Damien MAHIET | Brown University (original) (raw)
Articles (selected) by Damien MAHIET
Despite the lively scholarly debate on the place of The Sleeping Beauty (1890) in the political a... more Despite the lively scholarly debate on the place of The Sleeping Beauty (1890) in the political and cultural history of the Franco-Russian alliance in the 1890s, the representation of international relations in the first production of The Nutcracker (1892) has so far received little attention. This representation includes the well-known series of character dances in the second act of the ballet, but also the use of French fashion from the revolutionary era to costume the party guests, the mechanical dolls, the toy soldiers, and even Prince Nutcracker. The fairy-tale world offered a frame that not only promoted the absolutist aspirations of Alexander III's regime, but also solved the symbolic challenge of a problematic alliance between republican France and tsarist Russia. The same visual repertoire informed diplomatic life: four years after The Nutcracker, in 1896, the décor for the state visit of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in France duplicated that of the fairy-tale world on stage.
Critical response to Tchaikovsky’s Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker), the ballet-féerie premiered i... more Critical response to Tchaikovsky’s Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker), the ballet-féerie premiered in December 1892 in St. Petersburg, has historically been mixed. An aesthetic mongrel, the original production joined the highbrow expectations of Romantic ballet with the popular conventions of the féerie and challenged its first audience just as much as its immediate predecessor, The Sleeping Beauty. To this day, writers object to the original libretto’s uneven distribution of pantomime and dance and its lack of a coherent story, of continuous development, and of a satisfying conclusion. This article offers an alternative reading that reconstructs the dramatic disruptions and turnabouts and relates them to the first production’s aesthetics and politics. The ballet’s composer and choreographers, using music, action, and dance, repeatedly placed the audience in a position of wonder and awe similar to that of the young heroine Clara. This aesthetic captured Alexander III’s particular “scenario of power” (Richard Wortman) in late-nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia, projecting imperial court culture and sovereign power onto a fantastic canvas.
‘Among the fine arts, I clearly see something to say only about architecture, sculpture, painting... more ‘Among the fine arts, I clearly see something to say only about architecture, sculpture, painting. As for music, dance […], I see nothing’. Tocqueville's observation in the Rubish for the second volume of Democracy in America is not only startling, but theoretically important: it ratifies the liberal (and nowadays oft-assumed) separation between musical life and political constitution. This, however, should give us cause to wonder. While in America, Tocqueville and Beaumont had multiple occasions to hear music in public festivals and private spaces. Though other European and highbrow observers also declared American music to be ‘in its infancy’, music nonetheless played a significant part in antebellum social and political life. Nor was Tocqueville insensitive to sound in his relation to others. Indeed, Tocqueville perhaps saw in the demise of music as the art of ‘making harmony’ a symptom of the democratic era. However, like Montesquieu, Tocqueville refused to consider music a constitutive principle of democratic regimes—including in the context of Ancient Greek political theory. In doing so, Tocqueville sharply dissociated himself from republican political theory, but failed to raise the question of music's contribution to the culture and exercise of freedom in the modern era.
Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia, 2014
The moral and political propriety of musical pleasure constituted one of Charles Burney's continu... more The moral and political propriety of musical pleasure constituted one of Charles Burney's continuous lines of thought from the 1770s to the 1790s. As a public figure, the music historian found himself called upon to state why music matters – in a preface, a dedication or an essay. Like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Burney read in musical performances symptoms of contemporary society and politics, but, unlike Rousseau, he perceived in modern music signs of civilization's progress. Musical excellence, according to Burney, required both freedom and affluence; thus while Burney rejected absolutist monarchy, he nevertheless praised the achievements of court culture. Indeed, his advocacy of music as an ‘innocent luxury’ reads as an addendum to eighteenth-century disputes on the morality and benefits of luxury. The social implications of this definition of music, however, are problematic: while Burney acknowledged the right of each individual to feel as they please, he also claimed for the music critic the exclusive authority to speak publicly about music. This essay explores these aspects of Burney's political philosophy of music in relation to the works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, Avison, Wollstonecraft and Hume.
Books by Damien MAHIET
How does music (its concepts, practices, and institutions) shape the exercise of diplomacy, the p... more How does music (its concepts, practices, and institutions) shape the exercise of diplomacy, the pursuit of power, and the conduct of international relations? Drawing together sixteen international scholars with backgrounds in musicology, ethnomusicology, political science, cultural history, French studies, German studies, and communication, this volume interweaves historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives. Considering such issues as what it means for political bodies to act "in concert," the question of music's "universality," the concept of free improvisation as it relates to twenty-first century political policy, the role of orchestras and traveling musicians in promoting cultural exchange, and the use of music as an agent of globalization and transnational encounter, the essays not only cross disciplinary boundaries but also geographical and musical ones.
