NATO – A Bridge Across Time - Newsdesk Media

Commemorating
the Fall of the Wall
By former U.S. President George H.W. Bush
I
am delighted to join the Atlantic
Council in commemorating the
60th anniversary of NATO and the
20th anniversary of the fall of the
Berlin Wall.
The fall of the Wall was first and
foremost a testament to the spirit of the
German people. As I said in 1990, the
fall of that “stark and searing symbol of
conflict and cold war” was “proof that
no wall is ever strong enough to strangle
the human spirit, that no wall can ever
crush a nation’s soul.” It was also a
historic moment for the United States and
the entire Atlantic Alliance, which had
remained steadfast for more than 40 years
in support of a free Germany, resolutely
working toward a world without the Wall.
The international scene has changed
enormously in the last two decades, in
large measure because there is no more
superpower confrontation. That is the
enduring historical legacy of the fall of the
Wall: it set in motion those events that
would lead to the reunification of Germany
less than one year later – a day that marks,
in my mind, the day the Cold War ended.
The events of 1989 began a new era in the
history of Germany, Europe, the Atlantic
Alliance, and indeed, the entire world. To
be sure, new challenges and responsibilities
have emerged. But from my vantage point
– as someone who lived through 45 years
of East-West conflict – this remains, as I
10 The Atlantic Council