Try to imagine what life would be like had the United States government declared in 1991 that democracy and capitalism were bankrupt experiments. That, in the space of three years, the dollar became worthless, factories and farms closed, Social Security dissolved and most people lost their life savings. Imagine reliving the Great Depression, where physicians grow their own food to survive, school teachers are paid with cases of bourbon for use as barter and parents become so desperately helpless they entrust two million children to orphanages. As this societal chaos unfolds in your mind, try to imagine America's disintegration as a dozen states secede from the Union, the nation loses its superpower status and defaults on foreign debts. And abroad, our European allies switch allegiance, turning their backs on us and embracing our Cold War enemy. If you could imagine this nightmare then you have a sense of what the Russian people have been living through. Russia: Facing the Future paints a vivid portrait of Russia’s economic, political, military and social upheaval as well as Russian anxieties about national security, fueled by the West's sometimes warm, sometimes cold welcome. Produced by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.