If it had been the U.S. that collapsed and the Soviet Union that was the only superpower left?
603553
If the Soviet Union were the only remaining superpower, the world would be a living hell.\n\nThe problem with the Communist system is that it perverts man's true nature.  The Communists said they had a noble ideal, that they were creating a selfless man, so that everything would be shared, everyone could live as equals, and poverty would be eliminated.\n\nHowever, Communism only creates poverty for everyone. People generally despised their jobs because they knew that putting forth more effort would give them and their families nothing in return.\n\nTwo common refrains were:\n\n1)  They pretend to pay me, and I pretend to work.\n2)  If you don't steal from the State, you are stealing from your family.\n\nCommunism was just another word for slavery.  You had the top Communist bosses who enjoyed luxuries forbidden to the masses.  The State told you where you could live, and what kind of job you could perform.  You had no voice.\n\nIf the old, Communist Soviet Union were in charge of the world, everyone would blame their problems on them, but not openly, or they'd have tanks running through their streets like 1968 Czechoslovakia.\n\nIf the old, Communist Soviet Union were in charge the world would be more backward, unstable, and poorer.\n\nIf you want to see the true evil face of Communism, rent this movie in the Foreign Films section of your local rental store:  "Dark Blue World" (Tvamomodry Svet).  You will see the absolutely vile nature of Communism.  The movie recounts how Czech pilots fled to England to join the fight against the Nazis.  After the war, the Communists occupiers sent these heroes to prison because they feared  these men had been to exposed to Western ideas about democracy and freedom.
681363
Strasveetya!  You really need to study more about the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, its a very intereting time in history.  Most of the American movies, by the way, called the Soviet Union "Russia."  For many, many years our countries were the worst of enemies.  It started around the end of World War II, and officially ended when Yeltsin took power.  Why?  Because America believed communism to be the greatest evil, and the Soviet Union believed capitalism to be the greatest evil.  We were in a state that is known as a cold war.  A cold war is essentially a state of war, but at a constant state of cease-fire.  Some shots were fired, mainly planes shooting down other planes, but no major battles were fought between the two countries.  However, we had enough nuclear missiles pointed at each other to completely destroy all life on this planet several times over.  The Cold War was never more tense than when Khrushchev and Kennedy were presidents, and Khrushchev said on international television that the Soviet Union would crush America (taking off his shoe and pounding it for all to see while he said it).  I believe two of the greatest leaders our nations ever had were Gorbachev and Reagan.  They did much to clam things down, and both began the process of disarming our nuclear missiles.  Slava Bog!
45937
None, as the Commonwealth of Independent States was simply a name given to the former USSR when then country started to split apart in the early 1990's.
257466
CRUSH CAPITALISM!!!!\nSeriously dude, how hard was that?  Think about Berlin, etc.  Also, a lot of the ethnic cleansing had been done in Russia by this point (enough Ukrainians killed off for Stalin).  Uncle Joe Stalin was in charge and FDR had given him rule over a lot of territory unnecessarily.  Comintern would be supported, and the Cold War against the US and the rest of the capitalist world be maintained, especially through vicarious conflicts, like the Korean War, where the Russian Communists supplied weapons and troops to a few idealogical Koreans to "give the gift" of Communism.  The Koreans requested help from the US and the Greeks, etc. (the Greeks had just recently defeated a Communist incursion).
101526
WWIII was the cold war with the Soviet Union.  We won.\n\nThis is WWIV, and it has already started.  It does not require two superpowers to be at war.  Two incompatible ideologies will do it too.
1079655
Japan & USSR.\n\nBut hostilities only lasted a few weeks (at War's end). Some historians would argue that the USSR declaration of war had as much to do with Japan's surrender as the two atomic bomb detonations.
