Charlie Wilson's Folly

An absolutely ancient scenario that I have only recently completed, asking the question of what happens if the Soviets win the Afghan War. A bit contrived, I know, but that's what you have to do to make unwinnable wars winnable. 

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United States Congressman Charlie Wilson died of a cocaine overdose in 1980. Rumor had it that he was working with the CIA to aid Afghan resistance against the Soviet occupying forces in Afghanistan, and was planning to move more funding to the CIA. Though the CIA continued their efforts to assist the mujahideen, resistance was eventually crushed by the materially superior Soviet forces. The mujahideen fled to Pakistan, where they attempted to continue their resistance well into the early 1990s, but they eventually turned their efforts to aiding local Islamists overthrow the Pakistani government. 

In the 1990s, the Soviet bloc itself underwent major change. Much of the Eastern Bloc fell, and Germany was reunified under the West. The Soviet Union itself was transformed into the Union of Sovereign Soviet Republics after several Soviet republics seceded. The Communist Party was removed from its ruling status, though remained a major opposition party to the new Liberal Democrats. The West and China seemed to have "won" the Cold War. 

As the 21st century trudges forward, the Soviet Union regains its strength. Its new economy is dynamic and growing, and it has aligned itself with the similarly-rising Indian republic. Under the new President, Vladimir Putin, the Soviet Union is starting to flex its military muscle again, sending advisors to the unstable dictatorships that associate themselves with Moscow. In the meanwhile, the West recovers from a major recession, opening the possibility of becoming eclipsed by the rapidly ascending China. Sino-American relations have cooled due to disputes between China and her regional neighbors, and the expansion of China's naval capabilities. But with the Soviet threat seemingly returning, Beijing and Washington are wary of letting their rivalry get out of hand.