In June 1991, Moscow mayor Gavril Popov tipped off U.S. Ambassador Jack Matlock to the plot by hardline Soviet military and intelligence officials to overthrow Soviet President Gorbachev. Fearing the ramifications of a hardliner coup in the USSR, the Bush administration warned Gorbachev not once, not twice, but three times of the coup brewing against him. Gorbachev disregarded all three warnings, believing that any such action was unlikely and that his political support was strong enough to keep him in office.
Of course, as we know, in August of that year the coup was launched. Though it failed, the chain of events that the coup sparked off ultimately led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
What would have happened if Gorbachev took Bush's warning more seriously? What actions could he have taken to disrupt the Gang of Eight before they could put their plan into motion, or would that have merely lead to the coup being rushed (as evidently was the failed 2016 Turkish Coup)? What effects might this have on the survival of the Soviet Union - would it simply push the collapse back a few years, or could it potentially lead to the continued existence of the USSR into the modern day?