The End of the Soviet Unionis an invaluable timepiece addressing the collapse of the Soviet Union. The four topics covered in the instructional guide and videotape include:

1. Gorbachev's Foreign Policy Revolution
   Mikhail Gorbachev's foreign policy initiatives, and their effect on Soviet relations with the United States and the rest of the world, are examined. Particular attention is given to the changes Gorbachev made to Soviet military strategy.
2. Gorbachev's Domestic Revolution
   Gorbachev's domestic agenda of Perestroika, Demokratizatsiya, and Glasnost are explained and analyzed as forces for changing the very nature of the Soviet Union. Students examine how these dynamic policies led to dramatic changes in economic restructuring, political instability and ethnic conflict.
3. 1990-1991: Political Chaos and Economic Decline
   The materials focus on the problems presented by the shift from a command economy under communism, to a market economy under democracy. Issues covered are: Gorbachev's consolidation of power, the coup of 1991, and the breakdown of order that afflicted the nation as a result of political instability and economic decline.
4. The End of the Soviet Union
   Students are presented with four aspects which led to the breakup of the Soviet union. These aspects are: the collapse of central authority and the breakup of the individual republics, the implementation of market reforms over centralized planning, the eruption of ethnic conflict, and the breakdown of discipline in the military.

Each topic is featured on the accompanying videotape which contains historic and current news footage as well as excerpts from the SCIS television programs of former Secretaries of State and Defense, former world leader and former ambassadors to the UN. The news footage and the issues discussed by the secretaries are directly related to the instructional manual and the lesson plans. The instructional manual contains 120 pages and the videotape is 1 hour long. Both are divided into 4 segments.

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Free Downloads and Other Resources
Correlation Chart [PDF-format file]	Correlation of this package to NCSS standards. Explains which skills are developed in each lesson and the appropriate grade level for each lesson.
Timelines	Timelines of recent events in this region and the world.
Infolinks	Other web sites with information about the former Soviet Union and other regions of the world.

Since The End of the Soviet Union is considered a period piece there are no updates to this package.

The updates are presented in PDF format, which requires the free Adobe^® Acrobat ^® Reader ^TM. Download Acrobat ^® here.