On this day in 1987, Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and delivered an ultimatum to the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. “Mr. Gorbachev…” the famous line begins, “tear down this wall.” Those kurt words are forever etched in the minds of those who lived through the Cold War, that dark time when it seemed state socialism could swallow the world and everyone in it. For those of us who only know that tense time through what we’ve learned in history books, the moment may be less visceral, but it is no less important. Seizing on Gorbachev’s recently-announced policy of glasnost or “openness,” Reagan put pressure on his Russian counterpart to back those words with actions. Two years later, the wall was demolished, and millions of Berliners were given free range of their city again.

As libertarians, we know there is great value in removing the barriers that keep people apart, whether that means the end of the Iron Curtain, freer migration, or technology that allows someone in China to access websites like Facebook. We know that when goods and ideas flow freely across borders, tanks and troops will not. President Reagan was a mixed bag for liberty – he helped bring down the Soviet Union, but is also responsible for illiberal policies like the drug war. Today, however, we should look to him for inspiration. We must be like President Reagan when we demand a freer world, making our aims clear and our language direct. Tyrants don’t respond to mealy-mouthed requests.