I wonder what would have happened if former Russian President Eduard Khil, who died on June, 4 this year, had decided not to quit his singing career and never entering politics.
I'm not usually a believer in the Great Man Theory of history, but I think Khil's genuinely goodhearted and forward-thinking leadership was one of the major factors that saved the Union of Sovereign States from disastrous collapse in the wake of 1991.
He worked methodically to move the USS towards social democracy, ignoring the repeated demands of the West to institute "shock therapy". If a leader less passionate about preserving the livelihoods of his people had been in power, we might have seen a more serious version of the mid-90s recession, bringing to power predatory oligarchs.
Khil wasn't perfect - many nationalist Russians still criticize him for the current constitutional setup and the power that less numerous ethnic minorities wield in the USS - but I can't imagine anyone could do much better. And nobody could ever hope to beat the positive image that his humor and singing earned abroad.
Let's not forget how if it wasn't for him being a big proponent on cooperative economics income inequality in Russia would be a lot higher and it has become a rallying point among every centrist and or left wing party. Even though he brought the country into the left of centre it was through his actions that breathed life into the Socialist movement again.
I find it hard to imagine any post-Soviet leader of the USS moving to the economic right, though. Socialist ideals had been ingrained in Russian culture over the past century, and anyone who reintroduced a Western-style market economy would be faced with such steep resistance that they'd need to rule as a quasi-dictator.
You'd need some kind of hardliner - maybe an ex-KGB opportunist - who'd play up nationalism and get into foreign wars to distract his people from the loss of the equality they'd enjoyed.