relationship staggers from one crisis to the next with the strains heightened by the covert american raid that killed osama bin laden in last month's drone attack that left twenty four pakistani soldiers dead and now our special report. suddenly the tempo changed when this is an explosion and then the fools the explosion in the from react his in in fukushima one morning the have new very quick succession and suddenly. everyone was very scared i've ever been in one of our g.'s international correspondents on the fear and destruction he witnessed while in japan when a natural disaster triggered explosions at the fukushima power plant sparking worldwide fears of a major nuclear disaster. and exactly twenty years ago to the day the u.s.s.r. the world's largest country at the time ceased to exist the collapse of the union brought with it an end to the cold war and gave birth to a dozen new states but also hardship and ethnic tension former republics gained in that we've had is but for many many years of economic instability an ethnic on

a rest to this day there are opinions on whether the fall of the union brought more harm than good to its countries the august ninety one coup was seen as the trigger for the eventual collapse and thousands of people thought they were seeing history written before their eyes up next we'll talk with a man with inside knowledge who witnessed the unraveling of the soviet union firsthand the interviews next. do you perhaps recall saying once that you do not understand what stopped the president of the us to start mikhail gorbachev from using military force in order to prevent the signing of the treaty enforcing the dissolution of the u.s.s.r. in one thousand nine hundred one do you think that the u.s.s.r.

should have been preserved at any cost. you see i don't even think there was any need for military force what could have been done that's my opinion while others may have theirs but i think that the better russian military district could have been given an order to encircle the three leaders passing their time and bill of this guy a pusher drunk and groggy on their legs just about to sign off these documents that they were jotting down on the spot and simply take them to their homes instead of arresting them and just take away these papers but this was not the key thing the key thing was and it was brought to gorbachev attention and i did tell him about it too in the presence of others that one should have started with an economic treaty if we had signed a treaty establishing a single economic space i think it would have been a step towards preserving an upgraded modernized soviet union which could have freed itself from the darker parts of its legacy gorbachev gave a public response the next day after we had made the suggestions to him he said he

didn't think an economic treaty should be signed first because he was sure it would jeopardize the signing of the political treaty which he thought had been pre-agreed one thing that wasn't considered properly was that once a single economic space is in place relevant supranational political structures will develop that's inevitable that's why we should. started with an economic treaty and many in fact were ready to go along with that even the baltic states were ready to go along with the idea of preserving a single economic space in just a precipice. back at history any large inquired sooner or later do you think that having a single economics piece would have been enough to avert dissolution. of course it wouldn't have been enough but it would have been a huge contribution to averting dissolution and you see we can't really compare that situation with today for instance as they are completely different and that's because back then in the soviet union everything was centralized and existed as

a single system and no one gained anything through dissolution no one did perhaps russia benefit a little more than others because it's larger and stronger and has a more developed economy but on a large scale no one gained anything going to me that's beyond question by now the republican have evolved into sovereign states which have come a long way and developed a connections into relations with other states in the west and with china and so long. it's a completely different picture but even today creating a single economic space if it's done properly will scale and we currently have agreements with. pertaining to that and it's also possible that kyrgyzstan will join in if it all goes well it will be one of the pillars of securing integrity and preventing any dissolution. don't just cause the us credit do you think it's possible to restore something similar to the soviet union through your asian economic community which comprise

a several soviet republics. no i don't think of it as anything similar to the soviet union there's nothing today that can be similar to the soviet union in any way but integration is one of the driving forces of globalization and it's taking effect everywhere we go along with these forces and today we can say that the child's nationalists. ation tendency in business as well as integration process is at stake level shows are the driving forces of today's reality so if we succeed in going along with them so that we take over these forums and promote our agenda through them and this agenda will not differ much from that of the west if it will additionally focus more on the national interests of each state i think it will be a great advantage and a solution as you pointed out it is a well known fact that economic problems were the primary contributing factor to the us the stars the solution today it will look at the us and the e.u. shaken by a perfectly economic crisis can we expect an up or america to discourse it's not

