Mission Berlin: The Central Intelligence Agency, 1989

For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall was the most visible symbol of the Cold War: a barbed-wire divide between communism and democracy, control and freedom, and the American CIA and its adversaries. The CIA played a pivotal role intervening in East Germany during the Cold War, from  Operation QRHELPFUL and Operation RYAN, which focused on counter-intelligence, to Operation GOLD, which tapped Soviet communications using underground tunnels. The CIA also continually infiltrated the East German Stasi using spies and spread anti-communist messaging through Radio Free Europe. As a result, by the close of the 1980s, the CIA became increasingly certain it was slowly breaking down the Soviet bloc and regaining regional control.

Yet on November 9, 1989, the Cold War’s most enduring barrier suddenly collapsed—not through military action or the CIA’s efforts, but through a flustered remark at a routine press conference by an East German official. As thousands of people flooded into West Berlin, the CIA’s operatives and intelligence efforts were exposed, making its missions riskier than ever. Thousands of American scientists, military officials, politicians, and double-agent spies are now trapped in East Germany, risking Soviet capture unless they are swiftly smuggled out by the CIA. Despite the CIA’s best efforts, KGB and Stasi forces scramble to re-secure communist influence, spread propaganda, militarily intervene, and keep the Cold War hot. 

Now, the CIA faces an unprecedented opportunity to uncover and expose Soviet intelligence networks, end the Cold War, and facilitate the birth of a new, free Germany. Committee begins on the eve of the wall’s collapse. Delegates, the fate of a divided world is in your hands—your mission starts now.