Malcolm Rifkind is a former British foreign minister . Effect of Berlin Wall was overwhelmingly positive , Rifkind says . But not all the side - effects were , he says . From the war in Ukraine to the unrest in the Middle East , the West is faced with threats to its security that are less clear-cut than our confrontation with the Soviet Union , and also less predictable and much harder to understand . Rifkind : Britain faces new confrontation with Germany .
Malcolm Rifkind is a former British foreign minister . Effect of Berlin Wall was overwhelmingly positive , Rifkind says . But not all the side - effects were , he says . Rifkind : Britain faces new confrontation with Germany .