A map of Europe during the Cold War. Photo: Shutterstock. Thirty years ago today, on August 19, 1989, thousands of Hungarians and Austrians gathered at the border fence between the two countries ...

If you look at the map of Europe in the medieval or early modern period, ... It’s a map of dizzying incoherence, which reflected a Europe in conflict. During the Cold War, it was a very simple map.

During the cold war, the USSR was also much more closed off. Only about 3% of its GDP came from exports, and over half was to other Warsaw Pact countries. Russia is significantly more open now ...