BUCHAREST — This week, Europe is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — the seminal event that also proved to be the beginning of the end for the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. The winds of change had begun to blow a few months earlier, when the landslide victory [...]

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For decades, the Berlin Wall stood as the symbol of the Cold War. Built in 1961, it was the line in the sand where western democracy ended and communist rule began. Then suddenly, 20 years ago this month, it was gone. Senior Director of Policy Programs Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff discusses how he remembers that moment as [...]

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In 1971, then U.S. Treasury Secretary John Connolly told his European counterpart:   the dollar is our currency but your problem.   Fast forward to today and Mr. Connolly’s statement still rings true.   As the buck has slumped this year, the euro has become a favorite alternative to foreign exchange traders and central banks. [...]

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Here at GMF we are celebrating November 9 with a weekly multimedia series called My ’89. (Be sure to check out the first installment with Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff telling the fascinating story of an escape from Hungary.) In that”My ’89″ spirit, our friends over at the World Bank send us this piece that World Bank President [...]

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BRUSSELS — On November 3, the Czech Republic’s Constitutional Court ruled that the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the country’s constitution. President Vaclav Klaus signed the document on the same day, the last of the 27 EU leaders to do so. The Treaty is now expected to come into force on December 1, [...]

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WASHINGTON — When I traveled abroad as an American Marshall Memorial Fellow in October 2008, I discovered something most people wouldn’t notice. The notion of an attorney with his partner, a dog guide, draws attention on both sides of the Atlantic.   I recall one individual claiming that disability law, policy, or concerns have no [...]

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