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On November, 2, almost twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) reunited a panel of key players from 1989, including Hans-Dietrich Genscher, former foreign minister of the Federal Republic of Germany; Brent Scowcroft, former national security advisor to President George H.W. Bush; and Robert Kimmitt, former U.S. ambassador to Germany and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, to discuss the events surrounding this historic anniversary and how it has shaped today's world. BBC World News Washington Correspondent Katty Kay moderated the lunchtime panel that was held at The Newseum.

GMF President Craig Kennedy opened the event by noting the significance of the fall of the wall for GMF, the first American non-governmental organization to open an office in East Berlin.

Following Mr. Kennedy's comments, Kay asked the panelists to describe their experiences, both political and personal, at the close of the Cold War era. Speaking first, Genscher recalled his opinion of then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, remarking that Gorbachev "believed one can reform socialism," but that "later, he had to learn that you could not reform socialism, you could only overcome socialism. That happened in 1989."

Genscher then spoke about the reforms and revolutions that spread gradually across the eastern bloc and made note of the often underestimated importance of the Final Act signed in Helsinki in 1975. Genscher emphasized that the fall of the wall was not just a German revolution, but a European one as well.

Brent Scowcroft and Robert Kimmitt added their insights by describing the atmosphere in Washington shortly before and after the events of 1989. As the first U.S. ambassador to a unified Germany, Kimmitt spoke about his arrival in Berlin, and the evolution of the U.S. - German relationship. Both Scowcroft and Kimmitt reiterated Genscher's emphasis on the significance of the Helsinki Accords in helping to open up Eastern Europe.

Scowcroft underscored the delicacy of the expanding communication between the Soviets and Americans in the late 1980s. He noted that America was forced to strike a careful balance between supporting freedom in Eastern Europe, while at the same time improving its ties with the Soviets. Scowcroft emphasized that the U.S. "wanted to encourage the liberalizing regimes, especially in Poland and in Hungary," but they wanted to do it "at a pace which would not bring about the sort of Soviet reaction as happened in Germany in ‘53, Hungary in ‘56, Czechoslovakia in ‘68." He noted that they "didn't know exactly what that was" and that they "were sort of feeling their way." Scowcroft emphasized that the U.S. administration wanted to encourage the liberalization movements at a measured pace that would not cause the Soviet Communist party leadership to quickly react and undermine Gorbachev and his policies with negative consequences for those regimes they were helping to liberalize.

The subsequent question and answer period further explored many of the points touched upon during the discussion: the issue of the Polish-Russian border, the recent appointment of Guido Westerwelle as German foreign minister, Germany's continued relationship with its eastern European neighbors, the importance of popular sentiment in formerly Soviet-controlled states, and U.S. expectations following the fall of the wall. In addition, panelists fielded questions about possible alienation between the United States and Germany due to the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the issue of recognizing Croatian independence in 1991.