The modern Soviet army is the most powerful enterprise on earth. As the sun sets over the radar crews of Kamchatka, across the Bering Sea from Alaska, it rises on divisions barracked on the formerly German soil of Kaliningrad. Between these extremities of the eastern and western hemispheres, the army supports a political system and a superpower. In this, the most authoritative general study of Soviet strength, Brian Moynahan reveals the present status of this military colossus, its hardware, the ethos of its officers and men, its strategy and ambitions, and its clouded relations with Gorbachev. Claws of the Bear is drawn from a wide variety of published and unpublished sources and from interviews with former members of the Soviet armed forces. At a time of transition, it strips the obscurity from the greatest military force of modern times. - Jacket flap.