A BIT MORE ABOUT ALEX GRIGORESCU...

...before and after I became a Political Scientist

I grew up in Romania, although I lived in the United States from first through fifth grade (while accompanying my father, a professor of comparative literature who was a Fulbright and IREX scholar).

PHYSICS

In Romania I studied Physics, receiving a BA and MA at the University of Bucharest. I specialized in materials science and worked on electro-optic crystals at Electromagnetica Research Labs in Bucharest Romania.

LITERARY TRANSLATIONS

In the 1980s and early 1990s, I translated from English to Romanian works by authors such as Arnold Bennett, Charlotte Bronte, G.K. Chesterton, Lillian Hellman, Anthony Troloppe. These translations appeared at well known Romanian publishing houses (such as Editura Eminescu) and literary journals (such as Revista Secolul XX).

ROMANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY

Between December 1991 and August 1997 I worked for the Romanian Foreign Ministry, as third secretary and then second secretary. I started out in the Cultural Department and later joined the United Nations and Other International Organizations Department. As diplomat, I was posted in New York, at the Romanian Cultural Center and then at the Romanian Mission to the United Nations. Those years were a fascinating experience for me. Romania had recently begun its transition towards democracy after a long period of authoritarian governance. Understandably, the country's foreign policy priorities had shifted drastically. Some of the most important such policies involved international organizations that Romania wanted to join (especially NATO and the EU) but also those where Romania had been active for decades (especially those from the UN family). My current academic interests in international relations and, more specifically in international organizations, were certainly sparked by my practical experiences as a diplomat in the 1990s.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

My research focuses primarily on international organizations (IOs). I believe that in order to fully understand how an IO works and what it does we need to compare it to others and to itself, across time. I have therefore tried to expand my focus to as many such organizations as possible. Below is a list of all IOs where I have conducted work (as a diplomat in the Romanian Foreign Ministry), done research (as an academic) or simply visited (as a tourist).

Council of Europe

European Anti-Fraud Office

European Central Bank

European Organization for Nuclear Research

European Space Agency

European Union (Commission, Council, Parliament)

Food and Agriculture Organization

European Union Intellectual Property Office

Inter-American Development Bank

International Atomic Energy Agency

International Electrotechnical Commission

International Bureau of Education

International Committee of the Red Cross

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

International Court of Justice

International Fund for Agricultural Development

International Labor Organization

International Labor Law Organization (Archives in Geneva)

International Monetary Fund

International Organization for Standardization

International Telecommunication Union

International Criminal Police Organization

League of Nations (Archives in Geneva)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Organization of American States

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe

Union of South American Nations

United Nations (ECOSOC, General Assembly, Security Council)

United Nations Children’s Fund

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

United Nations Development Program

United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Office for)

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

United Nations Refugee Agency

United Nations World Tourism Organization

World Bank

World Health Organization

World Trade Organization

MORE TO COME?

I suspect that I will add some more information here... when I have the time.