Alumni Corner: An Interview with Kato Bakradze

By Joshua Jones

Welcome to our new series, ‘Alumni Corner’, where we will be interviewing former European Horizons members to gain an insight into their experiences and interests both during and after their time with the organization. To begin, I sat down with Kato Bakradze to discuss her journey up to now and thoughts on the current state of transatlantic affairs.

Thank you so much Kato for speaking with us today. To kick things off, please introduce yourself to our readers and your journey to where you are today.

Hi, I’m Kato Bakradze, one of the members of the Board of Directors at European Horizons. I’m originally from the Republic of Georgia and I ended up doing my undergraduate degree in Economics and Psychology at Yale. I joined European Horizons during my sophomore year in college. After graduating in 2021, I moved to Boston to work in emerging markets investing. In 2022, I joined the Board of Directors to oversee the continued progress of the organization and contribute my views to its strategic development.

What was your experience of European Horizons? What did you do and do you have a particular highlight from your time with the organization?

I joined European Horizons in 2018 as a member of the Yale Chapter and North American Conferences team. At the time, I thought as a Georgian who aspires to be European, I needed to become a part of the transatlantic conversation. I helped organize the European Student Conference (ESC) 2019, which opened my eyes to the organization’s scale and potential. I decided to apply for the position of Director of North American Conferences the following year. However, as you can imagine, 2020 was not a great year for flagship in-person conferences.

In 2020–2021 I was a Deputy Executive Director of the organization. It was a year of many unprecedented challenges and we spent the whole time re-organizing our core outputs to fit into the new digital world. I found this experience incredibly rewarding not only because it helped us adapt to the Covid world, but also because it allowed us to create a more inclusive environment even after the return of in-person events.

Following your time at European Horizons, what did you embark upon next? How did your experience at EuH impact this next step?

I temporarily left European Horizons after graduating in 2021. During this time, I started working at an asset management company focusing on emerging markets fixed-income investing in Boston. Part of my daily work is to analyze political and geopolitical processes in Central and Eastern Europe. I credit European Horizons for giving me the space and opportunity back in college to discuss many of the issues I look at now. During my time at European Horizons, I learned exactly what aspects of international relations interested me. Aside from this, I learned invaluable leadership and problem-solving skills that come in handy every day at work.

Moving on to broader questions about European and transatlantic affairs, what interests you most in this field at the moment?

I think the Russian invasion of Ukraine really jump started the stagnating transatlantic bond. Once again, after the deterioration since 2016, the collective West can easily identify the importance of unity in this new multi-polar world. However, much of this understanding stays on the level of officials engaged in direct dialogue. I think it’s important we once again start having discussions on a broader societal level, and restart cultural and intellectual exchanges. Part of what we do at European Horizons is uniting youth around the idea of transatlantic cooperation, and giving them the tools and skills to have their voices heard in the international arena.

To take a more pessimistic view, what worries you the most about the European and transatlantic world? What do you believe needs to be done to fix this?

The multipolarity of the current world order could be a blessing or a curse for the transatlantic partnership. On one hand, it really underlines the importance of unity for collective strength. On the other, it highlights the difference in individual strategic goals and how different actors align with them. In recent years, attitudes towards China in the US compared to in the EU are a good example of this. I believe there can be a reconciliation between individual and collective strategic goals, but this can only happen once there is a firm understanding of the importance of the transatlantic partnership in the new world order.

Lastly, what advice would you give to current EuH members and young professionals looking to enter the world of European and transatlantic affairs?

My biggest advice would be to understand how valuable a network European Horizons members and alumni are. These are all incredibly smart people from many different cultural and academic backgrounds who are all united around the same passion for transatlanticism. I have probably learned more from informal conversations with other members over my years at the organization than I have from any of the formal events. I have made some life-long friends across different continents. Our network is an invaluable resource for anyone at all interested in the world of European and transatlantic affairs.

Joshua Jones is Publications Director at European Horizons and a recent graduate of University College London, where he studied History. His research interests include digital democracy, disinformation, and human rights.