The Misguided Optimism of 1989

Thirty years ago, on November 23, 1989, Maltese Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami was the first head of government to cross to East Germany. Thirty years removed from those events, in my piece for The Times of Malta (23.XI.2019), I look at the significance of the end of the Cold War - and how the world has been a more dangerous place since:

"There is no doubt that the end of communism and the fall of the Berlin Wall were positive developments. If Eastern Europe now enjoys the rights and freedoms we take for granted – freedom of expression, religious freedom, the right to private property and freedom of movement – it is all thanks to the visionary leadership which brought down the “evil empire”.

Similarly, these anniversaries are not a time for nostalgia – of asking ourselves how things could have been had the Cold War never ended. The Cold War tensions and the ever-present threat of all-out nuclear war were the cause of much fear and anxiety.

Nonetheless, the 30th anniversary is also time for sobering realism rather than overt optimism. It is a time to ask that age-old question; the West won the war, but can we win – or even handle – peace?"

The full piece may be read on the Times of Malta website.