Russia's Aesop, Ivan Krylov, said: “You can be sure the puppy is strong, because it barks at the elephant.”; The Russian bear is much more powerful than a puppy, but it stands on feet of clay. The United States is not an elephant, but it is by far the world's strongest economic and military force, striking both respect and fear in Soviet leaders, from Lenin through Brezhnev.

The U.S. economy is more than twice the size of the Soviet and much more dynamic. Our strategic arsenal also overshadows Moscow's. According to Defense Secretary Harold Brown, the United States today has nearly 10,000 strategic nuclear warheads aboard our land-and sea-based missiles and bombers, compared to 5,000 for the Soviets. These power realities help explain Kremlin complexes about Moscow's persistent Avis posture in world affairs.