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There are two important things about the Soviet Union that affect us today:

First, the Soviet Union had a massive weapons program, one that rivaled that of the United States. However, when the Soviet Union dissolved, many of the weapons were left in politically unstable territories outside of Russia. Though the United States helped Russia to get back most of these weapons, not all of them were accounted for. For this reason, even though the US and Russia are friendly nations, if there is an attack on the West with a "dirty" nuclear device, the materials used in the weapon are likely to come from the former Soviet Union.

The second important thing about the Soviet Union was that it had become very seriously corrupt by the 1970s. Government bureaucrats had access to much better food, housing, schooling, and many other things than the average Soviet citizen. An extensive black market developed, but also, the practice of buying and selling government positions became normal. These phenomena contributed to the same things happening today in many formerly Soviet countries. Not only are government positions often still gotten by connections, but private assets very seriously influence the judicial system in Russia and other formerly Soviet countries.

- Thomas Callahan, grad student in Russian Studies, New York University

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