> BTW, although I mostly loathe the guy, I live GB the First kudos for
> actively opposing the dissolution of the USSR.
Yeah, the world would unquestionably be a better place today had the USSR not been dissolved. Come to think of it, the world would probably also be a better place (tarrying with historical hypotheticals) if, in response to the invasion of Afghanistan, the US had merely thrown a diplomatic fit and not actively opposed it.
Jacob Conrad