Gianluca Spezza

Gianluca Spezza Is Chair of the International Studies Department and Associate Professor of International Relations at the American University of Kurdistan in Duhok.
Between 2022 and 2024, served as Chair of the Department of Social Sciences and Assistant professor of International Relations at the American University of Iraq-Sulaimani (AUIS), where he taught courses on IR (international relations), International Political Economy, Modern and Medieval Civilizations, and Global Governance.

As a researcher, he also holds external affiliations as Associated Research Fellow of ISDP’s Stockholm Korea Center, and Invited Professor at the Faculty of Economics & International Affairs, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. During the summer of 2022 Dr. Spezza was a Visiting Research Fellow at ERINA (Economic Research Institute for Northeast Asia) in Niigata, Japan. He previously worked as assistant professor of international relations at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan and senior researcher at KIMEP’s DPRK Strategic Research Center.

Dr. Spezza earned his Ph.D. in the UK, conducting research on the cooperation between UNICEF and the DPRK in education and childcare. He is currently writing a monograph on education, international cooperation, and scientific development in North Korea (Palgrave 2025). His recent publications include an article on the epistemic authority of UNICEF, a bibliographic study on the institutional resilience of North Korea, and a co-authored article on the engagement policy of the EU towards the DPRK.

Starting in 2012, his work on Korean affairs and IR (articles or interviews) can be found, among others, on the BBC, The Guardian, The Diplomat, IRIN-New Humanitarian, The Interpreter, and NK News.
Since 2000, Dr. Spezza has lived, worked and studied, among other places, in Finland, Denmark, South Korea, Colombia, Kazakhstan, UK, the Netherlands, Canada, Slovenia, Thailand, and Japan.
When not working, he dedicates his time to music, animal welfare, fitness, travel, and cooking.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianluca-spezza-245a3329a/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=g8yIVsMAAAAJ&hl=en
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gianluca-Spezza/research
ORCID: 0000-0002-3181-9081