Part A
Read an Excerpt from the Brandenburg Gate Speech
This speech by President Ronald Reagan is also known as the "Tear down this wall!" speech or the Berlin Wall speech. The Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany from 1961 until it was taken down in 1989. The wall represented the iron curtain separation between Soviet communism and Western democracy during the Cold War.

Remarks on East-West Relations at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin (excerpt)
June 12, 1987

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control. Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Part B
Read an Excerpt from George H. W. Bush's Congressional Address
This speech was given to Congress by President Bush. It is about the Persian Gulf crisis and is also known as the New World Order speech. Bush addresses Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait to secure control of oil production and the threat to democracy that this invasion symbolized.

Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the Persian Gulf Crisis and the Federal Budget Deficit (excerpt)
September 11, 1990

We stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective—a new world order—can emerge: a new era—freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice, and more secure in the quest for peace. An era in which the nations of the world, East and West, North and South, can prosper and live in harmony. A hundred generations have searched for this elusive path to peace, while a thousand wars raged across the span of human endeavor. Today that new world is struggling to be born, a world quite different from the one we've known. A world where the rule of law supplants the rule of the jungle. A world in which nations recognize the shared responsibility for freedom and justice. A world where the strong respect the rights of the weak. This is the vision that I shared with President Gorbachev in Helsinki. He and other leaders from Europe, the Gulf, and around the world understand that how we manage this crisis today could shape the future for generations to come.