Too Many Walls Remain In Our Globalized World

On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, warned world leaders against complacency in the quest for freedom, human rights and cultural diversity; stressing that the battles for these universal values were not yet won.

“The fall of the Berlin Wall, twenty years ago, was an event of immense historical importance for world peace and the advance of democracy. It was the start of a new era, giving rise to hopes, not just in Eastern Europe but around the world for a better life. A page had been turned. Today we live in a globalized world, but too many walls remain. UNESCO task is to break through these walls, wherever they may be and whatever form they may take. Although globalization may be a liberating force, it also carries the risk of creating a more uniform world, eroding the incredible diversity that is the real source of human creativity, economic and social development, and opening the way for new forms of repression, exclusion and poverty,” said Irina Bokova today.

The Berlin Wall was created to prevent the massive exodus of East-Germans to West-Germany. Walls are either created to prevent people from getting out or getting in. Ronald Reagan was wrongly credited for ending the cold war, and his famous line “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” made Americans believe that Reagan took down the Berlin Wall almost on his own, as if the “Gipper” was invested with some kind of magical power. Of course, this is just a fairy tale. The reality is quite different; the USSR collapsed from within, and Gorbachev was wise enough to see the peaceful end of it, and he had the great merit to let it go, without fighting to maintain the Soviet empire.

However, Reagan’s famous line was catchy and stayed. We should use it today. Today, to commemorate the fall of the Berlin Walls, the citizens of the world should say; “Mr. Netanyahu, tear down this wall!”; and also referring to the one erected between the United States and Mexico; “Mr. Obama, tear down this wall!”. Human beings should not be treated like cattles and contain by fences & walls, for whatever reasons they are built.