Sunday June 12, 2011
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan visits West Berlin where he makes his seminal Cold War speech in front of Brandenburg Gate—the city’s symbol of the divide between East and West. In the speech, Reagan challenges his Soviet counterpart: “"General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Gorbachev and Reagan would hold four summits between 1985 and 1988. In August 1989, Hungary opens its border with Austria leading to a series of events that sees the Berlin Wall dismantled by November—10 months after Reagan had left office. The 87-mile wall had encircled East Berlin with electrified fences and guard posts since 1961.
Last month, President Barak Obama delivered a definitive speech expressing America’s support for the Arab Spring uprisings sweeping through the Middle East and North Africa. “[I]t will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy,” said Obama on May 19. The popular protests began in Tunisia in December 2010, leading to the overthrow of long-time dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January. By early February, Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak was gone. By the time of Obama’s speech, a U.S.-led NATO mission in Libya was supporting rebel fighters. In Yemen and Syria, both regimes have taken the route of extreme violence, using whatever means possible to crush the protest movements and avoid a repeat of Tunisia and Egypt.
