Taisiia Bardachenko

Taisiia Bardachenko is an intern at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy (CSDS), primarily supporting the Japan Chair and the INPACE project, alongside preparations for the fifth Brussels Indo-Pacific Dialogue (BIPD). Originally from Ukraine, Taisiia is currently based in Brussels, where she is completing the final year of her BA in International Affairs at the Brussels School of Governance (BSoG). She brings practical experience to policy analysis, outreach, event management and administrative support.

Her research and academic interests include Japanese foreign and security policy, EU-Indo-Pacific cooperation and the broader role of middle powers in the contemporary international order. During an exchange semester at Waseda University in Tokyo in spring 2026, Taisiia centred her studies around Japanese political thought and international cooperation. She also attended a number of policy and diplomatic events, including a mediation conference organised by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation. This experience inspired her subsequent analytical article“Mediation as Strategy: Japan in an Age of Fragmented Diplomacy“,published in The Owl, BSoG’s student-led magazine. She has likewise concluded several high-level interviews with senior Japanese academics as well as with His Excellency Mr. Antoine Evrard, Belgian Ambassador to Japan, in the context of the 160th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belgium and Japan.