Baker at the Bulgarian book signing
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Randall Baker of IU’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) has made many visits to Bulgaria as a trustee of the New Bulgarian University in Sofia. He has been a major influence on NBU’s development of a public administration program during the past 14 years and he’s also been a consultant to the government as it negotiates entrance into the European Union. But a recent trip also included a ceremony at the U.S. Embassy to commemorate the publication of his newest book.
Do Sofia i Nizad (To Sofia and Back), written in Bulgarian, is an account of the transition year of 1992, which was an extremely difficult one for the people of the country, Baker said. The book examines issues inherent in moving the country to a democratic model after 50 years as an authoritarian state, and Baker tells his story through the lives of several native Bulgarians—from ministers of state to newspaper vendors.
In 1994, Baker published a much shorter, English-language edition of a related book, Summer in the Balkans, but he was asked by the Academy of Sciences of Bulgaria to expand and reframe the content; the result was the new paperback. At the embassy event, a representative of the Academy of Sciences presented Baker with the gold pin signifying honorary membership.
Also during his visit, which was primarily to act as an adviser to the Bulgarian government on the transition to EU membership in 2007, Baker had the opportunity to meet his former fellow teacher, Miglene Kuneva, who now is Bulgarian minister of foreign affairs and has led negotiations with the EU. Baker also delivered the opening lecture to the Bulgarian-American/Fulbright Commission conference commemorating 21 years of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Bulgaria.
Do Sofia i Nizad is Baker’s 11th book, and he has been commissioned by the Academy of Sciences to produce two more. Currently, for the English language, he is working with SPEA adjunct professor and historian John Karaagac, on a book titled Why Europe Isn’t America.
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