Post Wall, Post Square

January 27, 2020
In this painstakingly researched history, Johns Hopkins University global affairs professor Spohr (The Global Chancellor) dissects international relations during the “hinge years” of 1989–1992 to understand “why a durable and apparently stable world order collapsed” and how “a new order was improvised out of its ruins.” Spohr draws on recently declassified and “neglected documents” to investigate the dismantling of the U.S.S.R., Germany’s swift reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the evolution of NATO, the establishment of the European Union, and the formation of the international coalition behind Operation Desert Storm in Iraq. Though she seeks to explicitly connect these and other matters to China’s Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989 and the “false dawn” of Japan’s geopolitical influence, the book’s primary focus is on U.S., Soviet, and European relations. Spohr favors localized deep dives—into the generational divide within Hungary’s Communist Party leadership, for example—over broad overviews, giving the book an impressive level of detail but a somewhat repetitive feel. She precisely captures individual personalities (George H.W. Bush “seemed a politician in flux”; German chancellor Helmut Kohl was willing to make fun of himself), and illustrates how the seeds of modern-day issues such as Brexit were sewn 30 years ago. Even the most dedicated students of world affairs will learn something new from this indefatigable survey.