Boris Yeltsin was a courageous fighter, an instinctive democrat who helped dismantle the vast totalitarian apparatus of the Soviet state and its monolithic Communist Party, freeing millions in Asia and Europe.Yet when he died Monday at age 76, many Russians regarded their nation's first freely...

Discusses the unexpected results of turning that Soviet Union has undergone in transforming into a democratic, socialist nation. The old Soviet Union's many problems are discussed.

The former USSR has had a rough road through the past four-teen years. The collapse of the Soviet Union was devastating to all of the countries that were part of it. Economies crashed, government systems crumbled, and socially there was chaos. Many of the countries have yet to rebuild their economies since, such as Russia. Today virtually all of the former USSR is on a road of democracy. Socially they are diverse and there are some hot beds for social disorder.