I just remembered an episode from my seventh grade: there was this chapter on other countries in the world in social science textbook and the teacher asked a student a question about superpowers, and he replied: USA & USSR. Teacher, an elderly lady, was quiet for a minute or two and then with extreme sadness says, 'the USSR does not exist anymore, it's gone.' I couldn't really understand that time what she was talking about(scored 56% in 7th), but I find myself thinking about it now.