Blogs and Stories
Berlin: 20 Years Later
The Daily Beast remembers the night the Berlin Wall came down—Peter Beinart writes on the myth of Reagan, Ana Finel Honigman on the art of the wall, former Ambassador Robert Kimmitt on German reunification, Tim Mohr on a government plot to bring down the wall, and more.
The Myth of the Wall's Fall
By Peter Beinart
The Berlin Wall, toppled 20 years ago today, was brought down by Ronald Reagan's hawkish stand, right? Peter Beinart explodes conventional wisdom—crediting Reagan's dovish side instead.
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The Art of the Wall
By Ana Finel Honigman
From banned photography to a powerful documentary to street performances, Berlin’s artistic community celebrates Communism’s fall. VIEW OUR GALLERY.
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The Fall of the Wall: The Rise of Freedom
By Robert M. Kimmitt
The first U.S. ambassador to a newly unified Germany recounts his memories of the fall of the wall, and looks ahead to a Europe that's just as whole.
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Scaling the Berlin Wall
By Michael R. Meyer
As the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall approaches, journalist Michael Meyer looks back at the years he spent astride it. An exclusive excerpt from The Year the World Changed.
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Berlin Wall Legend Shattered
By Tim Mohr
New revelations in Germany have shattered the official story on how the wall came down 20 years ago. Far from a spontaneous protest, it was a carefully planned government plot.
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Did Punk Rock Tear Down the Wall?
By Tim Mohr
The untold story of East Germany's anarchic underground punk scene and the critical role it played bringing down the Berlin Wall.
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4 Great Books on the Cold War
By The Daily Beast
On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, The Daily Beast sorts through the best new and old books on the Cold War and the fall of communism.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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You mean it wasn't St. Ronald Reagan that brought down the Berlin Wall and the Evil Empire of the Soviet Union? Why did it take so long to bring out the truth?
cause it's not the truth.
newswoman - Did you miss this part of Peter Beinart's article?
"Again and again, post-Cold War hawks have invoked Reagan to oppose negotiations with America's enemies, and to justify the threat-if not the actual use-of force. There's just one problem: The myth is almost entirely false. Two decades later, it's high time ordinary Americans learn what most serious historians already know: that Reagan didn't end the Cold War because he was a hawk. He ended it because he turned into a dove."
I still remember a March 2009 NPR interview with James Mann about his new book, 'The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan', where Mann described Reagan and Gorbachev winding down the Cold War together. That Reagan was rebelling against his earlier self, his conservative supporters and the Washington foreign policy establishment in his dealings with Gorbachev.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101617721
Reagan evidently wasn't a total reactionary. Give credit where credit is due.
The Reagan mythology is so ridiculous ( althiough here in Chicago I would have to say it rivals the Ditka mythology). Ronald Reagan, Margret Thacther and John Paul II had nothing to do with the fall of the Berlin Wall as many writers I am sure have said about the social landscape of Europe at the time, particularly Eastern Europe "revolution was in the air". What a great time and place to be Alive!
P.S. If you want to hear some great music that always reminds me of this time check out Actung Baby by U2 recorded in historic Hasna Studio and check out the back story of the album.
Democrats want re-erected
The Wall that Berlin rejected;
For they need a redoubt
To be sure to wall out
Lieberman since he defected.
News Short n' Sweet by JFD8
http://twitter.com/JFD8
Reagan had nothing to do with the Berlin wall. That's all republican propaganda. However it worked.
How would a person who couldn't recall 135 instances of the Iran-contra fiasco be smart enough to broker the Berlin wall removal?
He was a B actor period. If it weren't for Lew Wasserman he would have continued to be a Democrat and a Union leader.
Thank you.
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