Gartzke has been on the research faculty at UC-San Diego since 2007. Previous permanent faculty positions include Columbia University in the City of New York (2000–2007) and the Pennsylvania State University (1997–2000). He has held temporary positions at the Australian Defense College, Dartmouth University, the Ecole des Affaires Internationales (Sciences Po), the Naval Postgraduate School, UC-Santa Barbara, and at the University of Essex. Gartzke received a PhD in Political Science from the University of Iowa in 1997.

Gartzke’s research focuses on war, peace and international institutions. His scholarly interests include deterrence, nuclear security, the liberal peace, alliances, information and war, cyberwar, and the evolving technological nature of interstate conflict. He has written on the effects of global commerce, development, system structure and climate change on war. Recent studies include the role of military automation on patterns of conflict, geography/seasonality and disputes, cross/multi-domain deterrence and research contributing to the intellectual foundations of cyber conflict.

His research appears in the American Political Science Review, the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, International Organization, International Security, International Studies Quarterly, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, the Journal of Politics, Security Studies, World Politics, and elsewhere. His latest book manuscript, with Jon Lindsay, Elements of Deterrence: Strategy, Technology, and Complexity in Global Politics, is forthcoming from Oxford University Press in 2024.