New Publication - <i>Bulgaria and Middle East Conflict During the Cold War Years</i>

The Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) is pleased to announce the publication of the CD-ROM Bulgaria and Middle East Conflict During the Cold War Years.

The CD document volume contains 255 documents totalling more than 1,500 pages, selected from the Bulgarian state and Communist Party archives. The CD presents a rich and representative documentary collection and provides new information on the diplomatic, political, military, and security aspects of the Middle East conflict and the evolution of Bulgarian policy on the issue.

The volume presents, for the first time, top secret resolutions of the Bulgarian government, recently declassified in 2004. The CD also includes top secret cipher radiograms (cables) from the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry Archive, and new KGB information from the Bulgarian Interior Ministry on the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War. A number of other archival documents from the Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs were specially declassified in 2005-2006 for inclusion in this volume.

This CD-ROM was produced by CWIHP's longtime Bulgarian partner, the Cold War Research Group – Bulgaria, in cooperation with the Diplomatic Archives section at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sofia, with financial and research support from CWIHP.

The research for the volume was overseen by Dr. Jordan Baev (editor-in-chief), Boriana Buzhashka, Kostadin Grozev, Hristina Mircheva, and Boriana Yaneva. The editors achnowledge the help by Bistra Markova, Kristina Pajnavelova, Borislav Stanimirov (Diplomatic Archive, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sofia); and Krasimira Kalcheva, (Information & Archive Directorate, Ministry of the Interior, Sofia). Translations were facilitated by Simona Assenova, Greta Keremidchieva, and Plamen Ralchev.

Editor-in-chief Jordan Baev received his MA in History from Sofia University St. Climent Ohridski 1976 and his Ph.D. in Contemporary History in 1982. He has been a Senior Research Fellow in Security Studies (since 1996) and an Associate Professor in Contemporary World History (since 2004) in the National & International Security Department at G.S. Rakovsky Defense College. He is also a visiting associate professor in the Political Studies Department & Center for Risk and Security Studies at the New Bulgarian University. He has received fellowships from CWIHP in Washington DC, the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm, and the Nobel Institute in Oslo. He is the vice president of the Bulgarian Association of Military History and coordinator of the Cold War Research Group-Bulgaria. Dr. Baev is the author and editor of four books and nine research and documentary volumes (among them Bulgaria and Military and Political Conflicts since WWII, Sofia, 1995; and The Greek Civil War: International Dimensions, Athens, 1997). He has published and presented numerous other research papers, published in 11 languages on the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact, NATO, intelligence and military history, international relations, and civil-military relations. He can be reached at baevj@mail.orbitel.bg.

The CD volume was launched at Sofia University on November 3, 2006, in the presence of the Iraqi and Syrian ambassadors as well as representatives from other Middle Eastern diplomatic missions in Sofia. The volume received media coverage on two Bulgarian TV channels - BTV and TV Evropa. Editor Jordan Baev was interviewed for TV 7 Days Channel (Daily Review Program). The CD launch was also covered by the following newspapers: 24 Hours, DUMA (a ruling Socialist Party daily), Dnevnik (linked to the opposition conservative political forces), and – in a full page report –the Bulgarian Army (a daily Ministry of Defense newspaper).

To obtain a copy of the CD-ROM, contact:
Publishing House "96 PLUS Ltd.," Sofia, Bulgaria
Email: info@96plus.net
ISBN: 10-954-8563-41-X