Þorsteinn Kristinsson is an affiliated researcher at the Institute of International Affairs. He is an International Relations scholar based in Taipei, Taiwan. Þorsteinn specialises in great power competition and the evolution of international order, as well as the international relations of East Asia. He has also worked and published extensively on small state studies. Þorsteinn current research seeks to explain the role of small states in shaping and maintaining the rules and institutions of the prevailing international order.

Þorsteinn has taught courses on International Political Economy, as well as International Relations theory and quantitative methods, at universities in both Europe and Asia. He has also supervised MA thesis students at Lund University and the University of Iceland. In addition to academic work, Þorsteinn has lectured at ministries in both Taiwan and Iceland, as well as writing articles on international affairs for the general public.

Þorsteinn has a M.Sc. degree in Asian Studies as well as a PhD in political science from Lund University. Þorsteinn is a previous recipient of the Taiwan Fellowship from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a visiting scholar at National Taiwan University.