An excited crowd crossing the border at the Bornholm Bridge after the fall of the Berlin Wall.  (Credit: Brigitte Hiss/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Mary Elise Sarotte is the Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author or editor of five books, including <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/titles/10353.html">1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe</a>, and <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/mary-elise-sarotte/the-collapse/9780465056903/">The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall.</a>

Mary Elise Sarotte

Mary Elise Sarotte is the Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author or editor of five books, including 1989: The Struggle to Create Post-Cold War Europe, and The Collapse: The Accidental Opening of the Berlin Wall.

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The Cold War rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union lasted for decades and resulted in anti-communist suspicions and international incidents that led two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.

Mary Elise Sarotte

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The Surprising Human Factors Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall