[Rev.] Podchasov N.A. Protracted Transformation: Bulgariain Search of a New Path Forward. Moscow: IMEMO RAN, 2023. 156 p. ISBN978-5-9535-0621-2

Abstract

In 2023, a book on a rare topic, the contemporary history of Bulgaria, was published. The lack of high-quality work on this topic in itself causes interest in the published work and the need for its review. Researcher at IMEMO RAS N.A. Podchasov reviewed the last decades of development of the country, the dynamics of socio-economic processes, domestic and foreign policy. The book contains a large amount of factual material, statistical information, and the author's concept of periodization of modern Bulgarian politics is proposed. For the Russian reader, the first section on the socio-economic development of the country after the transit of 1989 will be of particular importance. It contains information about the dynamics of various indicators in this area, successfully compiled by the author in tables and graphs. The second chapter shows the specifics of the country's political life, focusing on the last decade and a half and especially on the current crisis. In the third, the author demonstrates Bulgaria's foreign policy in various directions: Euro-Atlantic, intra-Balkan, Russian and Chinese. The book will be useful to researchers, can be used in the educational process in the preparation of historians and regional specialists, and the book will be able to familiarize the general reader with the development of this country after it ceased to be one of the socialist republics.

Received 1 March 2024

Revised 4 March 2024

Accepted 1 April 2024

For citation: Gusev, N.S., 2024. [Rev.] Podchasov N.A. Protracted transformation: Bulgaria in search of a new path forward. Moscow: IMEMO RAN, 2023. 156 p. ISBN 978-5-9535-0621-2. Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 2024 (1–2), pp. 179–184. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2024.19.1-2.12