The Soviet Union Never Collapsed
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Many innocent people would be arrested and then disappear as both sides would arrest and detain anyone who they thought was not true to the cause. This would be abused until innocent people had to fall in line or be taken away.
Neither side would win, all would suffer and life would suck more than it does now.
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Neither side would win, all would suffer and life would suck more than it does now.
Mr. Uplifting is available for children?s parties, graduation parties, funerals, and other family fun events!
The space race may have never ended! By November, 2011 the Moon could very well be occupied by either U.S./ allied forces or, Soviet forces. Either way we would be in space and the world would tremble in fear not of nukes but, of orbital strikes and guided meteor strikes. Hell, we could very well be on Mars too, just imagine the campaign "Buy space-bonds to keep the Mars from getting any more Red" or some such thing.
I don't think the Cold War would continue. Glastnost was advancing nicely during the 1980s, and the Soviet Union was beginning to open up to the world (arguably, this helped bring about the collapse of the Soviet Union, but we'll ignore that for the purposes of this thread). Likely, the Cold War would have simply gently thawed out through the 1990s (assuming all world leaders remained the same) due to Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton getting on.
9/11 would probably have been the point at which any remnants of the Cold War would cease: the Soviet Union was just as much a proud, patriotic superpower (if not more so) as the USA. The emergence of extremist Islamic terrorism on such a destructive scale in the West would likely have cemented the USA and USSR in the War on Terror. After all, the USSR had already stuck the boot in in Afghanistan once in the '70s: I'm sure they would have no objections to joining a coalition to do it again, particularly if they thought it could neutralise the threat of Al-Qaeda.
I'm not entirely sure about other things. I think the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain in general would have come down by now, and perhaps the Soviet Union of today would start looking at China as an emerging threat, rather than America.
9/11 would probably have been the point at which any remnants of the Cold War would cease: the Soviet Union was just as much a proud, patriotic superpower (if not more so) as the USA. The emergence of extremist Islamic terrorism on such a destructive scale in the West would likely have cemented the USA and USSR in the War on Terror. After all, the USSR had already stuck the boot in in Afghanistan once in the '70s: I'm sure they would have no objections to joining a coalition to do it again, particularly if they thought it could neutralise the threat of Al-Qaeda.
I'm not entirely sure about other things. I think the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain in general would have come down by now, and perhaps the Soviet Union of today would start looking at China as an emerging threat, rather than America.
I think at some point someone (probably the various EU countries) would get sick of America and the USSR doing their merry proxy war dance all over the world and we'd start slapping some sense into both of them. Or we'd join in, depends on who is in charge.
I don't think either side would nuke each other but there might be a war in space due to a massive escalation of the technology.
*daydreams more*
*daydreams more*
The Soviet Union would be a starving, poverty-stricken mess like North Korea is today. The Cold War would still be "on", at least as far the Soviet leadership needed it to be to justify their continued grasp on power, but the military might would've largely rusted away. Afghanistan demonstrated amply how far they'd slipped when it came to projecting power.
A big concern for the West would be those countries along the Iron Curtain as refugees struggled to escape, bringing with them tales of tyranny and indoctrination. At this point, nuclear weapons would be the USSR's trump card; they'd be the one thing that it would have over other countries. But I wouldn't be surprised if a number got loose to various terrorist groups.
For the most part, the rest of the world would draw a line around them and get on with it. Without the ability to make continued payments to client states, other Communist parties in Latin America and Africa would sever ties and try to distinguish themselves from their alleged 'comrades' in the Kremlin.
Alternatively, glasnost could have taken it's intended course, but that would be incredibly unlikely. The Soviet Union was, first and foremost, an empire. Openness would have meant giving up the propaganda that justified that empire. What would a reformed USSR due when confronted with demands from Kazakhs and Lithuanians to secede? It could either end glasnost and crush them, or allow them secede and give up half it's land and people. That's not to mention the satellite states. Glasnost gave the means for Solidarity to throw down Communism in Poland and allowed Germany to reunite. What does a Premier say to justify throwing so many of his comrades under the bus without also justifying his own removal?
A big concern for the West would be those countries along the Iron Curtain as refugees struggled to escape, bringing with them tales of tyranny and indoctrination. At this point, nuclear weapons would be the USSR's trump card; they'd be the one thing that it would have over other countries. But I wouldn't be surprised if a number got loose to various terrorist groups.
For the most part, the rest of the world would draw a line around them and get on with it. Without the ability to make continued payments to client states, other Communist parties in Latin America and Africa would sever ties and try to distinguish themselves from their alleged 'comrades' in the Kremlin.
Alternatively, glasnost could have taken it's intended course, but that would be incredibly unlikely. The Soviet Union was, first and foremost, an empire. Openness would have meant giving up the propaganda that justified that empire. What would a reformed USSR due when confronted with demands from Kazakhs and Lithuanians to secede? It could either end glasnost and crush them, or allow them secede and give up half it's land and people. That's not to mention the satellite states. Glasnost gave the means for Solidarity to throw down Communism in Poland and allowed Germany to reunite. What does a Premier say to justify throwing so many of his comrades under the bus without also justifying his own removal?
I think the most accurate answer I can come up with is "I don't have a sodding idea". But in order for the USSR to not have collapsed it would have had to be reformed. The USSR collapsed mostly because of what it was (and because of Yeltsin), and assuming that it'd be the same today as it was 25 years ago is far-fetched, since there's no way an entity like that would LAST these 25 years in the first place.
So, if the USSR still existed, it would likely be very different from the big bad red threat it's considered to have been, it couldn't come through otherwise. However, just how different, I can't tell.
So, if the USSR still existed, it would likely be very different from the big bad red threat it's considered to have been, it couldn't come through otherwise. However, just how different, I can't tell.
It's true, the USSR never collapsed. It just went underground, like the Taliban. It is now more powerful than ever, and KGB agents manipulate the president...
Seems like a good conspiracy novel plot, but probably overused.
Seems like a good conspiracy novel plot, but probably overused.
It would have restructured itself in the same way China did, and, while it may have cool relations with the US, would still have open and vigorous trade.
Basically, Putin would have been a Premier instead of a President.
Basically, Putin would have been a Premier instead of a President.