About the author

Updated on 22 August 2007.

My name is Iana Dreyer.

What I do in life

I do research and project management for the Brussels-based international trade policy think tank called European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE). Before that I was programme writer/content generator for investment and finance conferences on emerging markets for the Financial Times Group (FT Business).

I run this blog on a personal capacity. What I write here “does not necessarily reflect the opinion” of any institution I work for.

Education

I hold an MSc Politics of the World Economy from the London School of Economics (2005). I specialised in world trade with a particular interest in developing countries in the world trading system, and a special focus on regionalism, free trade agreements and Central American regional trade policies. I also have a Master’s from Sciences Po in Paris (2002). My education there is a 50/50 blend of classic political sciences and economics. I further hold a Licence (BA) in History at the Sorbonne (Paris IV). I also did a one-year course in international law at Paris-II University. And I obtained my Abitur (A-levels) in Germany.

Background, language, international…

I was born in Honduras, Central America, from a German/Chilean father and a French mother. I lived in Honduras the first nine years of life, then a total of seven years in Germany, and a total of ten years in France. I usually use my French passport for travel and administrative purposes.

Further international experience includes six very important eye-opening months of my life in South India in 2001, and a few trips to Latin America.

Given this background I am fluent in French, German and of course English. My Spanish is not quite fluent, although it tends to flow very easily in a very Latin American fashion. But I have learned to live with the fact that I will not be able to write essays in Cervantes’ language. I chose to write in English – not my mother tongue, you might notice once in a while – because it is today’s lingua franca and particularly malleable and creative. Sometimes I publish a post in French.