The Cold War ended with the Malta Summit and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989

The argument

The Cold War ended in 1988 with the fall of the Berlin Wall, then the Malta Summit a few weeks later. Though the common belief is that the Cold War ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the actual end comes a bit earlier. In 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall became an enormous symbol of democratic triumph in Europe, a symbol whose visual impact on the world cannot be underestimated. It is the fall of the Berlin Wall best remembered by those alive during the period, not the technical dissolution of the USSR. Furthermore, the Malta Summit, coming on the heels of such a tremendous event, represented the arrival of peace. The summit was so essential that Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev declared “The world is leaving one epoch and entering another. We are at the beginning of a long road to a lasting, peaceful era. The threat of force, mistrust, psychological and ideological struggle should all be things of the past.” Therefore, if it is recognized by the leaders of the countries involved, President Bush and Chairman Gorbachev, as the turning point in the Cold War, it should be remembered by history in that way as well.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Although the Malta Summit and the fall of the Berlin Wall were paramount to the ending of the Cold War, the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 remains more than a formality. It is only with the formal declaration that communism in Europe is not to retain the same shape, and that many of the societies behind the iron curtain now have the opportunity to remake themselves in their own vision, that the Cold War could end.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Symbolic force is not the same as termination. The Wall's fall was an event within East Germany; the Warsaw Pact remained in existence until July 1991, Soviet forces remained stationed in Germany until 1994, and the strategic confrontation the Cold War consisted in continued after November 1989. (The body also dates the fall to 1988; it was 9 November 1989, with Malta on 2–3 December.) [Rejecting P2] A leaders' declaration of intent is not the same as the thing declared. Gorbachev's statement is explicitly forward-looking — describing the beginning of a long road rather than an arrival — and Malta produced no treaty, no settlement of Germany's status and no change in either alliance. President Bush was notably careful not to declare the conflict over. [Rejecting P3] Recognition by the participants does not settle a historical periodisation, and the premise's own criterion would favour other candidates: the Charter of Paris in November 1990, signed by both blocs and declaring the era of division ended, has a far better claim to being the formal act. [Rejecting C] The counter-argument on record makes the substantive point that the 1991 dissolution was more than a formality, since it was only then that the state on one side of the confrontation ceased to exist and the societies behind it became free to remake themselves — which is what would be needed for the conflict to have ended rather than paused.