405764
If the ivasion of Normandy failed and if Germany didn't invade the USSR, then Germany would have held onto Europe until the Allied victory over Japan.  The question at that point is whether Germany would have been able to develop the atomic bomb prior the US being able to use its atomic weapons on Germany.  This may have been possible.\n\nAfter the US dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, the US didn't have a third bomb that was ready for use.  And I believe Germany was about one or two years away from developing their own atomic bomb.\n\nAnother key element is that Germany would need long range bombers that could reach the US East Coast.  If Germany had this and the bomb, then Germany may have had enough leverage to sue for peace with the US.\n\nIn such an event, Europe would have remained German occupied.  The cold war would have had 3 players:  US, USSR and Germany.  Mutually assured destruction would have resulted in a German Europe being intact until today.\n\nThe unified German/European state would be perhaps the largest economy, with the US coming in second and Japan third.  The fall of the USSR would have occurred earlier since it would have had to spend even more on its military to cope with 2 competing superpowers.  The US would be less influential, as its economy would be tapped to fund a contined cold war with strategic weapons until today.\n\nThe Middle East would again be the flashpoint.  The need for oil would force both the US and Germany to colonize the Middle East.  The US/Vietnam War and the Afghanistan/USSR War would have been avoided since both the US and USSR would not have wasted their resources on those territories.  Conflicts between superpowers would have been funneled towards the Middle East as the super powers' militaries would have more quickly depleted oil supplies and forced them to claim their stakes in the Middle East.\n\nWorld War 3 would have been fought in the Middle East using 1980s technology.  The superpowers would have refrained from using nuclear weapons which would have rendered the oil fields useless.  A stalemate would eventually be declared and different areas of the Middle East would be occupied with demilitarized zones.  The three territories would be owned by the US, Germany and a Russian and Chinese alliance.\n\nThe world as a whole would have less wealth.  Much more money would have been spent fighting wars.  Our lives would be consumed with the "enemy".
593043
the United States is the world's only superpower.  it outspends all other countries COMBINED on its military/defense.  it may be that soon, it will be rivalled as the world's strongest economy, but when it comes to military might, the U.S. has no competitors even close to it.
476230
Alaska.  In fact it is the ONLY state that was ever part of the Russia/the Soviet Union.
569757
Right now, US is considered a sole super power. Fifteen years ago, two countries- US and Soviet Union were considered Super Powers.  During World War II, US, Great Britain, Japan, Soviet Union and Germany were considered Super Powers.
588430
How would this help regain it's past glory?  Even when it was the Soviet Union it had a lot of internal problems which still plague it today.  That's what caused the Soviet Union to collapse in the first place.  I doubt Iran going to war would help them in anyway because it'd disrupt oil production from the country for a period of time (if a ground war broke out).
254223
I would say the Mongols.  C'mon, an empire that could subjugate Russia for years...that's amazing.\nOf course, you might also say the Soviet Empire of late, terrified many around the world with the thought not just of wiping out cities, but perhaps entire continents, pretty scary.
35828
Russia, and its the only country in the world that can completely be self - sufficient.
737173
it calls itself the Soviet Union and 80 years later it collapses under the weight of itself. Kind of like what the Democratic Party would like to do here in the USA
687769
Difficult to answer, but this is my guess...\n\nIf Soviet Union didn't collapse as it did in 1990s, it would probably move along the lines that China does now -- significant economic reform, with very slow political changes. Many regional wars, such as Yugoslavia, Chechenya etc. would not been avoided, European Union would have much closer ties to the U.S. \n\nSoviets regarded Central Asia as their backyard (much as U.S. does Latin America), and would continue attempts to control Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq etc. The bulk of Arab and Muslim resentment (and possibly terrorism) would mostly be directed toward Soviets, and supported by the U.S. (as it was in Afghanistan in the '80s -- we funded the Mujahedeen and didn't call them terrorists when they were terrorizing the Soviets -- of course, Soviets supported similar and worse nasties elsewhere).\n\nIt is highly unlikely that Soviets and Americans would do much good together -- superpowers vie for influence and while they might trade, they rarely cooperate on strategic political matters. (This shows in the current situation with North Korea -- China is pretending to help, but doesn't want instability and more U.S. influence close to its borders.) "New Soviets" would be trading much more with the West and especially China, but not do much to solve major global problems.\n\nTo summarize, if Soviet Union was still around, terrorism would likely not be a problem for the U.S., but the world overall migh be a much more dangerous place.
1128847
If the United States is isolated from other countries because other countries no longer want anything to do with the United States, then the United States will no longer be a superpower because there will no longer be anything super about it...the United States will become a third world country in this scenario because there won't be any imports or exports and the United States will be in constant fear of being attacked by other countries.
925441
WWII Set the stage for the US and the USSR to be the leading world powers.