Twenty years ago today, the Berlin Wall fell, bringing with it euphoria, foreboding, joy, and confusion. TNR had plenty to say on the subject. Read through this collection for some of our best archived pieces from the period.
"After the Wall" TNR's editors assess the meaning of the Wall's collapse, skewer the foreign policy establishment, and explain what America should do next.
"Seeing is Believing" As the Wall came down, Berlin, "in the West a prosperous fortress of two million people: in the East a prison house its masters called paradise, a place of outer darkness," was transformed overnight.
"Democracia" Hendrik Hertzberg asks, Where were you when the Wall fell? He was in remote Costa Rica. "For two days I’d lifted mine eyes unto the hills, and when I looked down again they’d abolished communism."
"Marxed Men" At a conference in Berlin, a motley collection of East and West German intellectuals clash over the country's future.
"Nazi Hunting" Ian Buruma visits an East German city that is on lockdown, fearing a neo-Nazi riot. But, when the neo-Nazis themselves arrive, they turn out to be a bit pathetic.