I very much enjoyed this book review by Gerard DeGroot published in Sunday’s Washington Post on Michael Meyer’s new book on the fall of the Berlin Wall.  It never fails to impress me how much our ideas about this recent period in history continue to inform (or more aptly, misinform) our understanding of contemporary politics and relations with Russia and the states of the former Soviet Union.  Apparently Michael Meyer’s book pokes some holes in the traditional hero myths, and points to the accidental and chaotic nature of how all these world-changing events spun out of control.  Very interesting and thoughtful stuff here.

The events themselves were played out by a cast of thousands in Budapest, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw and Bucharest. There was no script; this was an improvisational drama conceived by Camus, with help from Kafka and Molière. The Soviet Union came to the realization that its empire was no longer affordable. Like other imperial powers, it cut and ran, leaving colonial subjects to sort things out for themselves. Chaos naturally resulted.