Assoc. Prof. Nadya Dimitrova Filipova, PhD
Scientific secretary of the Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
Research ID (Web of Science): AAI-9341-2020
Scopus Author ID: 57214897355
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2762-3630
Phone: +359 2 870 8513
E-mail: nadyafd(at)abv(dot)bg; ndfilipova(at)uni-sofia(dot)bg
MAIN FIELDS OF RESEARCH
International Relations, Cold War, Middle East, Migrations, Minorities, Bulgarian Foreign Policy
ACADEMIC COMPETENCIES AND CAREER
ЕDUCATION
1989 – 1994
Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Faculty of History
February, 1996
Master’s Degree Certificate in History (Thesis: ‘Ethnic and Religious Structure and Social Organisation of the Population in Bulgarian Towns in the 15th – 17th centuries’)
POSITIONS HELD
Scientific Secretary of the Institute for Historical Studies – BAS
DEGREE AND ACADEMIC RANK
2008
PhD Degree (Topic: ‘Bulgarian policy towards Egypt, Syria and Iraq (mid 1950s – mid 1970s’)
2017 – present
Assoc. Prof., Institute for Historical Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
2023 – present
Assoc. Prof., Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies – Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
MEMBERSHIP IN EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING BOARDS
2019 – 2022
Editorial Board of “Historical Review”, Institute for Historical Studies – Bulgarian Academy of Science
2024 – Member of the Association for Israel Studies
PARTICIPATION IN JOINT PROJECTS
2025 – 2027
‘Beyond the Boundaries of Time and Space: Bulgaria and Egypt in the Dynamics of Transformations in the Middle Eas’, Joint Research Project of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Historical Studies and Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Damanhour University; Project coordinator
2023
‘Religion, Center, Periphery: the East in Europe, Europe in the East’, Funded by Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
2022 – present
National Scientific Programme “Development of Bulgarian studies abroad”, funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science
2019 – 2022
National Scientific Programme “Cultural and historical heritage, national memory and social development”, funded by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science
2021
‘Contemporary Trends in Arabic and Islamic Studies’, Funded by Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski
2018 – 2020
Joint Research Project of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences: “Bulgaria and China: Historical Parallels in the Attempts at Modernisation from the End of World War II to the Beginning of the 21st Century”
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Courses taught in Bachelor’s Programme of the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Faculty of Classical and modern Philology, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’
2025 –
Arab States in World Politics and Economy
2024 – present
Bulgarians and the Arab World
2024 –
The Oil Factor and Energy Markets in the Middle East
Courses taught in Master’s Programme of the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Faculty of Classical and modern Philology, Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’
2025 –
Modern Egypt: Society and Politics, Master’s Programme in Egyptology
2025 –
The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Peace Process in the Middle East, Master’s Programme in Middle Eastern Studies
2014 – present
Bulgarian Diplomacy in the Arab World, Master’s Programme in Middle Eastern Studies
2017 – present
The Middle East and International Relations, Master’s Programme in Middle Eastern Studies
2023 – present
American Foreign Policy in the Middle East, Master’s Programme in Middle Eastern Studies
Courses for Ph.D. Students
2021 – present The Contemporary Middle East
LANGUAGES
English, Russian, Arabic (basic)
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Bulgaria and Syria in al-Assad’s Era. Sofia: Iztok – Zapad, 2017, ISBN 978-619-01-0035-5, 522 p. (in Bulgarian)
Bulgarian Diplomacy in Egypt, Syria and Iraq in the Age of the Cold War (mid 1950s – mid 1970s). Sofia: Legal Advice, 2008, 359 p. (in Bulgarian)
Papers
Publications in Bulgarian
Bulgarian-Arab Relations in the Fields of Education and Culture in the Years of the Cold War. – In: Galina Evstatieva, Viktor Todorov (Editors). Norm, Change and Sacredness in Arabic Language and Islamic Culture. Sofia: Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Press, 2024, pp. 243-262.
Bulgarian Assistance for the Palestinian Arabs in the Period of the Cold War. – In: Galina Evstatieva, Pavel Pavlovich (Editors). Arabic Literary Tradition and the Qur’an. Studies in Honor of Prof. Tsvetan Teophanov. Sofia: Iztok-Zapad, 2023, pp. 347-364.
The state and Bulgarians Temporarily Working in Libya in the 1970s. – Istoria, 2021, Vol. 29, 1, pp. 83-98.
Labour migrations of Bulgarians in Libya in the 1980s. – In: Migracii, obshtnosti I kylturno-istorichesko nasledstvo (Migrations, Communities and Cultural-Historical Heritage), Ed. by Peykovska, P., Gesheva, J. Maeva, M., Filipova, N., Dimitrov, S., Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 479-489
Socialism: Nationalism: Islam. Modifications of the Bulgarian Ideological and Political Line in the Arab World (late 1940s – mid 1970s). – Proceedings from the Third International Congress of Bulgarian Studies, co-organised by Sofia University ‘St. Kliment Ohridski’ and Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Education, Sofia, 23-26 May 2013, Sofia, 2018, pp. 28-44.
