The Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral in Varna, Bulgaria. Original image credit: Harrieta171; 09/29/04

Even well-educated Americans have trouble locating Bulgaria on the map, and few have any idea what kind of a country it is as I learned recently when I mentioned my forthcoming trip to friends.

My mid-October visit was occasioned by a Liberty Fund conference in Sofia on “Liberty, Violence, and the State.” In addition, I undertook to give a few lectures at various Bulgarian universities sponsored by the Speakers’ Program of the State Department. This was my second visit to Bulgaria; the first took place two years ago and was confined to Sofia. This time I had a chance to visit Varna, a sizeable city on the Black Sea where I gave a lecture at the University of Economics. The setting of another lecture was the American University of Bulgaria (AUBG) in Blagoevgrad, a small town about two hours’ drive south of Sofia. This new university was established in 1991 and is an inspiring example of American taxpayers’ money well spent. According to both Bulgarian academics and my sources at the American embassy, it is now one of the best institutions of higher education in Bulgaria—an assertion the Q&A period following my lecture confirmed.

Before proceeding to my general impressions of Bulgaria, I should admit that my impressions of post-Communist Eastern Europe have been colored by annual visits to Hungary (where I grew up) and the resulting ease of communicating with the