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Kremlinology is the study and analysis of Soviet (and today, Russian) politics and policies based on efforts to understand the inner workings of an opaque central government. The term is named after the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian/Soviet government. Kremlinologist refers to academic, media, and commentary experts who specialize in the study of Kremlinology. Sovietology/Sovietologist describes specialists of the country as a whole. The term is sometimes sweepingly used to describe Western scholars who researched issues of, or specialized in, Russian/Soviet law, although the correct term is simply Russian law scholar. Sovietologists or Kremlinologists should also be distinguished from transitologists, scholars who study legal, economic and social transitions from communism to capitalism.

During the Cold War, lack of reliable information about the country forced Western analysts to "read between the lines" and to use the tiniest tidbits, such as the removal of portraits, the rearranging of chairs, positions at the reviewing stand for parades in Red Square, the choice of capital or small initial letters in phrases such as "First Secretary", the arrangement of articles on the pages of the party newspaper "Pravda" and other indirect signs to try to understand what was happening in internal Soviet politics. In the German language, such attempts acquired the somewhat derisive name "Kreml-Astrologie" (Kremlin Astrology), hinting at the fact that its results were often vague and inconclusive, if not outright wrong.

The term "Kremlinology" is still in use in application to the study of decision-making processes in the politics of the Russian Federation. In popular culture, the term is sometimes used to mean any attempt to understand a secretive organization or process, such as plans for upcoming products or events, by interpreting indirect clues.

Notable Kremlinologists and Sovietologists[link]

• Anders Åslund
• Mark R. Beissinger
• Zbigniew Brzezinski
• Hélène Carrère d'Encausse
• Stephen Cohen
• Marshall Goldman
• Donald E. Graves
• William G. Hyland
• George Kennan
• Michael Kort
• William Mandel
• Jack F. Matlock, Jr.
• Mark Palmer
• Richard Pipes
• Condoleezza Rice
• Mark Saroyan
• Dimitri K. Simes
• Stephen Sestanovich
• Marshall D. Shulman
• Llewellyn Thompson, Robert Kennedy's Kremlinologist
• Robert C. Tucker, biographer of Joseph Stalin and former head of Princeton Russian Studies program.
• Adam Ulam (brother of Stanisław Ulam), head of the Russian Research Center at Harvard University for 16 years.

See also[link]

Look up Kremlinology in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Soviet–United States relations
• Russo–United States relations
• Team B
• Predictions of Soviet collapse
• China watcher
• Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies
• Slavistics
• Russian studies
• List of Russian Legal Historians
• Russian legal history
• Vaticanologist
• Soviet and Communist studies
• Smolensk Archive

References[link]

Missy Franklin

Personal information
Full name	Melissa Jeanette Franklin
Nickname(s)	Missy the missile
Nationality	USA
Born	(1995-05-10) May 10, 1995 (age 17) Pasadena, California
Height	6 ft 1.5 in (1.87 m)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Backstroke, freestyle, medley
Club	Colorado Stars (STAR-CO)
Medal record Women's swimming Competitor for the  United States World Championships (LC) Gold 2011 Shanghai 200 m backstroke Gold 2011 Shanghai 4×200 m freestyle Gold 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m medley Silver 2011 Shanghai 4×100 m freestyle Bronze 2011 Shanghai 50 m backstroke World Championships (SC) Silver 2010 Dubai 200 m backstroke Silver 2010 Dubai 4×100 m medley

Melissa "Missy" Jeanette Franklin (born May 10, 1995) is an American swimmer. She is a five-time medalist (three gold, one silver, one bronze) at the World Aquatics Championships and a two-time silver medalist at the World Short Course Championships. As part of the American team, she holds the world record in the 4×100-meter medley relay (short course).^[1] Individually, she currently holds the world record in the 200-meter backstroke (short course) and the American record in the 200-meter backstroke (long course).^[2][3]

Franklin's success have earned her the FINA Swimmer of the Year award in 2011.

Personal[link]

Franklin was born in Pasadena, California in 1995, the daughter of Dick and D.A. Franklin at 7.10 lbs. She began swimming at the age of five at the urging of her mother. She is a part of the class of 2013 at Regis Jesuit High School in Aurora, Colorado.^[4] Her father works for Rocky Mountain Cleantech Open, which helps develop clean technology startup entrepreneurs, and her mother is a family physician.^[5] Both of Franklin's parents are originally from Canada. Because Franklin has dual citizenship, Franklin's mother suggested she represent Canada to ease the pressure on making a national team because of the depth of USA Swimming. However, Franklin refused, citing her patriotism towards the United States.^[6] Franklin says God has blessed her with an excellent swimmer's body. Her height of 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) towers above most female swimmers (Franklin's father stands over 6 ft 1 in and her mother is 5 ft 4 in). Also, she has women's size 13 feet: "We call them built-in flippers," says her father Dick.^[7] She has been coached by Todd Schmitz from the Colorado Stars club team since she was 7 years old.^[8] Franklin says her favorite athlete is Natalie Coughlin.^[9]

