At the end of 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the more than 40-year-long struggle for hegemony between the United States and the Soviet Union also came to an end. World history has entered a new phase.
So, if the Soviet Union had not disintegrated, but had continued, what level would its strength have been placed at now?
Personally, I think:
Military strength
At present, Russia, the successor of the Soviet Union, has the greatest advantage in its strong military strength. At the very least, Russia's military industry is still one of its main export products, and Russia's nuclear industry also has a position in the world.
The Economic Power of Soviet-era Russia surpassed that of today's Russia. Therefore, if the Soviet Union existed today, its military strength would be slightly lower than that of the United States, and it would be about second.
Economic strength
In recent years, Russia's economy has been embarrassing. Some official data point out that Russia's GDP is about the same as China's Guangdong Province and South Korea. The huge Russia is the largest country in the world, but its low GDP index is undoubtedly very inconsistent with its status as a great power.
Historically, Russia's domestic industrial structure has also been in a deformed state - during World War I, Russia's backward industrial production led to the scarcity of weapons on the front line and the inability to maintain people's livelihood in the rear. In the Soviet era, heavy industry was extremely developed, but its light industry was extremely backward. When the Soviet Union eventually collapsed, russia needed to import a lot of daily necessities from China.
Therefore, if the economic structure of the Soviet Union crosses over to the present day of the 21st century, there is no doubt that there are still drawbacks. However, as a heavy industrial power, the Economic Position of the Soviet Union was not too far behind.
Geographical advantage
The territorial scope of the former Soviet Union, on the basis of today's Russia, also included Ukraine and the Baltic States in Eastern Europe, and in addition, the whole of Central Asia was also the territory of the Soviet Union.
Even the eastern part of the Soviet Union and Alaska in the United States are yearning for the Bering Sea, while the western part of the Soviet Union is close to the countries of Central Europe. As for South Asia, the Soviet Union was separated by only one Afghanistan.
The decisions of such a large country can hardly have a series of influences on Eurasia. Therefore, in terms of geographical factors alone, if the Soviet Union continues to this day, its international status will still be the top three giant powers.
Political influence
Because of the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been a series of changes in the international community - for example, a series of Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe have undergone major changes, leading to the other side, and the political map of the world has undergone tremendous changes.
At present, Russia's influence on world politics still has a certain influence, but compared with the Soviet era, this influence is no longer the same as in the past. If the Soviet Union had not disintegrated and continued to this day, the Soviet Union's international influence would have been at worst the second largest in the world.
So on the whole, if the Soviet Union had appeared today, it would not have fallen below the international status of the top three.