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SHORT TEMPER
Is 5ft 7in Putin’s ‘Napoleon complex’ the real reason tyrant invaded Ukraine and brought world to brink of WW3?
AT 5ft 7in tall - three inches smaller than the average Russian - Vladimir Putin's diminutive stature might explain his maniacal behaviour, experts claim.
The image-conscious Russian despot could join Napoleon, Hitler, and Stalin as failed leaders whose short stature is thought to have provoked bloody conflict in Europe.
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Evolutionary psychologists Professor Abraham Buunk and Professor Mark van Vugt argue Putin - who has been reported to be as small as 5ft 2in - suffers a bad case of Napoleon Complex.
It is a psychological phenomenon thought to have been experienced by the French emperor, who was often depicted as being short.
The theory goes that some insecure smaller men tend to be more aggressive and domineering and seek ruthless means to assert their power over others.
And it looks like the deeply self conscious Putin is exhibiting tell-tale symptoms.
Putin has been snapped seemingly wearing chunky high heeled shoes, and potentially even wearing lifts to boost his height.
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Prof van Vugt, from VU University Amsterdam has analysed Putin's actions and says the tiny tyrant is adopting ruthless tactics like poisonings and warfare to "compensate for his lack of physical strength".
Putin's insecurities can also be plainly seen in the hardman image he desperately tries to portray with stunts such as his judo fights and posing shirtless.
Prof van Vugt told The Sun Online: "He wants to come across as a strong leader.
"The way he poses for the camera, all these pictures of him bare chested, playing ice-hockey, hunting.
"They are all the kind of things you see in someone who is not secure in their power position and that may be the result of his short stature - the more dominant, authoritarian kind of strategies to be taken seriously."
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Prof van Vugt added that the tyrant's Napoleon Complex also extends to his views of Russia has a whole.
The expert told The Sun Online: "The Napoleon Complex applies both to his short stature but also the tactics of a country with a leader who knows they have lost a place in the world as a superpower and want to get that back so they revert to these sorts of tactics because they feel that they are neglected or ignored."
Prof Buunk backs up those claims, adding Putin also fits the bill when its comes to his paranoia about the West and NATO.
"He is more paranoid than tall people because, as a short person, he can see all types of dangers because he would have always felt threatened by tall people around him and needed to do something to attain status and power," said the academic form the University of Groningen.
Putin also suffers from overconfidence and has narcissistic traits that the professional psychologists say have got him into trouble into Ukraine - underestimating the will of resistance.
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Prof van Vugt said short men suffering the complex are generally very threatened and will double down if provoked.
"That is also where the Napoleon Complex kicks in and you need to resort to other tactics, such a pure brutal force to level the playing field," he said.
"He has invested too much to quit [Ukraine], which is typical of these short men. They are so overconfident that they’re not willing to see reality anymore."
He added: "Putin is deeply concerned that Russia has lost its superpower status and that’s what he wants to compensate for and he won’t stop until there is some restoration of Russia as a strong nation.
"And of course his short stature doesn’t help in the emotional decisions he needs to make."
Putin's insecurity about his height has seen him allegedly wear heeled shoes in public.
He overestimated himself and he overestimated the power of the Russian army
Prof Abraham Buunk
showed the Russian President walking down a red carpet with China's XI Jinping in elevates shoes.
Meanwhile, is awash with clips exposing Putin's heel fetish.
A Kremlin insider once told the that strict rules dictate that no one can be taller than the President in official photos.
"That’s why his bodyguards are always shorter then he is, to give the impression Putin is a tall person," the source revealed.
Prof Buunk also pointed to Mad Vlad's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in February and his cabinet in the initial stages of the war in Ukraine.
"You see what he did in the meeting he had with others. He would sit at the other end of the table, which was a large distance from the others which would hide his shortness."
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He added that Putin likely has an "inferiority complex" which forces him to act more "assertive and aggressive".
This has translated into intense paranoia and a desperate need to assert his power on the world stage.
And this is bad news for Ukraine.
"He’s very vengeful… and I think he is extremely frustrated by how long it is taking to capture Kyiv.
"I think he is a little but psychopathic, especially if you worked for the KGB, you must be like that."
He says Putin's deteriorating mental state, spurred on by his inferiority complex, means the war could "go on and on and on like Hitler did in the last phases of World War 2 and cause as much damage as he can and even ruin his own country".
Prof van Vugt warned that pushing Putin too far could lead to World War 3.
"With short men you need to give these men a Golden Bridge - that is a bridge to retreat from.
"When you are the leader of a country that feels very aggrieved and feels very insecure and has lost its superpower status - which has been reaffirmed time and again - then retreating from Ukraine can be seen as the straw that broke the camel's back.
"You’ve got to be very careful that... [pushing him] doesn’t start a third world war."
He said being firm with Putin was the only way to tame him.
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"You must give him no way to cheat. You need to be a strict negotiator and apply tit-for-tat strategies to knock some sense into him.
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"Be tough by being fair and give him a way out."
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