Suppose the August Coup doesn't go through so Yeltsin doesn't become a hero, leaving Gorbachev powerless. Maybe we could have an uncooperative army as a PoD or the conspiracy is uncovered by loyalists in the KGB. This leaves the Union mostly intact with only the six smaller Republics (the Baltics, Moldavia, Georgia and Armenia) breaking away. Generally, the populace in the nine remaining SSRs favoured this solution as a referendum showed that there was over 76.4% in favour of keeping the USSR intact, giving Gorbachev the time needed for economic reforms, leading to a more market-oriented USSR (not that Gorby had much of a choice, he had to as the economy was breaking down). How would the world look today if Gorbachev had pulled it of.