US President Barack Obama makes a surprise video address to celebrations in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. (AFP/DDP/Michael Kappeler)Berlin And The Case Of The Missing President -- The New Ledger
On November 9, 2009, the world will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Naturally, in Germany, there will be commemorations of the event, and the collapse of Communism in Europe. For those who lived through the Cold War, and saw the fall of the Wall, it was an extraordinary event; I for one will never forget the images of East Germans climbing over the wall, chiseling and hammering at it to break off pieces large and small, and reuniting with family members they had not seen in decades. I will never forget the helpless look on the faces of East German guards, who gradually realized–in their dimwitted, knuckle-dragging way–that their days of tyrannizing their populace were coming to an end. I will never forget then-former President Ronald Reagan being interviewed by his old sparring partner, Sam Donaldson, on ABC’s Prime Time Live, reveling in the moment he and his policies helped bring about, and reminding people that while it was all right to be amazed at seeing the fall of the Wall and the re-emergence of liberty in Eastern Europe, it was certainly not all right to be surprised by such a sight. After all, Reagan asked, why should anyone be surprised that a downtrodden people would rise up and fight for their freedoms?
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COMMENTARIES, OPINIONS, AND EDITORIALS
Barack Obama’s shameful absence from Berlin: Four Key Reasons why the President stayed away -- Nile Gardiner, Daily Telegraph
The Wall That Changed Modern History -- Yevgeny Kiselyov, Moscow Times
Why We Celebrate the Fall of the Wall -- Jeffrey Simpson, Globe and Mail
A Revolution That Shaped the World -- The Independent
November 9th -- New Yorker
Iran's top-down unity -- Meir Javedanfar, The Guardian
Latin America Isn't an Obama Priority -- Andres Oppenheimer, McClatchy
China's Race Problem -- Reihan Salam, Forbes
Defending the Arsenal: In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe? -- Seymour M. Hersh, New Yorker
Call White House, Ask for Barack -- Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times
Abbas charts new course by abandoning faith in the US -- Tony Karon, The National