History is replete with examples of the rise and fall of once great empires. December 1991 marked the end of a world of two superpowers with the fall of the Soviet Union. In December, “under the stunned gaze of the entire world, the Soviet Union disintegrated into fifteen distinct countries” (Cold War Museum). The United States was delighted to see its enemy “brought to its knees, thus ending the Cold War that had hung over these two superpowers since the end of World War II” (Cold War Museum). The split of the Soviet Union led to extremely significant transformations in the global political and economic situation, which resulted in a reduction in global nuclear weapons, global economic cooperation, and the commercialization of formerly classified military technologies. In Moscow on July 31, 1991, President Bush and Gorbashev, the leader of the Soviet Union, signed the START treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides to 6,000, a 30 percent reduction from to the amount previously used. This is the first large-scale reduction of nuclear weapons in the history of the Cold War. Thanks to this treaty, “the dangerous category of missiles with multiple warheads with independent aim (MIRV) was reduced by half” (End of the Cold War). On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned from the presidency and the Soviet Union was officially dismantled. All the first “dependent republics of the former USSR proclaimed their independence, obtained international recognition and were admitted to the United Nations” (End of the Cold War). Thanks to the strong working relationship between President Bush and Michael Gorbashev, as well as the relationship between Baker, the Secretary of State, and Foreign Minister Shevardnadze, the Soviet Union began to significantly reduce its military spending. The West provoked a backlash from the Soviet military and resulted in a failed coup attempt, which ended Gorbashev's rule and resulted in the final collapse of the Soviet Union . Russia, no longer the Soviet Union, is now led by a new leader. Boris Yeltsin became the leader of the Russian republic and continued to integrate with the Western world. Russia gained the permanent seat of the United Nations Security Council and was invited to join the G7 bringing together the world's largest economic powers, making it the G8. This created a level of cooperation and communication between the two countries that did not exist during the Cold War..