I've been considering possible ways the Soviet Union could have survived, relatively in tact, beyond it's fall in 1991. What if Brezhnev either died earlier or Andropov survived longer? Andropov was apparently, before he died, considering Paul Nitze's "Walk in the Woods" arms reduction proposal, and what if he actually accepted it (and if Reagan accepted it as well), thus opening the door to greater arms reductions and a decline in the production of new weapons on both sides, especially on the Soviet. Also, with Andropov, I believe his strong arm from the KGB and his economic reforms, it might have been possible for him to hold the Soviet Union together Gorbachev's glasnost, which eventually lead to the deterioration of the Union, especially the rising desire for independence. Do you think this sounds at all plausible?