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“30 YEARS LATER”

In Latest Ripon Forum, Former Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Others Look at Fall of the Berlin Wall & State of Democracy Around the World Today

Plus, Greg Walden on the next step in the fight against opioids and a Ripon Profile of Mike DeWine

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The Ripon Forum marks the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago this month with an edition that not only looks back at this historic event, but examines the state of democracy around the world today.  

 

Leading the Forum’s coverage is a conversation with former Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, who shares his thoughts on America’s involvement in bringing down the Wall, and how a foreign policy that promoted the American example compares to a policy that promotes America first.

 

“I believe this is something of a false dichotomy,” Coats states.  “The old ‘America First’ once attached to pre-war isolationism has led many to misinterpret the concept now relevant to the modern world. Isolationism was rejected back then as an irresponsible dream. Since then, American foreign policy has always been centered on American national interests, but as properly defined and accurately understood.

 

“Our core national interests -- peace, prosperity, security -- have always included nurturing everywhere our core values. Extending benefits of freedom, democracy, human rights, and free enterprise to others has always served our national interests.  This is the real ‘America First.’”   

 

Coats, who served as U.S. Ambassador to Germany from 2001 to 2005, also shares his thoughts on the American most responsible for the collapse of communism after the fall of the Wall (hint: it’s not Ronald Reagan.)

 

This edition of the Forum also features two essays examining the challenges facing America and other democracies around the world.  In the first essay,  Freedom House President Michael Abramowitz and distinguished fellow Arch Puddington look at “The State of Freedom Three Decades After the Fall,” and the fact that “for the last 13 years, more countries have experienced declines in freedom than advances” – the longest period of democratic regression since Freedom House started tracking this standard in 1973.

 

In the other essay, entitled, “Democracy, Dictatorship, and American National Security in the 21st Century,” International Republican Institute President Dan Twining warns that, “The greatest dangers to America emanate from the ideologically driven strategies of Russia and China to weaken our democracy.”  Twining adds:  “In Europe and beyond, the Putin regime is deploying a sophisticated information warfare campaign to undermine democratic institutions, exploit societal divisions, and erode citizens’ confidence in democracy.”

 

In a piece entitled, “The Wall has Fallen, but Divisions Remain,” Professor Klaus Schroeder of the Free University Berlin writes about the divide that continues to exist between East and West Germans nearly three decades after unification.  Also writing about this historic moment is Professor Jeffrey Engel of Southern Methodist University, who, in an essay entitled, “The Virtue of Quiet at the Cold War’s End,” looks back at how President George H.W. Bush managed the fall of the Wall, writing that America's 41st President "did more than anyone else to give peace the calm and quiet it needed to grow."

 

And at a time when America’s role in the world is being questioned by many, attorney and former intelligence officer Matthew F. Ferraro looks at the series of “Heartland Speeches” on national security that U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry (TX-13) has been delivering around the country. “Before chambers of commerce and civic groups in cities from Aspen to Memphis,” Ferraro writes, “Thornberry has made the argument that the quality of life of most Americans is better thanks to the American-led, seven-decades old international system.”

 

Other authors and op-eds featured in this latest edition of The Ripon Forum include:

 

- U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (OR-2) – writing about the actions that Congress has taken to combat the nation’s opioid crisis and “The Next Step in the Fight.”

 

- Lindsey Burke of The Heritage Foundation – writing about the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and why it is “A Beacon of Hope in the Nation’s Capital.”

 

- Peter Kellner, a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe – writing about “Brexit and the Special Relationship.”

 

- Forum Deputy Editor Kyle Chance and Editorial Intern Sarah Pearce – taking one more look at the fall of the Berlin Wall and its meaning today, arguing that for many young Americans, “It’s just another page in the history books.”

 

- Forum Editor Lou Zickar – writing about “The Fury of an Aroused Democracy and the False Furies of Today,” and the need to confront the many challenges we face at a time when outrage culture is gripping the United States.

 

And in the latest Ripon Profile, Mike DeWine discusses his job as Governor of Ohio and some of the top challenges facing the Buckeye State. 