Swimming career[link]

Early career[link]

At the age of 13, Franklin competed at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, but did not qualify to swim in any events at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her best result was 37th place in the 100-meter freestyle.^[10][11][12]

2010[link]

At the 2010 National Championships, Franklin competed in six individual events, and qualified to swim at the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships by finishing second in the 100 and 200-meter backstroke^[13][14] At the 2010 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, Franklin finished fourth in the 100-meter backstroke and did not make the A final for the 50 and 200-meter backstroke.^[15][16][17] Franklin earned the first international medals of her career at the 2010 FINA Short Course World Championships in Dubai. In the 200-meter backstroke, Franklin finished in second place behind French swimmer Alexianne Castel.^[18] Franklin also earned a silver medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay for her contribution in the heats.^[19] For her performance in 2010, she won the Breakout Performer of the Year Award at the seventh annual Golden Goggle Awards.^[20]

2011[link]

2011 World Championships[link]

In her first long course world championship meet at the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai, Franklin won a total of five medals, three gold, one silver, and one bronze. In her first event, the 4×100-meter freestyle relay, Franklin won a silver medal with Natalie Coughlin, Jessica Hardy, and Dana Vollmer in a time of 3:34.47. Swimming the second leg, Franklin had a split of 52.99, the second-best among all participants.^[21] Franklin won her first individual medal, a bronze, in the 50-meter backstroke, finishing behind Russian Anastasia Zuyeva and Japanese Aya Terakawa.^[22] Shortly after the 50-meter backstroke final, Franklin competed in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay with Dagny Knutson, Katie Hoff, and Allison Schmitt and won gold ahead of Australia and China in a time of 7:46.14. Franklin's leadoff time of 1:55.06 was faster than the winning time of Italian Federica Pellegrini in the individual 200-meter freestyle final (1:55.58).^[23] After setting the national record in the semifinals of the 200-meter backstroke (2:05.90), Franklin dominated the field in the final with a time of 2:05.10, breaking her own national record and winning gold. This was Franklin's first individual world title, and her time in the final was the third-fastest effort of all time.^[24] Shortly after the 200-meter backstroke final, Franklin competed in the 4×100-meter medley relay with Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, and Dana Vollmer and won gold with a time of 3:52.36, over three seconds ahead of second-place finisher China. Swimming the freestyle leg, Franklin had a split of 52.79, the fastest in the field. The final time of 3:52.36 for the medley relay was the second-fastest effort of all time, just behind the Chinese-owned world record of 3:52.19.^[25] For her performance at these championships, she won the Female Athlete of the Year, Female Race of the Year (200-meter backstroke), and the Relay Performance of the Year (4×100-meter medley relay) Award at the eight annual Golden Goggle Awards.^[26] She was also named the best female swimmer for 2011 by FINA Aquatics World Magazine.^[27]

2011 National Championships[link]

Three days after the 2011 World Aquatics Championships ended in Shanghai on July 30, Franklin flew to Palo Alto, California to compete at the 2011 National Championships, which began on August 2. At these championships, Franklin competed in four individual events, and the 4×100 and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Franklin won the first national titles of her career in the 100-meter backstroke and freestyle.^[28][29] She also placed 4th in the 200-meter individual medley and 12th in the 50-meter freestyle.^[30][31]

First world records[link]

Towards the end of 2011 in October, at the 2011 FINA Swimming World Cup, Franklin set the first world record of her career in the 200-meter backstroke (short course), bettering the previous record of 2:00.18 held by Shiho Sakai with a time of 2:00.03. In breaking the record, Franklin became the first female to break an individual world record since the high-tech bodysuits were banned in January 2010.^[2] Franklin's second world record came at the 2011 Duel in the Pool in December. In the 4×100-meter medley relay, Franklin combined with Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, and Dana Vollmer to break the previous American-owned world record in a time of 3:45.56, bettering the previous record of 3:47.97. Swimming the freestyle leg, Franklin had a split of 51.32.^[1]

Personal bests[link]

Long course[link]

As of August 7, 2011.

Short course[link]

As of October 23, 2011.

World records[link]

^a Record set in a short course pool.

^b Short course record with Natalie Coughlin, Rebecca Soni, and Dana Vollmer.

References[link]

External links[link]

• USA Swimming bio: Missy Franklin
• Missy Franklin at the United States Olympic Committee
• Missy Franklin on Twitter

Records
Preceded by Shiho Sakai	Women's 200 metres backstroke world record holder (short course) October 22, 2011 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Awards
Preceded by Therese Alshammar	FINA Swimmer of the Year 2011	Succeeded by Incumbent