Stratfor's Reva Bhalla - Take control of him

Here's some light-hearted analysis of Reva Bhalla and the infamous 'Take control of him' quote that's doing the rounds at the moment with the release of the Stratfor emails through Wikileaks - The Global Intelligence Files (mostly a snore-fest).

Reva Bhalla - Stratfor's tidy looking talking head

So the much quoted email line is:

"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control... This is intended to start our conversation on your next phase" – CEO George Friedman to Stratfor analyst Reva Bhalla on 6 December 2011, on how to exploit an Israeli intelligence informant providing information on the medical condition of the President of Venezuala, Hugo Chavez.

She's young and inexperienced, in her first job out of uni, but she does what she's told by her boss which is all you really want in an employee.

Reva joined Stratfor straight from university, a political sciences major. Maybe she got an interview with BCG but her math wasn't up to scratch, or more likely she couldn't get an internship stuffing leaflets in envelopes for John Kerry's presidential campaign. Meanwhile George has founded Stratfor and needs some cheap labour and brings her on as an intelligence analyst. If they can't splash out $40k on email encryption software I don't think the salaries have been flash, especially not for kids straight out of school. Anyway Reva has done her time with the fledgling company and is starting to get a bit of limelight.

Reva has been featuring heavily in Stratfor's online video reports, which is pretty much like being a news anchor but on a tiny budget. Now I can't comment on her ability as an analyst, but her ability to look hot and sound intelligent while reading some bullet points is her real value to the company. Don't get me wrong I like a Fox News blonde bombshell as much as the next guy but Reva is allowed to say smarter things then them.

Reva's now the Director of Analysis, according to linkedin. She was Middle East Analyst last year so I'm guessing after the Christmas day stolen email shit-storm George decided to give her a better title to alleviate her concerns that his entire business might be going down the drain... Actually it has changed again, now she's Vice President of Global Analysis

I'm not sure whether director or VP sounds better, either way I'd buy her a drink.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on her? The fact Reva claims on her linkedin to be an expert in the Middle East, South Asia, Latin America, Iran-Hezbollah-Syriah Nexus, Al Qaeda, Iran, Turkey... at the tender age of 20 something tells me to take everything she says with a grain of salt. Who does she think she is? Henry Kissinger?

Anyway back to George's advice on how to deal with the Israeli intelligence analyst:

"[Y]ou have to take control of him. Control means financial, sexual or psychological control..."

I'm reminded of a Joy Division song - She's lost control 

Confusion in her eyes that says it all.
She's lost control.
And she's clinging to the nearest passer by,
She's lost control.
And she gave away the secrets of her past,
And said I've lost control again,
And of a voice that told her when and where to act,
She said I've lost control again.

George is the voice!

So maybe she sent the Israeli a few topless mirror shots off her iPhone with some naughty sext messages. Good advice George, I think he has been reading some Cosmo:

When to Take Control in a Relationship - How to Take Control in a Relationship - Cosmopolitan 

Has it been a little less than thrilling in the bedroom recently? You’re getting off, but he’s not trying anything new or exciting. That’s actually pretty common with couples who have been together for a while. See, once a guy finds moves that make you climax, he’s afraid to veer away from those and risk you not having an orgasm. The next time he goes into auto-pilot, whisper something naughty you want to try into his ear and tell him how much it would turn you on to try it, says Marty Klein, PhD. By telling him in the moment, not way before, he won’t have time to worry about whether or not the move will work or if he’ll do it right. He’ll be so caught up in the heat of the moment that’ll he try almost anything you tell him to.