Russian Gambit

Is it just me, or is Russia trying to play catch-up with US/NATO by offering the Czechs a post on the IMF instead of the proposed missile base?

By Peter Finn
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, August 23, 2007; Page A14

MOSCOW, Aug. 22 — Russia said Wednesday that it has nominated a former Czech prime minister to head the International Monetary Fund, challenging the European Union's traditional prerogative to fill the post.