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Sources:Data are latest available as of Nov. 12, 2014 from thefollowing sources: World Bank, United Nations DevelopmentProgramme, Freedom House, and Transparency International. Methodology:

Gross Domestic Product per capita figures are in 2011 international USD. Life expectancy figures are for all persons at birth. Child mortality rates are the number of deaths of children under the age of 5 per 1,000 live births. Average years of schooling are for all adults 25 years old and older.

Freedom House awards countries two scores: one for political rights and one for civil liberties. Each country receives a score from 1 (best) to 7 (worst). For this presentation, scores are inverted and averaged into an overall freedom score of 1 (worst) to 7 (best)

Data for Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index begin in 1999 for most countries. TI scores countries on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best). This presentation inverts scores so that 100 represents the most corruption, 0 the least. Prior to 2012, TI had an identical scoring system, but on a scale of 0 to 10. These scores were multiplied by 10 to equalize the scale across the entire time span.

UNDP education data is provided at irregular intervals (1990, 2000, 2005 and annually onwards). For gaps between years of data, graphs show interpolated results. For other indicators, gaps between data are treated the same way. If no data exist prior to a certain date, graph data begin at the first available data point.

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Legacy of the Berlin Wall: Communism's 25-Year Shadow

This week we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and with it communism. However, as we approach this anniversary, I am disturbed to see a resurgence of this destructive ideology right here at home.

Communism as a political structure is a failure. We know this to be true based on itshistory. We have seen theimages of despair from behind the Iron Curtin. We know that when the state crushes theindividual that failure of the society is sure to follow.

Why then, with these lessons less than 30 years behind us, do our leaders seek to embody this damaging ideology here in America under the guise of a different name: progressivism?

Our very own president is on the record as having said things such as, You didnt build that. He is also famous for his talking point of everyone getting his or her fare share.

We are a nation of equal opportunity, not equal outcome. This administration hasdedicated itself to replacing the individual with the state. If the current regulatory scheme of the EPA or the IRS is not enough proof that communism is growing here at home, then I present to you exhibit A:Obamacare (or the Affordable Care Act for my liberal friends).

This disastrous policy is the single largest attempt in this nations history to bring theindividual to his or her knees in a state of perpetual dependence upon the government.

This, my friends, iscommunism in the guise of a helping hand.

Just because you do not see Soviet style force in our towns and cities does not mean that the ideology of the former USSR is not present and thrivingwithin academia andgovernment here at home.

Here in America, communism goes by a different name.

Progressivism is communism. Make no mistake about it.

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Stay vigilant against communism

The revolutions in Eastern Europe paved the way for the collapse of communism in East Germany, otherwise known as the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), in 1990. One of the most important government officials in West Germany at the time was Rolf Nikel. Today, he serves as unified Germany's Ambassador to Poland.EurActiv Poland reports.

Rolf Nikel is Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Poland. He was interviewed by Editor-in-Chief & Managing Director, EurActiv Poland Karolina Zbytniewska.

What would have happened if the Berlin Wall hadnt fallen down?

At that time, I was working in Chancellors Helmut Kohls office, where I was responsible for Polish-German relations. We were amazed how the situation on the Eastern side of Iron Curtain evolved thanks to people taking their fate into their own hands. It was just incredible.

The situation as of 1989 made it inevitable in the context of the pro-democratic revolution that set off in the summer of that year in Poland with the first semi-democratic elections and first non-communist PM Tadeusz Mazowiecki (and) developments in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. History was happening in front of our eyes.

The Berlin Wall had to fall down. It was inevitable. It was only (a) question (of) when, under which circumstances, and whether it would be stable or not.

Seeing this peaceful uprising made you predict that Germany might be the next in line.

Yes, but we couldnt predict the Soviets reaction. After coming to power in 1985, it took Mikhail Gorbachev some time to consolidate his authority. And no one really knew how he might have reacted to the changes that were occurring. You have to keep in mind that in the GDR, there were 380,000 Soviet soldiers and that the Soviet Union (SU) had a track record of military intervention crashing down on anti-communist demonstrations as in 1953, 1956, 1968 etc.

In 1989, Gorbachev made the right decision not to intervene which allowed the whole democratic processes in Eastern Europe to happen peacefully. But the fall of the Berlin Wall and, more generally, of the Iron Curtain was a natural consequence of what began in Poland. So Germany is very much indebted to the liberation movement in Poland and other countries, but especially to Poland, which was very much advanced in the democratic process, thanks to Solidarno.

Why did Gorbachev decide not to intervene?

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Interview with Rolf Nikel, Germanys Ambassador to Poland

SpeedRunners Part 1: By the power of Communism
What if a kart racer was on foot? Then you #39;d have this game. Now picture your two favourite? idiots trying to run, jump, and slide their way to victory. Enjoy?

By: The Infrequent Gamers Club

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SpeedRunners Part 1: By the power of Communism - Video

Vatican Official Recalls Work in Secretariat of State as Berlin Wall Fell Rome, November 12, 2014 (Zenit.org) H. Sergio Mora | 239 hits

Cardinal Jean Louis Tauran, currently president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, was an official of the Vaticans Secretariat of State on Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell.

He shares his memories of that event.

ZENIT: Where were you and how did you receive the news of the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Cardinal Tauran: That year I was under-secretary for Relations with States; I was in that role from 1988 to 1990, and secretary from 1990 to 2013. I was on vacation in my home in

ZENIT: Whoever authorized the attack on John Paul II perhaps wished to avoid the fall of the Soviet empire.

Cardinal Tauran: Thats not known, although the message was clear: he was a Pope who annoyed -- and the speed of the events.

I always say that it was prepared by three things together: the Helsinki process that created a new philosophy of relations, with the Final Act of 1975; and Gorbachev and John Paul II, two providential men. These are the three things together.

ZENIT: And the Vaticans Ostpolitik?

Cardinal Tauran: It made its contribution in the measure that it enabled the silent Church to speak. Until the Pope of Krakow was elected, overcoming the silence

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Cardinal Tauran: We Knew Communism Was Collapsing, But Not Like This