Born in 1968, Ralph Rotte studied political science, economics, applied econometrics and geography at the University of Munich and the Technical University of Munich. After working as an analyst for the European Center for International Security(EUCIS), Starnberg, in 1993, he was a research associate in economics (labour and populations economics and applied economics) at the University of Munich until 1998. From 1997 to 2001 he also served as a lecturer in political science (international relations and international law) at the Bundeswehr University Munich where he received a doctorate in social sciences and economics in 1995, and worked as a post-doctoral scholar of the German Science Foundation (DFG) from 1999 to 2000, before receiving his post-doctoral qualification (Habilitation) for political science in 2001.

He was a research affiliate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), London (1997-2001), a visiting scholar and lecturer of applied econometrics at the University of Bonn (1998), and the head of the political economy and international economics division of the Academy of Politics and Current Affairs at Hanns Seidel Foundation, Munich (2000-2001).

Since 2001 he is professor of political science/international relations at RWTH Aachen University, specializing in strategic studies, conflict research and war studies, as well as international political economy, and the international relations of the Holy See. He is also a research fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) in Bonn (since 1998), and a fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO, since 2018). 

Ralph Rotte’s publications include 22 monographs and edited books, and about 120 papers in collected volumes and scholarly journals, e.g. Journal of Conflict Resolution, Public Choice, Defence and Peace Economics, European Journal of International Relations, African Security Review, International Migration Review, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Journal of Population Economics, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Political Science Applied and Review of Development Economics.