This theme issue presents an overview of the breakup of the USSR and the challenges faced by the emerging states under former Soviet influence. The volume contains: (1) "Preface"; (2) "Soviet Union: Prelude to the Coup"; (3) "Summing Up the Past"; (4) "Eastern Europe Who's Who"; (5) "The Economics of Chaos"; (6) "Role of the United States"; and (7) "Back to the Future." In the chapter "Eastern Europe Who's Who," the countries of Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia, and six Soviet Republics are profiled. Maps, a glossary of key terms, and classroom discussion questions accompany the text. (EH)