Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Philosophy (Ph.D)

Department

History

First Advisor

Mauricio Borrero

Second Advisor

Alejandro Quintana

Third Advisor

Kristin Szylvian

Abstract

This dissertation investigates and demonstrates the nature and impact of public diplomacy and propaganda efforts employed by the United States of America across Eastern Europe throughout the Cold War, focusing on the People’s Republic of Bulgaria as a case study. Bulgaria's unique position as a steadfast ally of the Soviet Union underpinned by a deep-rooted Russian-Bulgarian “special relationship” (based on shared cultural, religious, and political ties forged over the course of a century), makes it an especially compelling subject for understanding the effectiveness of American initiatives in penetrating even the most loyal Soviet satellite states during the Cold War. This research examines and evaluates the role played by Bulgarian public intellectuals-turned “dissident defectors,” in their contribution to the American-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and its Bulgarian broadcasting department. Although, the situation in Bulgaria according to RFE/RL internal reports remained mixed in contrast to the other Soviet satellite states, the results in regards to the top US objectives related to confronting the Bulgarian-Soviet connection as well as exposing corruption within Communism, were considered to be surprisingly successful due to the overall rise of interest in RFE broadcasting especially in the aftermath of an infamous political assassination in London, UK which occurred in the midst of the Western human rights agenda at the end of the era of détente in the late 1970s. The convergence of Bulgaria’s global cultural diplomacy, which peaked in the early 1980s, and the strategic shifts in US public diplomacy through radio broadcasting to Bulgaria are among the main contributions to the historiography on the state and society of Bulgaria. Additionally, this study offers insights into the way by which US foreign policy developed within the Eastern bloc during the Cold War, viewed from the perspective of one of the most Soviet-aligned satellite states. Finally, this dissertation situates the aforementioned narratives/evaluations and research/analysis within the broader context of the global diplomatic, political, and social approach to the study of history and in doing so, addresses the various historiographical debates across differing schools of thought regarding the short-term and long-term causes for the conclusion of the Cold War.

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