Though 2011 was a precedent-setting and history-making year for protest in many, it was also one that conformed at many points to familiar patterns.

I was 19 when the Berlin Wall fell. The free world cheered. But not my family.

Regan probably hastened the fall of the Wall by a few years, but it could have fallen without him. It could not however, have fallen without the sacrifices of those living under Soviet Communism.

Today, nearly 20 years after the Berlin Wall came down, freedom and diversity are the realities in post-communist Europe.

While we can't underestimate the power and resolve of desperate regimes, we also can't resist letting ourselves dream that Tehran can become the next Berlin.

There will be many commemorations of June 4, some joyous, some sorrowful. But 20 years later, I'm still waiting for my invitation to the Cold War's funeral.