A research ordered by the US Congress has placed Bulgaria among the six or seven countries that may become politically unstable due to the global financial crisis.

A report on the non-financial aspects of the global financial crisis and its possible effects on the economic and political future of the US, labels Eastern Europe as "a most vulnerable region" that has been forced into a dilemma of whether it should continue market reforms, BGNES reported.

The authors of the report write that practicality will supersede ideology as the basic principle of the free market, and the philosophy of non-interference of the state in the private sector will give way to a new necessity of intensified regulation of the financial markets and the preservation of some trade barriers.

The report also forecasts an expansion of state capitalism and financial and economic protectionism. It concludes that these new trends will directly influence the developing economies in Eastern Europe, which are now asking themselves what was the point of switching to capitalism, since it is now uncertain whether the market reforms will continue.