going to do similar to the way the u.s.s.r. did it and you know no i don't think so because of course some serious impact is inevitable in the case of europeans so much i recall a talk i had with a person i deeply respect or former chancellor schmidt of west germany or she is now ninety two or ninety three and he's still a totally bright person i had an insightful conversation with him last year you know he said the events in the eurozone would have an impartial jury and he believes it could on the one hand lead to a deeper integration of a number of states within the e.u. in terms of foreign policy defense under the issues on the other hand the old timers of the union were to have complied with the requirements or you would have a different attitude to those who joined the union just recently what should the quitting to here's a hypothetical questions to several years after the collapse of the soviet union nato want you both right here if the u.s.s.r. had not collapsed do you think nato would have gone ahead with operations in yugoslavia afghanistan iraq and libya. it. would be

talking of nato involvement in yugoslavia i think it could have taken place when the u.s.s.r. was still alive because the alliance acted without permission of the un security council but there is much more to it in a few years after the dissolution of the u.s.s.r. i mean in the first half of the one nine hundred. our foreign policy was to show support for the u.s. position sure to follow in its footsteps this is the position of the foreign ministry voiced by its head was as follows we desperately need to become part of the civilized world by any means the rest is jibberish so the west must have seen that such sentiment was present in post soviet russia and may even have been prevalent in some circles and that is why they felt an ever growing desire to act independently without taking notice of the soviet union or russia. i was going to work. what price to trash have to pay for such

a spineless policy when as you said it followed in the footsteps of the us. the price was tremendous political economically last more than joining the second world war one such was the price the scale of the losses would become clear if all people had a chance to watch the hearings in a london court. and roam a number of movie going to listen to the horrendous stories of how businesses were given protection by crime in officials or the way privatisation was carried out with that in mind it would be insane to say that the country benefited from the one nine hundred ninety s. you know. also and here's the final question the u.s. asserted promoted a certain ideology any strong state needs to have an ideology do you think russia has come up with some of its own. to go regional so now once they call the national idea has not been articulated yet we're going we all work to make people's lives better and safer the demographic situation needs improving the economic model needs

an overhaul sure because the one that was in place before the two thousand and eight crisis will not work in the future with these challenges are evident and taken together your mortgage if they represent russia's national idea that question thank you you're welcome.

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with susan is. just six. six. o'clock am as.

dozens of new civilian deaths reported in syria as the arab league gears up to monitor the implementation of a peace plan but hundreds of mercenaries from abroad are allegedly fighting for regime change there and the u.n. estimates more than five thousand civilians have been killed in syria since march while the regime claims its fighting an armed insurgency funded from abroad. shifting to the east pakistan with an eye on its future forging fresh ties with china as its u.s. relationship staggers from one crisis to the next but the strains heightened by the cold war u.s. raid that killed osama bin laden and last month's drone attack that left twenty four pakistani soldiers dead an hour special report. some celebrate if you

commiserate it's the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the soviet union opinion still split on the whether the breakup of the country was the best choice for its people it ended the cold war and paved the way for democracy but sparked a series of bloody regional conflicts and economic downturns. more news coming your way in about fifteen minutes but first sports. hello welcome to sport on r.t. coming to you from the russian capital with me are mom calls for a pop first as usual the headlines. dress for success for russia snowboarders receive a brand new uniforms and head of their new season and saw she would turn and fix in twenty fourteen. with five seconds to go at two points are from derrick rose gives

the bulls a narrow victory over the los angeles lakers in the new n.b.a. season. r.t. on the mats our correspondent explores the sophisticated world of the japanese martial arts i can go. but will start with i saw a q. where there were eight games on offer in the kontinental hockey league on sunday some will be conceded their nine consecutive matches are losing seeds in a moscow on the home ice all over in almost with a score of four two now defending the gari cup champion sullivan to live one whole match against the world with the same four two scoreline druck tortured i've been scored to second period goals against visiting or pedal nation in low growth which were enough to win the match i'm guarding cup winners are good bars defeated visiting sides c.b.d. by three bucks to one now while kate shells of bad boys the last two archrivals our guards in the moscow region by the narrowest of margins to one and it's a gimmick beat missile is never business three to the match between severstal and

hugh grant ended scoreless in regulation and over time by the home side got the upper hand in the penalty shoot outs while spartak moscow lost to the visiting net to lord monckton east of warsaw in the russian capital to one place a look have now extended their winning streak to seven matches. and to snowboarding now where team russia have presented new kids in which they will perform for the next. three years including that's once you fourteen olympics in sochi the russian alpine skiing and snowboarding federation has signed a sponsorship deal with one of the biggest brands of extreme sports equipment the country is becoming one of the powerhouses and trendsetters in the snowboarding world with many athletes competing for posing in places the outfit was presented by members of the national team and among them was european cup winner in big bear city gay la pushkin and female borders imperils and if you could say you had to guess who won it's all full of six races last season also claiming the first ever

world cup title for a country and. who was the first russian to clinch olympic silver medal in snowboarding in vancouver despite a poor start to the current season the borders are eyeing an overall win the world cup with the next stage starting on january the thirteenth in austria. islam. i started this year's campaign with a second place but later stages my results became even worse however i drew conclusions and worked hard to improve in my performance it's still a long way to go for me to try and win the world cup for the second straight year. i was aged. just like last year but i failed to improve on my results so far i was just unlucky because she's trained i was the right so after the world cup stages times in january will be for much better. so the hardwood now where opening games of the new n.b.a. season the war find they held in one of them former n.b.a.

champions los angeles lakers have started the new season with a defeat kobe bryant and company losing to the chicago bulls on home court by a single points eighty eight eighty seven now the visitors had a narrow two point lead after the first quarter they extended their advantage to seven by halftime mainly thanks to derrick rose who would eventually finish with twenty two points for the visitors the lakers vocal only in the third period as bryant's with his partners added eight more than their rivals to find themselves one point ahead by the beginning of the fourth quarter a dunk from josh mcroberts giving los angeles a sixty nine sixty eight lead the sides were neck and neck for the final twelve minutes bots with less than five seconds to go rose added the most important two pointer to seal the final result the game finished eighty eight eighty seven in favor of the bulls. and staying across the ocean where in the n.f.l. the green bay packers have clinched the number one seed in the playoffs that's after beating the chicago bears on home turf thirty five one to one aaron rogers

turned out to be the hero of the night as he had just first five touchdown mashup his career rogers made twenty one of twenty nine passes for two hundred maybe three yards and the five scores. michael finley caught one to make it seven nothing to the holes in the first water jordan nelson and james jones got two touchdowns and evens with that big three the packers improved to fourteen wins and ones heat in the season. and that brings us to i quito which is considered to be one of the most complicated of martial arts russian leading instructors gave t.v. reporters a unique opportunity to finds out what it is all about firsthand robert more than one has more. the japanese martial art of but he's in to keep one it means way of her mourning his spirit and doesn't involve any offense moves at all and teaches

you to use your opponent's aggression and power against him without causing injuries leaving many doubting it can be really effective might be probably one of the reasons why russian leading i.q. the instructors held the muster class court t.v. correspondents in moscow and promptly showed some specific i kidded locations. but now what if somebody tries to take your microphone away don't resist get inside and it's still in your hands. it's all the same if you need to take it away from somebody else. just get inside like this. and take the microphone however it only looks that easy in the hands of a skilled i.q. the proposition or if it's different when it comes to one man who was maybe just a bit over confident after we won the world on lesson. here is the way you could get through as a fool who is bigger and stronger than you. of

