The collapse of the Soviet Union was a historic turning point when many, especially those who grew up during the Cold War, began to let go of their long-held fears and embrace feelings of hope for the future. That included agents of the FBI, who were, by necessity, busy building bridges with their former adversaries in response to a flood of Russian criminals pouring into the United States. The Belly of the Bear chronicles this collaboration through the eyes of a key FBI agent who was on the frontlines in Russia. Jeff Iverson explores obstacles he and his colleagues faced on our former rivals' home turf, including counterintelligence challenges that have traditionally posed a danger to American government officials and/or businesspeople traveling to Russia. Part cultural history, part international relations thriller Iverson's account details successful criminal and terrorism investigations between the FBI and former Soviet authorities, and the nature of the FBI's fraught relationship with one of those agencies - the FSB, Russia's modern-day version of the Soviet KGB. Iverson closes with a focus on the worrying parallels between Russia's return to autocracy and our current American political discourse. This book will appeal to readers interested in the history of US and Russian relations as well and the history of the FBI.
Jeffrey Iverson spent twenty-two years as a Special Agent of the FBI. The last half of his career was devoted exclusively to events in the former Soviet Union as a street agent working Russian organized crime, supervisor of the Russian organized crime squad in San Francisco, and as Legal Attache in charge of FBI offices at US embassies in Central Asia and Moscow. Throughout those years, he was also an instructor at the International Law Enforcement Academy in Budapest, where he taught former Soviet bloc police managers on strategies to dismantle organized criminal enterprises.
In the Belly of the Bear is an insightful and candid take on an intriguing former Soviet world by a senior FBI agent who experienced it on the ground both in Moscow and Central Asia. Much of what Mr. Iverson experienced then is very relevant to what is happening now in Moscow and throughout Russia under Putin's rule. -- Michael di Pretoro, Former Deputy Assistant Director, International Operations at FBIHQ and FBI Legal Attache, Moscow (Retired) In Belly of the Bear offers a unique insider perspective on the times we are currently seeing in the U.S. and the former Soviet Union. Jeffrey Iverson has an insight unavailable to most Americans on where Russia has been and where U.S./Russian relations are today. His insight is eye-opening and a warning to us all. -- Gregory Gonyea, USAF (Ret), Squadron Commander, F-117 Stealth Fighter, DESERT STORM, Iraq Jeff Iverson is the real deal. If you want to understand the post-Cold War fight against Eurasian organized crime from the working level, In the Belly of the Bear is the book you should read. -- Mike McCall, Special Agent, FBI (Retired), Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, New York This is a "true north" book on Russia. As an FBI Special Agent investigating Russian criminal activities inthe US, and later, because of his specialized investigative background and Russian language expertise, Mr. Iverson was named the FBI Legal Attache in Moscow, where he got an "insider look" into Russia that few Americans have actually experienced. Timely, revealing and insightful. -- Eugene Sullivan, Federal Judge (Ret.)
