Why college students celebrated bin Laden’s death: This is our Cold War | USA TODAY College

When the Berlin Wall fell, I soaked up the optimism. Soon after, the reporters who had been covering the Cold War began filing reports from the Middle East.

I remember asking my dad, “Is it always this way? The good news story gets stale, and the bad news happening somewhere else catches the world’s attention?”

He smiled sadly, and nodded.

This is our Cold War.

We grew up knowing bin Laden’s name almost as well as our president’s. Our geography bees revolved around the Middle East. Our degrees are in international relations. Our lives changed forever at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. On May 1, 2011, we were holed up in libraries, classrooms and dorms across the country studying for those international relations exams, when we heard via Twitter, Facebook or perhaps even word-of-mouth, that the man behind the worst tragedy in American history was dead. —Why college students celebrated bin Laden’s death: This is our Cold War | USA TODAY College.