If it had been boxing, the encounter would have been deemed a mismatch. Dmitry Medvedev, a young, fit-looking 42, freshly elected in a (stage-managed) landslide, feisty and full of beans versus Gordon Brown, 57, veteran of a hundred forgotten punch-ups, slow on his feet, unelected, hounded and, according to media speculation, well on his way to an early bath. Yet the supposed besting of Britain's prime minister in his bout with Russia's president was not a foregone conclusion. In interviews prior to their meeting at the G8 summit in Japan, Medvedev appeared to signal a desire to repair relations strained to freezing point by the 2006 Litvinenko murder case and a long list of bilateral and strategic grievances. In the event, Medvedev was more pugnacious than placatory. Perhaps he was anxious, in his first outing on the world...
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