Today, November 9, 2009, marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
RAND's website notes the occasion by showcasing a publication from the org's RAND Reprints series: "The Cold War, RAND, and the Generation of Knowledge, 1946-1962."
Written by David Hounshell, the volume tells of the think tank's early, Cold War days, prior to a subsequent branching out to working on social issues. The abstract and a free-of-charge download of Hounshell's work are each here.
From the .PDF:
"The Cold Ware had profoundly altered the course of national development in both he United States and the Soviet Union as vast sums were expended to create national security complexes that insinuated themselves into virtually every corner of American and Soviet societies with profound behavioral and psychological consequences. This was especially true in the realms of science and technology where the pursuit of knowledge became increasingly an instrument for ensuring national security. At no time in human history had such abundant resources been devoted to scientific and technological research and development, albeit it the pursuit of largely military interests."
Also available from RAND online: "Morale in West Berlin After 'The Wall,'" by H. Hurwitz.
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And, a few selections from elsewhere in the local and national tankospheres:
- Reason's post marking the wall's fall begins, "Communism was the greatest catastrophe of the 20th century...."
- American Enterprise has Newt Gingrich co-authoring a feature.
- And Brookings has Strobe Talbott on "The Four Who Ended the Cold War."
Photo Credit: The image accompanying this post was taken by Flickr user aharvey2k. It was used under Creative Commons license.
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