A number of journalists have wondered why Putin only talks to people from each end of an enormously long table.Perhaps it is to avoid assassination by poisoning, something for which the Russians (or at least the re-named KGB and dark personalities) are past masters, or to intimidate the foreign politician trying to negotiate with Putin. There may be other reasons…

I am something of a James Bond fan, and I notice that the long table as a symbol was present in this film from the 1970’s The Spy Who Loved Me. If you remember, it is about a billionaire villain who captures British and Russian submarines loaded with nuclear missiles in order to destroy the world, and create his new world under the sea. This clip is the final confrontation where the baddie meets his Karma.