Strongman, The

congressmen and an impromptu shirt-sleeves lunch with Obama at Ray’s Hell Burger joint. They discussed whether jalapenos were better than pickles, but what Barack did not tell Dmitry over lunch was that the FBI had just uncovered a nest of Russian spies. That only emerged after Medvedev was back in Moscow, and a grand spy swap was executed at Vienna airport, in true Cold War style, on 9 July. Ten Russian ‘sleeper’ agents, including the glamorous and instantly celebrated Anna Chapman, were exchanged for four Americans who had been jailed in Russia, accused of espionage.
    The incident did more than remind everyone that espionage is still a thriving business. It also involuntarily brought to mind the spymaster who was President Medvedev’s patron and now his prime minister. Putin welcomed the spies home as heroes – notwithstanding the fact that they had, in fact, proved to be almost useless during their many years as ‘sleepers’, with fake identities and jobs in the United States. They had failed to penetrate any worthwhile institution and allowed themselves to be caught doing the most basic of espionage tricks. But Putin’s loyalty to his profession is unequivocal, and he fell comfortably into his role as godfather of Russia’s spies. A week or so after the agents’ return, Putin organised a morale-boosting meeting with them, where they sang patriotic Soviet songs and he promised them ‘an interesting, bright future’ working in ‘worthy places’. He also promised retribution for the traitor who exposed them to the Americans: ‘This was the result of treason, and traitors always end badly. They finish up as drunks, addicts, on the street.’
    One of the songs they sang together was ‘Where Does the Motherland Begin?’, from a 1968 film, The Sword and the Shield , about a Soviet spy working in Nazi Germany. Putin also played it on the piano, with two fingers, at a charity event in December. It’s clearly a favourite – sentimental and patriotic ...
    Where does the motherland begin?
    With the song your mother used to sing,
    With your comrades good and true,
    The neighbours always there for you.
    With the birch-tree in the windy field,
    The steady sound of wagon-wheels,
    The never-ending country track,
    The windows lit in a distant shack ...
    Where does the motherland start?
    With the pledge you made in your heart.

 
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TANDEMOLOGY
    A bicycle built for two
    Ever since Medvedev became president, and Putin his prime minister, Russians and foreigners alike have searched for signs of differences between the two halves of what has become known as the ruling ‘tandem’. Perhaps it is done more in hope than expectation, for the dissimilarities are more of style than substance. So elusive is the search that it has given rise to the modern equivalent of Kremlinology, analysing pictures and parsing sentences in the hope of discerning what is going on in the dark recesses of the Kremlin (or of Putin’s and Medvedev’s minds). It might be called ‘tandemology’.
    The differences between the two men are often played down because of the lack of real change since Medvedev became president – but, of course, lack of results does not in itself mean that change was not desired. I would argue that while in foreign policy, as we have seen, there was scarcely any discernible difference between the two men, the evidence suggests that they did have differing views on the economy and on human rights – even though actual progress in these areas was negligible. The differences, moreover, grew more pronounced in the second half of Medvedev’s presidency, as a certain rivalry grew between them, and both appeared to be manoeuvring to become the ‘establishment’ candidate for president in the 2012 election. What is certain is that the two men developed separate constituencies of supporters, something that would not have happened if their views were identical. They could, in fact, have become the nuclei of separate political parties, offering alternative solutions for Russia’s future. The reason this did not happen is because Putin had a firm grip on the handlebars, and rarely turned round to hear Medvedev’s protests that they might want to take a different path, or get a better bike. The evidence suggests that Medvedev grew increasingly frustrated on the back seat, and was determined to stand for a second term as president. But the two agreed early on that they would not run against each other, and