It helps to remember that when "2001:ASO" was released in 1968, the US and the Soviet Union were engaged in the Cold War and the Space Race. Kubrick had famously satirized the cold warriors in "Dr. Strangelove" and "2001" was made when the Apollo missions were in the works. The Soviet-American confrontation aboard the space station is symbolically the same action that occurs around the waterhole in Africa and the murders on Discovery. Like HAL and that poor ape who was beat to death, the Soviets are the big losers in "2001." Floyd approaches the waterhole, which is now a glass of brown liquid, and essentially takes control of the situation. This is communicated on a very literal level when Floyd has to tell Dr. Smyslov to shut up by repeating "not at liberty to discuss" until he backs off. Floyd is not only telling Smyslov a lie, but is using him - as it can be assumed that Floyd wanted the misinformation to spread.
For almost as long as I've been aware of current events, communist countries have been collapsing before or "reconciling themselves" to the market economy. But in 1968, the Soviet Union was blasting out propaganda to the effect that the only way for the world to ever truly be prosperous was through socialism. In "2001," the first shot of the Soviets shows them sitting in front of a Hilton check-in desk (one of at least five space station Hilton's apparently). We've seen some of the station and know there's a competing Howard Johnson, AT&T phones and that Floyd came in on a PAM AM flight (the IBM logo shows up prominently in the center of the ship's control panel). Whirlpool is emblazoned on the food dispensers and if you can catch "2001" in the theatres you'll see even more product placements. It's possible that the Soviets have their own stations, but that would be missing the point entirely. You have to go with what Kubrick gives you. Clearly, space is inhabited by corporate America.
And what are the Soviets doing? Waiting. The Clavius outbreak rumor has emptied out the space station. All we see are people in service uniforms (some blue-suited people in front of the Howard Johnson, one administrator and the pink clone-like ladies.) All the Americans are gone and the Soviets are left sitting around waiting for a ride. During the space race (probably the greatest achievement of the Soviet Union (after beating Hitler of course)), this depiction is a very low blow.
The dialogue too indicates how things are going. "Going up or going down?" asks Floyd. "Oh we're going down" is the response. In a narrative that moves further and further from Earth to get to the star child destiny, the Soviets start talking about deep sea exploration. Literally and figuratively, the Soviets are leaving space open to Floyd.
I've mentioned elsewhere that Floyd disdains the drink offered by Dr. Smyslov. It represents the waterhole we first saw in Africa and now the Earth itself. I can't take enough screenshots to capture the movement, so the next time you watch "2001" look for when Smyslov reaches for his drink, when he holds it and when he drinks for emphasis. On a literal level, Floyd doesn't want a drink cuz he has no need to fidget while he tells bald-faced lies. On a symbolic narrative level, Floyd is on the way towards the star child and the earth has no great meaning for him anymore. This is especially fun because as Smyslov gloats over his waterhole, he's asking Floyd to tell him about the destiny that will make the waterhole meaningless (i.e. the monolith).
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Take a look at this screenshot from "2001" and then compare its composition to the following screenshot from "A Clockwork Orange."
Notice how the two Soviet women frame the bottom half of the screen. They are shown only as breasts, limply extended thighs and clasped hands. Essentially, they appear in this long shot as nothing but sex organs. If you follow the angles of their bodies, they are pointing directly at Floyd in much the same way that the statues in the Korova Milk Bar frame Alex. These two women do not speak and they are IMO pretty easy on the eyes. The implication here isn't that there's an orgy scene on the horizon, but that Floyd is the dominant male. The remaining woman, Elena, is incredibly deferential to Floyd and assumes a passive posture in his general direction. (I can only assume this was planned - as Floyd sits down to address Elena, his eyes wander down her body. Here's a screenshot... what do you think is on his mind?)
Throughout "2001" Kubrick shows us physical experience refined away from merely satisfying physical needs and appetites. In the "Dawn of Man," the apes gnaw raw flesh right off the bone because they are starving. A half dozen meals later, we see Bowman engaged fine dining in "Beyond the Infinite." Sleep starts as a huddle of apes collapsed in exhaustion, goes on to Floyd catnapping on flights, and then to astronauts in cryogenic stasis to travel in space. We first see murder as a savage attack with rudimentary clubs and later we see HAL quietly pulling the plug on refrigerators.
We also see sex refined away from mere lust and reproductive needs. In the "Dawn of Man" sequence, the apes are shown having a touchy familiarity with each other and then there is a shot of baby apes. I think that's enough to establish sex as reproduction. During Floyd's trip to TMA-1, he's surrounded by women. They are generally young, wearing tight outfits and wait on him. I'm talking about the PAM AM flight stewardesses, the space station staff in their pink outfits and the two young Soviet women. They are all so generic that they look cloned. The space station staff have identical blonde bobs, pink outfits and pleasant voices. The PAM AM flight stewardesses not only have identical bodies in tight, white jumpsuits, they have bulbous white helmets that completely cover their hair. The two, young Soviet women are rather anonymous themselves - with no lines at all after they are introduced. They represent sexual activity done for the sake of pleasure. Humans have learned to adorn themselves to make their bodies more appealing and codified sexual relationships.
Elena is older than any of the other women in "2001." The age difference is marked enough to raise the issue of fertility. One can pretty much rule out the possibility that Floyd is leering at her and thinking of making babies. Her lines are the only ones spoken by a female that don't sound like a recorded greeting. In fact they indicate that she is a colleague and a friend. Elena represents sex that goes beyond shallow attraction and species renewal. The ultimate non-physical sex act comes at the end of the film of course - where the star child is born without bothering with women at all.
Elena speaks a lot to Floyd about family connections and getting together on earth. In "2001" there are two kinds of narrative movement: actions that take a character towards the star child state and those that perpetuate existence as mortal flesh. All discussion of family and acquisition of resources are in the later category. There are visual cues for this which I discuss here.
Sets, objects and pretty much anything that moves in a revolving motion symbolize life going on in a static pattern. This is noticeably especially in scenes of confrontation and when the female principle is present. Again, I discuss this here. Another visual theme is the color red. Throughout the film, sex is depicted by white bulbs entering red chambers. I cover this a bit further on. Red is the color of perpetuation. The chairs of this spinning station are suggestive red shapes. Notice how Smyslov is surrounded by them in this shot.
When he asks Floyd about the Clavius rumors, he leans far forward out of the chair, as though he might actually get up. But he doesn't. He's trapped in a cyclical way of thinking (the waterhole) and surrounded by women. As he leans forward asking about the monolith, one of the space station staff clone women starts striding past behind him like an enforcer.
After Floyd rises and leaves, he slumps back down into the red circle of chairs surrounded by sirens. They are sirens incidentally. Many characters and plot situations in "2001" mirror Homer's Odyssey. The women in much of TMA-1 are sirens trying to distract Floyd from his journey.
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