Monday, November 9th, 2009 marked the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall.  Memorializing the quest for freedom from Communist oppression, the U.S. Diplomacy Center, Bureau of Public Affairs, has launched the online exhibition Voices of U.S. Diplomacy and the Berlin Wall, offers a moving account of American Diplomats' involvement in the Cold War.

With a much different tool set than is available today, Diplomats from around the world worked to tear down walls of oppression.  The exhibition states, "U.S. radio, broadcasting live news segments, warned listeners who might want to escape.  Allied protest against the Wall was delayed more than 48 hours, due in part to President Kennedy’s reluctance to provoke confrontation."

What if the Internet existed and East and West Germans were able to communicate online, and not just to each other, but to the rest of the world?  What if Twitter was around to spread the word on the construction of the barrier underway during the night, when workers divided Berlin on August 13, 1961?

Diplomacy is to find mutually acceptable solutions to a common challenge, one set of tools being the phrasing of statements in a non-confrontational, or polite manner. Social networking is vigorously redefining what diplomacy means. The door for online civic engagement has been created and the availability of interactive communications technology is forging ahead, but repressive regimes are still active in our world.

John F. Kennedy visited a plaza, later named for him after his death, in 1963 and said these words: "Ich bin ein Berliner." "I am a Berliner."  The voice of diplomacy in the past came from our Government and our leaders.  Today, citizens are empowered voices online, each making the call for freedom and equality louder. Today, We are Berliners.

Berlin Wall Online