Saakashvili the meat in superpower sandwich

TBILISI - It's the watch that bothers me. Everything else is presidential - the pressed shirt and sharp tie; the aides tiptoeing in with overflowing bowls of cherries and mulberries, and the huge, book-lined interview room.

But amid all this pomp, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is wearing a chunky blue plastic watch that appears to depict frolicking rabbits.

In a region where presidents tend to prefer hugely expensive Swiss timepieces, it's odd. But then Saakashvili never was much like any of the other presidents in the region.

When Saakashvili came to power in the Rose Revolution of 2003, he promised a fundamentally new form of government for the region. The post-Soviet legacy of corruption, privilege and autocracy would be swept aside to make way for a bright new era of democracy, meritocracy and economic development.

When I last met him, a little more than a year ago, he said that one of his major ambitions was for Georgia to become so stable and prosperous that ruling it would be a "boring task". It hasn't quite worked out that way.

There's one problem, of course - Russia. With all links cut with Georgia's former major trading partner, the country's exports have dropped dramatically, and with Saakashvili the Kremlin's bete noire, many worry that Russia may pop back into Georgia to finish the job it started last year.

With President Barack Obama coming into office, priorities in Washington have shifted.

Talk began about a new era of relations with Russia, sticky issues such as Georgia were to be forgotten, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even presented Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with a "reset button" to symbolise a new start for bilateral relations.

In Tbilisi, the uneasy joke was that the button was also a detonator, destroying hopes of Georgian independence.

Obama has been in Moscow for his first official visit, a much-hyped trip with hopes on both sides for revived engagement. The worry in Tbilisi will be that Georgia will be sold out to the Russians for bigger geopolitical issues.

Saakashvili says of Obama's talks in Moscow: "If Obama [said] something that looks like some kind of permission for something, then they will go for it. That's why every word counts. You are dealing with Byzantine traditions and doublespeak with Russia, which is hard for the West to understand."

Still, says Saakashvili, his Government has received positive signals.

"I've spoken to Obama several times, and we have a very good working relationship with this Administration at every level. They are fresh and focused."

In Moscow, the name Saakashvili has taken on the air of a swear word. Both sides react with fury and disbelief when it's suggested that they were responsible for last August's war.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin claims that hostilities started when Saakashvili recklessly sent tanks into South Ossetia and the Russians had no choice but to respond.

Saakashvili insists that the Russian invasion was unprovoked and part of a long-term plan of Putin's to occupy Georgian territory. The truth may be that both sides bear their share of responsibility.

The Russians have since embarked on a fevered propaganda campaign to show that Saakashvili is so unstable that he's in need of medical help.

Kremlin-funded English-language channel Russia Today regularly refers to him as "nuts", while Russian television has devoted prime-time slots to chat shows involving psychiatrists analysing Saakashvili's behaviour as classic psychopath material.

At the end of the interview, I ask him what is going on with the rabbit watch.

"Yeah, it's a bunny watch, so what?" he asks jokily, giving a high-pitched cackle. During their recent protests calling for his resignation, the opposition had unveiled a banner outside the presidential palace saying that Saakashvili was like a scared rabbit.

The watch, which he's had for several years, is perhaps his way of showing that he can take the opposition's insults with good humour.

Despite Saakashvili's flaws, and for all that he may well bear some responsibility for the war last year, he still offers an energetic, exciting vision for his country that is rare in the region.

"I will leave behind me a country that has modern democratic functioning institutions and modern infrastructure," he says. Whether he will ultimately be remembered for this, however, or instead for the disastrous war and subsequent loss of Georgian territory, remains to be seen.

- INDEPENDENT