Palestinian Projections of the Soviet-Bulgarian Partnership (1974-1978). – Proceedings from International conference ‘135 years later: Bulgaria-Russia-Eurasia’, co-organized by Institute for Historical Studies, BAS, VIA EVRASIA Centre, Sofia University, Institute Slavjanovedenija, RAS, Sofia, 27 February – 1 March 2013. – ALMANACH VIA EVRASIA, 2016, 5.
Palestinians in the Global Rivalry and the Arab Space in the interwar period (1956-1967): the Vision of the Bulgarian Diplomats. – Historical Future, 2016, 1-2, pp.163-176.
Bulgarian Foreign Policy in the Arab Middle East in the Cold War (mid 1970s – late 1980s) – Istoricheski pregled, 2014, 5-6, pp. 197-213.
Bulgarian Foreign Policy in the Arab Middle East in the Cold War (late 1940s-mid 1970s) – Istoricheski pregled, 2014, 3-4, pp. 101-118.
The Bulgarian Party-State policy and the Arab Communist Parties on the Palestinian problem (mid 1960s-early 1970s). – Istoricheski pregled, 2013, 5-6, 144-160.
Problems of the Economic Relations of People’s Republic of Bulgaria with the Arab World until 1967 in the Analyses of Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Economic Relations. – In: Izvestia na Balgarskoto Istorichesko Drujestvo, Vol. 41, Sofia, 2011, ISSN 0081-1122, pp. 463-473.
Bulgaria Creates Cultural and Educational Bridges with Syria (mid 1950s-mid 1960s.) – In: Problems and Challenge before Archaeological Research and Culture and History Studies. Proceedings from International Scientific Conference, Plovdiv University, vol. II, Plovdiv, 2008, pp. 320-331.
Tendencies in the Development of Economic Relations between Bulgaria and Egypt /late 1960s – early 1970s. – Historical Review, Institute for Historical Studies – BAS, 2009, 1-2, pp. 164-185.
Bulgaria and the Arab Nationalism in Practice of Political Relationships with Egypt (1956-1966). – Istoricheski pregled, 2008, 1-2, pp. 202-230.
Problems of the Bulgarian Economic Relations with Egypt (mid 1950s-mid 1960s). – In: History of a Road. Proceedings from International Scientific Conference, Varna Free University, Varna, 2007, pp. 174-186.
Bulgarian Studies on History of the Arab World since the Second World War (political, military and ideological aspects). – In: History – Way of Usage. Proceedings from International Scientific Conference, Varna Free University, Varna, 2006, pp. 192-212.
Varna’s Manufacture Fair (1932-1940). – The Year-book of Varna Free University, 1998, 1, pp. 484-492.
The Unifying Role of the Theatre in Varna’s Cultural Life. – In: Summer International Scientific Meeting, Varna, 1997. Varna, 1998.
Publications in English and French:
Soviet Bloc, Power Struggle, and Social Changes in Syria (mid-1950s – mid-1960s). – Bulgarian Historical Review, 2024, 1-2, ISSN 0204-8906, pp. 137-158.
Bulgarian Trace in the Middle East: Syria. – Bulgarian Historical Review, 2023, 3-4, ISSN 0204-8906, pp. 199-221.
Bulgarian Traces in Syria. The Beginning. – Bulgarian Historical Review, 2022, 3-4, ISSN 0204-8906, pp. 210-230.
Bulgarians working in Syria during the Cold War. In: Marcheva, I., Wang Xiaoju. W., Dimitrova, P., Manasieva, I., Dineva, D. (Eds). Proceedings of the Institute for Historical Studies “Bulgaria and China: Attempts at Modernization during the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century”. Vol. XXXVII, Sofia: Prof. Marin Drinov Publishing House of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, pp. 87-96.
Bulgarian Temporary Labour Migration in Iraq during the 1960s and 1970s. – Bulgarian Historical Review, 1-2, 2021, ISSN:0204-8906, pp. 130-157.
Bulgaria and Syria in the Energy Markets Rivalry in the beginning of the 21st century. – Bulgarian Historical Review, 2015, 1-2, рр. 212-221.
Cooperation or Contest: Comecon Initiatives in Respect the ‘Developing Countries’ by the Time of 1973 Oil Crisis with Specific References to Hungary and Bulgaria. – In: Shared Pasts in Central and Southeast Europe, 17th–21st Centuries: Hungarian and Bulgarian Approaches (Eds. Penka Peykovska, Gabor Demeter). Sofia–Budapest. 2015, ISBN 978-954-2903-20-8 (Institute for Historical Studies – BAS); ISBN 978-963-416-009-0 (Institute of History – RCH, HAS); ISSN 0205-2504 (Institute for Historical Studies – BAS), pp. 314-328.
