February 1945. Three of history's most powerful men meet to redraw the map of the world. FDR, Churchill and Stalin, soon to be victors in the Second World War, engage in a monstrous clash both of ideology and egos in a tussle over the spoils. And, inevitably, they got naked.

Well, that's not quite true. But as a recent history of the Yalta conference reveals, even as Churchill fought a losing battle to keep Poland out of the clutches of the Soviet Union; behind the scenes, he spent large parts of the conference roaming his apartments in the buff, unconcerned about who saw him. Churchill's penchant for appearing nude is well-known. He understood that, when it comes to power politics, the naked politician is an important specimen.

Indeed, the story goes that when Roosevelt once arrived in his wheelchair at the door of Churchill's bedroom, he was greeted by a naked Prime Minister with the words: "You see, Mr President, I have nothing to hide."

The cod psychologist says that if you want to stop being intimidated by your boss at work, you should imagine him naked. With male politicians (and the offenders are always male) you all too often don't have to use your imagination. For, while the naked female form is used to seduce or tantalise, displays of male flesh are nearly always about power.

Think of Clinton in his running shorts, Arnie's rippling biceps or Alastair Campbell's stomach-churning tale of a stark-naked Tony Blair reading the Daily Mail. Perhaps no image of John Major is quite as wounding as him being briefed about the latest ERM debacle in his underwear. Apart from those with Edwina Currie, that is.

This is the domain of the alpha male. The politician who dares to bare says: "Here I am. I'm young, vigorous and not afraid to let it all hang out. What have you got to hide?"

It all makes you wonder whom Gordon Brown will dare stand next to at the urinals during the next G8 conference. This week, it was the turn of two young upstarts of world affairs to dabble in such peacock diplomacy with varying degrees of success. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, is by any measure a fit man. He is teetotal, runs every day and is a keen cyclist. Indeed, his obsession with health and vigour is considered somewhat un-French by a nation more used to two-hour lunches and shrugging as a major form of exercise.

This week, magazine Paris Match lovingly published a double-page spread of their favourite centrefold showing the 51-year-old naked from the waist up, canoeing with Louis, his youngest son. Unfortunately, it was Super-Sarko who was left without the metaphorical paddle when the magazine editors admitted they had airbrushed out his poignees d'amour - or love handles - from the photo. In one swoop, the silverback gorilla had been transformed into a fat French poodle.

Of course, when it comes to G8 leaders flexing their pecs there is no real contest. Enter downhill-skiing, judo black-belt, ex-KGB colonel Vladimir Putin. This week also saw another set of carefully released photos showing that Mr Putin's favourite holiday exercise appears to be wading bare-chested through a Siberian river while fishing. The 54-year-old displayed an impressively defined waxed torso, a world away from flabby western decadence. You suspect he would like us to believe he could dispense with the fishing rod and tear at the salmon with his bare teeth given half a chance. Putin's posturing has gone down well in a Russia determined to have a leader who personifies its newfound confidence. One newspaper published the picture under the headline "Be Like Putin", complete with an illustrated guide to building up a torso akin to the Russian leader's.

Similar headlines are unlikely to accompany the revelation that our own First Minister Alex Salmond likes to conduct the occasional early morning interview in the nude. He, at least, knows some things are best left to radio.

It would be something of a relief if we in Britain have moved into a slightly more repressed, buttoned-up political climate.

Despite their political differences, it is hard to imagine Alex Salmond or Gordon Brown being tempted to indulge in truly naked aggression. As they say in America, let's not even go there.