1960s: The Soviet Union and the United States are competitors for the allegiance of smaller countries around the world. The "Cold War" between them is most evident in the civil war in Vietnam, where the Northern Communists are backed by the Soviets and the South is supported by the United States.

Today: The United States is the one remaining superpower. The Soviet Union disbanded in 1991, and most of its countries have adapted capitalist economies.

1960s: Writers in the Soviet Union live in fear that they will be punished for writing things that the government finds inappropriate. In 1964, for instance, influential Russian poet Joseph Brodsky is sentenced to five years of hard labor for writing "gibberish."

Today: Russian writers openly participate in the international literary scene without fear of reprisal.

1960s: The Soviet Union revels in its technological superiority, having sent the first manmade satellite...