La presse et le public bulgares sur la societe irakienne, le regime de Saddam Hussein et le conflit militaire dans le golfe Persique de 1990-1991. – Bulgarian Historical Review, 2014, 1-2, ISSN 0204-8906, рр. 209-220.
Lebanon in the Bulgarian Foreign Economic Policy in the 1960s and the Еarly1970s. – In: Regions, borders, societies, identities in Central and Southeast Europe, 17th-21st Сenturies. Bulgarian-Hungarian History Conference, Sofia, 16-17 May 2012. Papers. Eds. Penka Peykovska, Gabor Demeter). Sofia-Budapest. 2013, ISBN 978-954-2903-10-9; ISBN 978-963-9627-61-1/ Institute of History, RCH, HAS/, pp. 307-317.
Bulgarian Foreign Policy on the Middle Eastern Deadlock at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s. – Les Cahiers Irice, 2013, 10: Les pays d’Europe orientale et la Mediterranee. Relations et regards croises/1967-1989/. Actes du Colloque international co-organisé par l’UMR IRICE et le RICHIE, 2 et 3 Fevrier 2012. ISSN 1967-2713, рp. 25-37.
PARTICIPATION IN SCIENTIFIC FORUMS
Paper “Between Peace and War: The Soviet Bloc and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (1967–1973”). – The East: Near and Far: Texts, Societies and Cultures, International conference, Sofia, 28-30 November 2024.
Paper “Capturing the Youth: Antisemitic Indoctrinations in the Bulgarian Nationalist Press of the late 1930s and early 1940s.” – The Press and the Holocaust, University NOVA FCSH, Lisbon, 21-22 November 2024: https://ihc.fcsh.unl.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/2024-11-21_Press-Holocaust_Programme_web.pdf.
Paper “Lebanese Aspects of the Financial and Economic Activities of the Soviet Bloc States.” – International Scientific Conference “Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans: Historical Perspectives, Cultural Bridges, and New Horizons, 3 – 4 October 2024, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Paper “Implementing the Soviet Bloc anti-Israeli Approach in Lebanon in the 1980s: Bulgarian Official Stance and Covert Accounts“. – 40th Annual Conference of the Association for Israel Studies and 12th Annual Conference of the European Association of Israel Studies, titled: “Israel and Israel Studies: The European and International Perspective”, Prague, Charles University, Faculty of Arts, 1-3 July 2024.
Keynote paper “The Side Effects of the Cooperation between the Soviet Bloc and Hafez al-Assad Regime”, East-West: Religions, Centers, Peripheries, Institute for Historical Studies at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Sofia, 19-20 October, 2023.
Paper „Bulgarian Specialists in the Arab World during the Cold War“, Round Table „Bulgaria and China: Historical Parallels in the Attempts at Modernization from the End of World War II to the Beginning of the 21st Century, Sofia, 1 November 2019.
Lecture „Modernization of Bulgaria during the Cold War – aspects, discussions, and attitudes in Bulgarian history research analyses “, Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 25 September 2018.
Lecture „Bulgarian Foreign Policy in the Middle East in the 1990-s and the beginning of the 21st century “, Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, 25 September 2018.
Paper “Between national interests and Comecon ambitions regarding the ‘developing countries’: the cases of Bulgaria and Hungary”, Bulgarian – Hungarian Conference „Mission impossible–Courage as Virtue in the Politics“, Sofia, 7 November 2016.
Paper „Bulgaria and Syria in the Rivalry in the Energy Markets during the Late 2000s and the Early 2010s“, Bulgarian – Chinese Scientific Round Table, 18 November 2015.
Paper „Moscow and its favorite lackey, Sofia: the main illusions of the junior partner in the Soviet bloc”, Fourth European congress on World and Global History, organized by ENIUGH, Paris, 4-7 September 2014.
Paper „Nourishing political and sectarian polarization: the Soviet bloc foreign policy in the Arab Middle East”, Fourth World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, Ankara, 18-22 August 2014.
Paper ”Lebanon in the Bulgarian Foreign Economic Policy in the 1960s and the еarly1970s. –Regions, borders, societies, identities in Central and Southeast Europe, 17th-21st centuries, Sofia, 16-17 May 2012.
Paper „Bulgarian Foreign Policy on the Middle Eastern Deadlock at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s.”, Les pays d’Europe orientale et la Mediterranee. Relations et regards croises (1967-1989), Colloque international co-organisé par l’UMR IRICE et le RICHIE, Paris, 2 et 3 Fevrier 2012.