The Wall that Defined Us
Who are we without the wall? For decades, the ugly scar across the face of Berlin offered a navigational beacon to the governments of the world. It reminded them of who they were and who they were not, and differentiated friend from foe.

The wall gave them a purpose, too: Tearing it down became the Holy Grail of those to the West; keeping it standing became the life's work of those to the East. Both sides feared nothing as much as the prospect of the other side swarming over the wall, and they built nuclear arsenals capable of destroying the planet 300 times over to maintain its security. And those arsenals, in turn, gave them a good reason for averting war at all costs, and an incentive for policing the planet to keep regional conflicts from spinning out of control.

The tearing down of the wall was a dramatic, unplanned historical triumph that closed the book on an era. It redefined, mostly for the better, the way millions of people would live their lives, and it heralded the potential for a profound change in the way nations and communities resolved their conflicts.

But 10 years later, those who lived east of the wall are left wondering what its demise really meant. The citizens of what was once called Eastern Europe revel in freedoms unthinkable under communism. Yet for the most part they've found that capitalism's lavish banquet is laid before a favored few, just as communism's was the exclusive privilege of the party elite (often, ironically, the same individuals).

Those who fought against communism – such as Pope John Paul II and Czech president Vaclav Havel – now find themselves railing against the godless consumerism that capitalism has brought in the wake of godless communism. Even among the victors, the wall's collapse has posed a troubling challenge: It's a lot more difficult to define what we are, now that what we're not is history.

–TONY KARON

Is Life Better or Worse for the People of the Soviet Bloc Since its Collapse?

Is the World a Safer Place Now That the Wall Has Gone?

How Has the Wall's Absence Affected Washington?

How Did the Collapse of the Wall Change the World?