USSR REFLECTION & RESPONSE The end of the U.S.S.R. as explained in the very beginning of the source material is really not all that shocking when looking at the fate of other "empires" over the course of human history. One could point to other empires like the Roman one, which itself fell. More recently, even more modern versions of empires have fallen as well. For much of the 1600's, 1700's, 1800's and even the early 1900's, there were three countries that controlled most or at least much of the world, those being Great Britain, France and Spain. Regardless of the type and how big they get, they always seem to fall under the weight of their governmental structure, their compromised society or even just their sheer enormity on the global scale.

However, Russia as it is currently constituted is certainly still huge. The required source notes that the country is still the largest in the world and that it spans two continents. However, the source later notes that their population is only about 146 million as of 1998 and that is roughly half that of the United States, which was about 300 million in the late 1990's and early 2000's if the author of this report recalls correctly. The author is intrigued by the fact that Russian as a language is very much an amalgamation of other languages, not unlike English. Indeed, Russian actually includes some English.

The source for this reflection also makes clear that Russia has been through many forms of government. There is the current form, the U.S.S.R. and then there were the...

Indeed, the United States has been under a singular form of government since its inception in 1776 and has never been under a dictatorship like the Russians were under many of the Soviet leaders. Even with the freedom of recent days, the openness to cultural transmission from the United States and other Western countries has been mixed as some people wanted (and still want) Russia to stay with its roots. The author of this response is not surprised by this as this is true of many Asian, European and Middle East countries.
Response

Regarding your response to the reading section allotted for this assignment, you very much centered on the Russian heritage and culture that is being maintained by some of the holdouts that are seeing the cultural transmission of the United States and other western cultures. Of course, the more traditional and proud Russians do not look upon this with favor. You also point out that Communism seem to start with some pizzazz and flair and then it went south pretty quick when the dictators took over. Indeed, the Russians seem to rail against the system as not being what they wanted because they would directly or indirectly override and undermine what the Russian/Soviet leaders were trying to sell to them.

I have seen over time how empires and just about any form of Communism requires dictatorship and they always seem to fall under their own weight in terms of size or oppression (if not both). It has also happened with the British Empire during colonialism. Indeed,…