I read the article in The Times: Kohl, Bush And Gorbachev Remember Cold War At Berlin Cabaret Event (November 1). I truly feel that the former leader of the former Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, was pivotal in facilitating the fall of the Berlin Wall. Many scholars praise Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and the late Pope John Paul II. Granted, they deserve some praise for their oratory and their policies towards unifying East Germany with West Germany. However, none of that would have transformed into reality without the clear consent and cooperation of Mr Gorbachev.

I have been fortunate enough to see Mr Gorbachev on two occasions. First, in October 2005 when he gave a lecture at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. And, secondly, on October 8, 2007 when he gave a lecture at the Belo Mansion in Dallas, Texas. On that second occasion, I asked Mr Gorbachev about addressing core concerns about peace and environmentalism by focusing on the daily lives of ordinary people whose basic needs and habits deeply influence how prosperous people are - and, ultimately, how protective they really are of Mother Earth. I used an analogy of protecting and safeguarding the livelihoods of family farmers who, in turn care more devotedly to the land they cultivate since it literally "sustains them" by their careful preservation of key elements such as viable water wells to provide safe drinking water as well as fertile lands that haven't been polluted by waste disposals or the excessive use of chemical fertilisers or insecticides. A person is more inclined to treat the land more gently if that person actually "lives off the land".

Although my question was long and wordy, Mr Gorbachev's interpreter translated my question and I heard Mr Gorbachev's response that he agreed with my thinking: We need to personalise issues in order for people to pay closer attention to the issues. Good decisions only arise when vital concerns come to the forefront of our attention-spans. Similarly, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, many Soviet leaders stonewalled. Mr Gorbachev, by contrast, enabled the Wall to be torn down. He wielded tremendous power even at his weakest moment. His actions were more forceful than Mr Reagan's words or Pope John Paul II's prayers. Mr Gorbachev got results. Admittedly, he is a shrewd individual who is still patriotic to his homeland. Yet, he realised that the pivotal moment had come 20 years ago... and the Berlin Wall crumbled.

Mr Gorbachev was a younger man back then - he wasn't entrenched by the past - and history shows that his actions were fundamental to the evolution of a modern Europe. Now that the Berlin Wall is "down", I wonder if Germany and the rest of Europe will cultivate a prudent and prosperous future - or will they squander it by a selfish hoarding that attempts to "turn back time" by putting up walls and shutting people out? Little rocks and stones which are remnants of the old Berlin Wall shouldn't be treated as "souvenirs", they should be treated as tangible reminders of that dark evil of the cloistered regime which encircled the people by concrete and barbed-wire or razor-wire; which governed by the whip which lashed-out and scarred a segment of mankind's history.

Mr Gorbachev's greatness isn't so much what he did...but what he "allowed to be done". That alone is worth remembering.