Strongman, The

now.” ’
    Thereupon Ivanov left the residence and flew to the city of Batumi in western Georgia, where he was due to meet the local leader, Aslan Abashidze. The outcome he expected from the talks he had arranged in Tbilisi was an agreement to re-run the elections, with Shevardnadze staying on as president, at least for the moment. But when he got off the plane in Batumi, Abashidze greeted him with the words: ‘What on earth have you done? Shevardnadze has resigned!’
    Looking back, Ivanov now laughs wryly at how he inadvertently brought about the end of Shevardnadze’s rule, without ever understanding how it happened. Of the triumvirate who led the Rose Revolution, he speaks most warmly of Zurab Zhvania, describing him as ‘wise, calm, balanced, and intent on having good relations with Russia’ – more or less the opposite of what he says about Mikheil Saakashvili, the man whose charisma made him the pre-eminent leader of the opposition. ‘Misha’, as he was universally known, was a big, ebullient bear of a man – Westernised in mentality (he had studied in Strasbourg and New York, and had a Dutch wife), but at the same time oozing Georgian charm and spontaneity. Aged only 36, he swept to victory in the early presidential election held on 4 January 2004. Taking 96 per cent of the vote, Saakashvili embodied the hopes not only of the thousands of demonstrators who had backed the Rose Revolution but of the vast majority of Georgians, who saw the ballot as an opportunity finally to turf out the corrupt Soviet-era regime and orientate their country towards the West and democracy.
    I interviewed Saakashvili a year or so later, when his pro-Western policies were already raising hackles in Moscow, and reminded him of his predecessor’s famous phrase about the ‘sun rising in the north’. Was he not afraid of provoking the Russian bear, I asked? ‘Don’t worry,’ he told me. ‘I also know where the sun rises. We want the best relations with the West and with our great neighbour to the north.’ 3
    In fact, Saakashvili’s first moves as president were uncannily like Putin’s at the start of his rule. He immediately pushed through constitutional amendments that increased his presidential powers, while drastically reducing the role of parliament. He replaced regional governors and began to impose state control over television stations. 4 In a crackdown on corruption he had former ministers and businessmen arrested, and (unlike in Russia) carried out a radical overhaul of the police which dramatically reduced bribe-taking. He and his prime minister, Zurab Zhvania, transformed the economy by, among other things, slashing taxes and attracting major foreign investments.
    Like Russia, Georgia also faced the threat of separatism. After the country gained independence from the USSR in 1991, the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia both broke away and after brief civil wars enjoyed de facto independence – with Russian support. A third ‘autonomous republic’, Ajaria, did not declare independence but was ruled like a personal fiefdom by its autocratic president, Aslan Abashidze. Regaining control over Georgia’s lost provinces was as much of an obsession for Saakashvili as retaking Chechnya was for Putin. On the eve of his inauguration as president on 24 January 2004 Saakashvili solemnly swore on the grave of Georgia’s twelfth-century King David the Builder that, ‘Georgia will be united and strong, will restore its wholeness and become a united, strong state.’
    It was that resolve, that determination to reintegrate Georgia’s minority nationalities, that four years later would bring his country to war with Russia.
    Saakashvili also flaunted his love affair with the West like a reckless divorcee, thumbing her nose at the bullying ex-husband. The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, was guest of honour at Saakashvili’s inauguration ceremony. He recalls: ‘We all stood up when the national anthem was played. And when it was over I was about to sit down again when another anthem started up – it was “Ode to Joy” and the European Union flag was being raised. I thought: oh boy, I bet Igor [Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister] isn’t enjoying this part of the performance.’ 5
    Igor certainly would not have enjoyed what followed. Saakashvili invited Powell to come with him into the City Hall, which was decorated with dozens of Georgian and American flags, side by side. ‘Then we went into the