Introduction - Why Russia?

State Emblem of the Soviet Union, in the Winter Palace - Leningrad, Russia, USSR

  Roughly 20 years after I went on this trip, the Soviet Union dissolved and its constituent “republics” became independent nations. I truly did not think that would happen in my lifetime. The existence of a communist Soviet Union, and its rivalry with the United States, seemed to be among the unchanging facts of life. But it wasn't. The USSR broke up in 1991. Some of its successor nations have adopted more open political systems. Many have abandoned the "communist" state-ownership economic system, with varying degrees of success. Individual personal liberties are expanded by comparison to what existed at the time of my visit. Most of the Soviet and communist flags, emblems and statues you will see in these photos, and a lot of what they stood for, are now gone.