Our Team

Gladden Pappin is a Partner in Ballard Partners’ Washington, D.C., office, and Managing Partner of the firm’s Budapest and Warsaw offices. He leads the firm’s Central and Eastern European practice, and advises clients on both sides of the Atlantic on U.S.-Europe relations, defense and energy policy, strategic investment, geopolitical trends, and engagement with the executive and legislative branches.

He is cofounder of American Affairs, the quarterly journal of public policy that since 2017 has shaped the industrial policy, strategic sector and national security agenda now guiding decision-making in government as well as business.

From 2023 to 2026 he served as President of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, directing the institute through a period of major expansion. He oversaw its research, strategy and diplomatic outreach, and led or participated in high-level discussions in more than thirty countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas. In that role he helped restore the U.S.-Hungary relationship under President Donald J. Trump, joining White House negotiations that secured sanctions relief as well as major energy, defense and trade agreements.

At Ballard Partners, he helps clients navigate U.S. strategic priorities toward Europe and Eurasia and build durable relationships in Washington and the region. His Central and Eastern Europe work centers on defense, energy and critical infrastructure interests, with coverage across Poland, Romania, Czechia, the Western Balkans and neighboring markets.

Earlier, he was an associate professor of politics with tenure at the University of Dallas, and a fellow at the University of Notre Dame. He also cofounded Realm Alliance in 2021, an AI-driven industrial technology venture focused on mining process optimization.

Gladden received his AB in History, magna cum laude, and his AM and PhD in Government from Harvard University.