former ussr

Let's say that rather than Gorbachev a hardliner takes over (say Ligachyov) who clamps down on liberalism and in a last ditch attempt to avoid instability embraces neo-stalinist totalitarianism. This fails and order completely breaks down into the Second Russian Civil War that lasts until the...

Say in the early 1990s the United States were to provide Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union with funds from a Second Marshall Plan in order to help them economically rebuild. How much money would be needed for this task? What are the odds of this package passing? What effect would this have...