course you can get other skills just like it was also known as a martial art for intellectuals is very very sophisticated so those who hope to gain skills very quickly quit. tasks are much tougher than some standup fighting or wrestling techniques as in judo or summit. nevertheless having experience in a different martial arts can only help in starting a weapon balance and coordination are a must for the russian nation no team member of the would know is a perfect proof of that but initially hang had a vast juga background in two thousand and one she became the first ever russian woman to get a muscle of sports degree. it takes more time to reach a decent level of skills than i care than in other martial arts how do i can patients that's their new way one can become really good. some start with a background in other martial arts some just start from scratch that's possible at

any age like the phone there are many thought that kids can steer their way of harmonious spirit as soon as they are able to walk the earlier you start the closer we get to perfection robert but in your own party most school. or the half a year to go before the summer olympics to get the maze away game one aims to win his first ever gold medal for his home country now the seventeen year old young man is one of the country's most talented young athletes say he made. his international debut for vietnam at the two thousand and nine world youth weightlifting championships in thailand winning three silver medals a year later he represented his nation at the inaugural used to lympics in singapore where he claimed gold in the fifty six kilograms of vision his foreman twenty eleven was impressive he smashed two world records at the recent asian youth

championships lifting it's a little off two hundred seventy seven kilograms it seemed ager is currently the world's top ranked junior and his second in the senior rankings. to win a gold medal for vietnam at an event as big as the n.b.a. games in london would mean so much to me i would be so happy for me it would be the perfect way to pay back the love and belief that so many people have shown to me. and finally with a year twenty eleven almost over it is high time to reflect on the scenes and athletes which made an impact in the sporting world and while some were busy setting world records and helping there it seems that when troll face others or winning in less conventional ways evolves of course he takes a look at some of the more offbeat sporting events of the year. running up flights of stairs and riding a bike are both good exercise but going up the stairs on a bike is a completely different ballgame well known footballer zombie is often putting on a show in barcelona but this time it was

a slightly less famous zob weakside stealing the spotlight from a soccer namesake with a flawless take me he was able to ascend one hundred fifty floors and setting a new record this hotel building seems like a mound to climb but science achieved that feat six times over. while australia's most athletic cockroaches are given an opportunity to showcase their unique physical gifts the thirtieth annual cockroach race in queensland drew plenty of interest with competitors really itching to get out of the gates fourteen events and all to be contested between more than five hundred participants the cost of owning your very own thoroughbred insect athlete is just ten dollars and proceeds from the tournament are given to local charities. crashes are always something to be avoided especially in motor sport but sending your vehicle tumbling down the sloan street is the only way to win here the ramp rollover championship sees the participants trying their best to crash in style and earn points but for some just

getting out of the car in one piece is reward enough twenty nine year old wayne drury emerging as the winner from all this carnage staying with the racing theme and using the lawn more has never been this much fun or competitive the motor is divided into three groups from the simple engine all the way to cutting edge of grass trimming my creswell a cut above the rest in group two in a ten lap race sub par playing conditions are the essence of this footballing competition to rather than a nuisance much sweat and tears on the pitches at the swans soccer world cup in scotland with participants really having no choice but to play dirty brazil holland and even russia i'm on the countries where the sport is growing increasingly popular vonzell gorski r t. that's all for now there will be more sport in arts a very soon meanwhile are you to channel at our sport news is available always to use

ahead there it's a rate and comments on some of the stories seen right here thanks for watching.

dozens of new civilian deaths reported in syria as the arab league gets ready to monitor the implementation of a peace plan but hundreds of mercenaries from abroad are allegedly fighting for regime change there. shifting to the east pakistan with an eye on its future forging fresh ties with china after last month's deadly drone attack shattered it's already tense relations with the u.s. . blessing or curse twenty years since the fall of the u.s.s.r. where opinion is still split on whether breaking up the union was the best choice for its people. while christmas is over.