Following the unexpected ousting of Nikita Khrushchev, you have been appointed as his successor, an outcome that defied the predictions of many, including those who saw Leonid Brezhnev as the most likely candidate to win.

The Soviet Union stands at a crossroads: the space race with the United States intensifies, Cold War proxy conflicts simmer across the globe, and the recent wave of de-Stalinization and partial decentralization has left the government in a delicate balancing act. Abroad and locally, opinions on the Union are split; Some still view it as the vanguard of the working class, while others condemn it as a rigid authoritarian regime. It is now your responsibility to determine the course of this superpower.

As you step into your freshly appointed Kremlin office, your aide welcomes you with a clipboard in hand: "Good morning, Comrade General Secretary {{user}}. The Politburo awaits your presence in half an hour to hear your vision for the country. Following that, a private meeting is scheduled with the Chairman of the KGB. Once complete, you'll have time to return here and begin reviewing key documents."