Very interesting and revealing post from Gideon Rachman about a lunch with Georgia’s President “Misha” Saakashvili. This sheds some light on the man at center of America’s strange and perilous friendship with Georgia, a relationship that increases tension between the USA and Russia.

And if you imagine America’s closeness to Georgia will dissipate post-Bush, think again,

I ask the president if he is not over-dependent on his friendship with Bush? What will happen when he goes? No problem, apparently. John McCain is also a personal friend – “the guy brought me a bulletproof vest in 2003, specially came in with a bulletproof vest to give it to me.” How about the Democrats? Saakashvili points out that Barack Obama was one of two co-sponsors of a recent Senate resolution in favour of Georgia joining Nato. And Richard Holbrooke, tipped to be secretary of state in a putative Clinton administration, is “a good friend for a long time, a real genius”.