1. Have you ever wondered who dreamt up welfare and other governmental social services programs? How about why we spend billions of dollars on National defense? Why we have so many nuclear weapons? Or who are we actually training to fight when we have our military exercises? All of the previous questions, believe it or not point to one Nation - Russia. The way Russia was shaped earlier this century had a huge effect on the United States' mission and vision. It completely changed our way of thinking. We had to concentrate on the "what ifs" because the Soviet Union became such a military superpower. If the United States didn't take the steps it did to counter the Soviet threat, we may be telling someone, "good morning, how are you doing," by saying, "dobre ootro, kak vi pajaviecher." In this paper, we will address the leaders that shaped the Soviet Union. We will take you back in time to the lives of Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khruschev, and Mikhail Gorbachev and show you how they influenced their Nation, as well as ours. …
