According to USA Today, the Pentagon has set up a research team to study the body language of major foreign leaders. [1].

According to the Pentagon spokesman, the team put Vladimir Putin’s personality under the magnifying glass in 2008 and 2012, but not since. Current Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was supposedly not aware of such reports. [2].

The Body Leads project employs Professors Brenda Connors (Naval War College research fellow), Richard Rende (Brown University psychiatrist) and Timothy Colton (Harvard University expert on Russia).
Dr. Connors is associated with the Office of Net Assessment (ONA), a structure created within the Pentagon by the disciples of imperialist philosopher Leo Strauss and directed by the influential Andrew Marshall (pictured).

Andrew Marshall (aged 92), nicknamed "Yoda" (in reference to the Star Wars character) is a historical icon of US militarism and mentor to Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz. In 2004, he was charged with having purged the Pentagon of all officials opposed to the destruction of Iraq [3]. His office was kept open by Chuck Hagel, but his budget has been slashed to 10 million dollars per year and he is now accountable to the Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Movement pattern analysis, to which Dr. Brenda Connors subscribes, was created by the Hungarian Rudolf Laban in 1940 and later developed by the British Warren Lamb who has just died. According to the obituary published by The Independent [4], his work was belatedly recognized by multinational companies and the U.S. government. He was reportedly paid 24,000 dollars to serve as consultant for the Body Leads project where he personally developed a profile of Vladimir Putin.

Dr. Brenda Connors had alluded to her studies on Vladimir Putin in 2005, well before becoming officially involved. [5] She noted that he uses his left side with great ease, while his right side appears to be partially paralyzed and his right hand insensitive. She elaborated several hypotheses to explain his presumed infirmity while observing that, in spite of it, he became champion of martial arts. On this basis, she compares his movements to those of a reptile and accuses him of reptilian behavior when his territory is invaded.

[1] “Pentagon studies Putin body language for hint of intent”, by Ray Locker, USA Today, 6 March 2014.

[2] “Pentagon body movement study will track another leader”, by Ray Locker, USA Today, 7 March 2014.

[3] “US Vice-President Cheney’s Apparatus”, by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network, 6 February 2004.

[5] “The Accidental Autocrat”, by Paul Starobin, The Atlantic, March 2005.