This scenario is going to make a lot of initial assumptions, so bear with me here:
To begin, say that Nikolai Bukharin somehow manages to survive Stalin's Great Purge in 1938 and continues to survive under Stalin's reign by keeping a low profile until Stalin's death in 1953.
Then, in the ensuing power struggle, Bukharin allies with Nikita Khrushchev and Georgy Zhukov thus forming a troika, with Khrushchev becoming First Secretary, Bukharin becoming Premier (instead of or after Nikolai Bulganin, whichever works), and Zhukov becoming Minister of Defense (alternatively, Bukharin becomes First Secretary while Khrushchev becomes Premier).
In any case, how would the Soviet Union turn out under their collective leadership up until the OTL date of 1964 for Khrushchev's removal as First Secretary?
Some additional points:
- In OTL, Zhukov would be removed as Defense Minister in 1957; to keep the troika scenario, say he somehow remains as Defense Minister until 1964, or, at the very latest, to his death in 1974?
- If Bukharin survived, he would be 76 years old by 1964; there's two divergences we can take here: we can have Bukharin die of old age in 1963 or 1964, in which case how would that effect Khrushchev's removal in this scenario; or we can have Bukharin continue living past 1964 after Khrushchev is removed, dying of old age in his late-80's/early-90's anywhere between 1976 (in which he would be 88) and 1980 (in which he would be 92), the very latest at 1988 (in which he would be 100 and be stretching plausibility as it is). How would the Soviet Union turn out under Bukharin this entire time period, and would he even still be in power at all past 1964?