Iran is the country of mastery in negotiation, where almost everything, including human relations, is based on parley, says fashion anthropologist Alex Balasescu in an extensive interview for HotNews.ro. He depicts Iran as a place which many in countries such as Romania wrongly see as "absolute enemy" - the cliche imposed by the US Administration. Balasescu also describes Iran as a place where women, while more frustrated than men by the system they live in, are still "the engine" of civil society.

Alexandru Balasescu has the profile of a spy: he speaks English, French, Italian and Farsi. He worked in research and lived in Paris, Tehran, Los Angeles and in Bahrein. He knows people in areas where few Europeans adventure to. Even less can even describe his job exactly: the science of observing people.

Alexandru Balasescu is an expert in fashion anthropology. He has a PhD in anthropology at the University of California and a master in ethnology at the University in Lyon, France. He taught in California, Paris and Bahrain. He won over 10 international grants and received an award from the German Center for European Studies. He's been teaching in Bucharest and worked as an image counselor in Romania's first European Parliament elections in fall 2007. This spring, he launched his book "Paris elegant, Teheran incitant” (Stylish Paris, Inciting Tehran), which compares the fashion and modernity in the two capitals.

Vlad Mixich: You're speaking English, French, Italian and Farsi. You're an anthropologist but also an initiate in fashion theory. You have the profile of a spy. Are you a spy?

Alex Balasescu: You wouldn't know, even if I were. It's true, I've met all sorts of people in my travels, coming from all fields of life and in Iran and Bahrain I had quite interesting contacts with key characters in the region. That allowed me mor