Michael Roberts
Learn More
27
February 2023
Past Event
Where Are the Ships? Fighting a Pacific War without American Sealift
Featured Speakers:
Rear Admiral Mark Buzby
Michael Roberts
A shipbuilder walks in the yard, with partial ship assemblies behind him, at Bath Iron Works in Bath on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. (Photo by Carl D. Walsh/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
27
February 2023
Past Event
Where Are the Ships? Fighting a Pacific War without American Sealift

Hudson hosts a conversation with RADM Mark Buzby that examines the state of the US maritime industry, its potential role in a western Pacific conflict, and options for restoring an American industry.

A shipbuilder walks in the yard, with partial ship assemblies behind him, at Bath Iron Works in Bath on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. (Photo by Carl D. Walsh/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
Featured Speakers:
Rear Admiral Mark Buzby
Michael Roberts
Learn More
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The final piece of the underwater hull of the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is lowered into place at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on September 28, 2018. (US Navy photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries by John Whalen)
The final piece of the underwater hull of the USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79) is lowered into place at Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on September 28, 2018. (US Navy photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries by John Whalen)
Shoring Up the Foundation: Affordable Approaches to Improve US and Allied Shipbuilding and Ship Repair
michael_roberts
michael_roberts
Michael Roberts
Senior Fellow, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology
bryan_clark
bryan_clark
Bryan Clark
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology
Michael Roberts & Bryan Clark
Reports
5 Min Read