The year is 1992. Gorbachev has been overthrown, and the Soviet empire has fallen apart. The Russian heartland is ruled by an ultra-nationalist military dictatorship, the Baltic republics by Catholic radicals, and Central Asia by fundamentalist emirates. Tanks patrol the streets of Moscow, and throughout the country a fearful, starving populace wreaks revenge on former Communist Party members, Jews and intellectuals.
A sneak preview of the latest Tom Clancy effulgence? Hardly. This frightening scenario of Soviet collapse, titled Nevozraschenets (The Non- Returnee), was published last June in Iskusstvo Kino, the official journal of the Soviet movie industry. Its appearance reflects a...