 

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“Perhaps one of the more fascinating things to emerge from our conversation with Dan Coats,” writes Ripon Forum Editor Lou Zickar in his note to introduce in this latest edition, “is who he says is the American most responsible for helping to bring down communism in 1991.  The Forum reached out to the veteran Indiana policymaker to get his thoughts on the fall of the Berlin Wall 30 years ago this month, and the state of world affairs today.  Coats is in a better position than most to discuss these topics. 

 

“When the Wall came down in 1989, he was serving in the U.S. Senate as a member of the Armed Services Committee.  Just over a decade later, he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Germany.  He arrived in Berlin just before the 9/11 terrorist attacks and help guide relations between our two countries in the tenuous weeks and months that followed.  Most recently, of course, Coats served as Director of National Intelligence in the Trump Administration.   All of this is to say that Coats has seen a lot and done a lot over the course of his distinguished career.  Which is why it was so interesting when he named John Davis as the fourth person -- after Lech Wa³êsa, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Pope John Paul II – who had ‘the most critical role in bringing about the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.’

 

“I have to admit I’d never heard of Davis, so I Googled him.  As it turns out, he served as Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw from 1983 to 1988, and U.S. Ambassador to Poland from 1988 to 1990.  At a time when some members of the U.S. Foreign Service are being accused of being members of the ‘deep state,’ it is notable that a veteran Republican like Dan Coats would point to a career diplomat like John Davis as being even more responsible than Ronald Reagan for bringing down the Berlin Wall.  An article that appeared in the December 21, 1989 edition of the New York Times helps explain why Coats feels this way.  Published less than six weeks after the Wall came down, it is an account of how Davis gained influence in Warsaw over the years – first by hosting separate dinners with members of the Communist government and the Solidarity Labor Union, and then by hosting dinners where both members of the government and labor leaders were invited.  ‘Communists mingled with Solidarity people,’ the Times reported.  ‘Former prisoners clinked glasses with their jailers.  The result is that Ambassador John R. Davis Jr. now commands attention and respect in Poland.  It is no small success.’

 

“ No small success.  If there were ever an understatement written about that period, it would be that one.  And yet ‘understated’ is perhaps the best word that can be used to describe America’s quiet diplomacy during that pivotal time.  It was the type of diplomacy not only practiced by Ambassador Davis, but exemplified by President George H.W. Bush.  In an essay in this same edition, historian Jeffrey Engel writes how America’s 41st President approached this period of upheaval.  ‘He did not shout, he did not gloat, he did not boast,’ Engel writes.  ‘Bush instead mostly listened during those tumultuous weeks and months of promise and anxiety in 1989, knowing that every time he listened more than he talked when a foreign leader called, and every time he kept his word, faith in him grew.’

 

“Of course, faith in America grew, too -- faith in America as a force for good, and faith in America as a symbol of peace, justice, and freedom.  Dan Coats touches on this sentiment in his interview with the Forum, when he talks about the hundreds of Germans who showed up outside the gates of the U.S. Embassy in Berlin to pay their respects on 9/11.  ‘I recall with considerable emotion talking with a German woman of my generation as she laid her flowers on the mountain of bouquets at the Embassy’s entrance,’ Coats stated.  ‘She said that Americans had helped Germany at its time of greatest need in the trying times after World War II ... This woman represented the immediate post-war generation marked by deep gratitude toward the United States for our contributions to Germany’s peace and prosperity.  This generation continues to love America.’

 

“It has been 18 years since the terrorist attacks, and three decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall.  A lot has clearly changed during that time.  What has not changed is the important role that America plays in the world, and the importance of America continuing to be a global force for good.  This edition of The Ripon Forum is focused on both the challenges and opportunities the United States faces in that regard, and features some of the leading thinkers and policymakers who – through both intellect and action – are working to not only make the 21st century another American century, but to make sure the advances of the past 75 years have not been for naught.”

 

The Ripon Forum is published six times a year by The Ripon Society, a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.

 

To view the online version of the November edition, please click here.  For more information on The Ripon Society, please visit www.riponsociety.org.

  

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