Florence ALAZARD, La métaphore musicale et la genèse de l'Etat moderne: Musique, politique, et Re... more Florence ALAZARD, La métaphore musicale et la genèse de l'Etat moderne: Musique, politique, et Renaissance [Musical metaphor and the genesis of the modern state: Music, politics, and Renaissance]; Esteban BUCH, De la musique au politique, en passant par la culture [From music to politics, via culture]; Richard D. LEPPERT, La musique 'poussée au bord de l'existence': Adorno, l'écoute et la question de l'espoir [Music 'pushed to the edge of existence': Adorno, listening, and the question of hope]; Damien MAHIET, De l'éducation musicale en démocratie libérale [On music education in a liberal democracy]; Bruno MOYSAN, Liszt et le politique: Action, langage et représentation [Liszt and the political: Action, language, and representation]; Jann PASLER, Au service de la démocratie: L'utilité publique de la musique, de la IIIe République à la Fête de la musique [In the service of democracy: The public utility of music from the Third Republic to the Fête de la Musique]; Sylvie PÉBRIER, La revendication de la différence dans le champ de la musique classique [The demand for distinction in the field of classical music]; Frédéric RAMEL, La musique comme matériau pour l'internationaliste: Le cas des opéras [Music as material for the internationalist: The case of operas]; Jacques RIGAUD, Musique et politique culturelle [Music and cultural policy]; Tracy B. STRONG, Rousseau: Nature, langage, politique [Rousseau: Nature, language, politics]; Pascal TERRIEN, L'enseignement de la musique comme outil irremplaçable d'une socialisation [Music education as an irreplaceable tool for socialization].
Talks (selected) by Damien MAHIET
Since the end of the Cold War, scholars, musicians, peace activists, and government officials ali... more Since the end of the Cold War, scholars, musicians, peace activists, and government officials alike have used the idea of concert to evoke voluntary and peaceful cooperation of independent actors on the international stage. This casual reference to the concert bears witness not only to a desire for peace, but also an anxiety in the face of increasing heterogeneity and violence. In this instance, music history offers a critical perspective on a turn of phrase whose emotional appeal can also elicit a reflection on the conditions of political accord. Both historically and conceptually, harmony does not come about without conflict, and therefore, politics. The concert, which originally referred to the mixture of human voices and musical instruments, has alternatively served to symbolize hegemonic ambitions and multilateral aspirations. This talk, through a few engravings and paintings, concisely accounts for the contribution of musicians and musical representations to modern international thought. In effect, the concert problematizes the performance of cooperation and the treatment of difference by begging the question of its origin.
Reviews & Reports (selected) by Damien MAHIET
Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 2019
Musicology Now (http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/), Jul 14, 2015
Both practically and intellectually speaking, interest in musical diplomacy has never been greate... more Both practically and intellectually speaking, interest in musical diplomacy has never been greater. This Musicology Now blogpost outlines recent developments in the field.
Thesis by Damien MAHIET
Musical category, political concept, and political myth, the Concert of nations emerged within 16... more Musical category, political concept, and political myth, the Concert of nations emerged within 16th- and 17th-century court culture. While the phrase may not have entered the political vocabulary before the end of the 18th century, the representation of nations in sonorous and visual ensembles is contemporary to the institution of the modern state and the first developments of the international system. As a musical category, the Concert of nations encompasses various genres- ballet, dance suite, opera, and symphony.
Papers by Damien MAHIET
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Dec 28, 2021
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jul 6, 2022
The war in Ukraine is, irremediably, a cultural, if not civilizational, conflict. 1 If culture is... more The war in Ukraine is, irremediably, a cultural, if not civilizational, conflict. 1 If culture is always a component of power relations and strategic interactions, key actors made sure it would also be a battlefield in this instance. "Let me emphasize once again," Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared on February 1, "that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space." 2 Playing into Western anxieties over book bans and "cancel culture," Putin suggested on March 25 that he led a war in defense of global values, posing for example as a defender of the embattled British writer J.K. Rowling who, in his words, was "canceled" because she "did not please fans of so-called gender freedoms." 3 (Rowling promptly objected on Twitter. 4) For Putin, "cancel culture" and LGBTQ rights are manifestations of Western hegemony that go hand in hand with NATO expansion. Far from rejecting this characterization of the war, US President Joe Biden had already underscored a conflict of values, stating on December 9, 2021, in his remarks at the first Summit for Democracy, that "all around the world, democracy needs champions" against "autocrats" who "seek to advance their own power, export and expand their influence around the world, and justify their repressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today's challenges." 5 Three months later,
Music and Postwar Transitions in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Diplomatica
Diplomacy is sonorous: diplomats deliver speeches, manage silences, applaud, and laugh; they give... more Diplomacy is sonorous: diplomats deliver speeches, manage silences, applaud, and laugh; they give toasts, clink glasses, and make noise. They listen to the tone of their interlocutors and modulate the timbre of their own voices. Sound-a vital component of representation, mediation, and negotiation-permeates the record of diplomacy, as media transmits images or recordings of leaders in the act of giving a speech or holding a conversation. And music, or "organized sound," is a standard feature of diplomatic ceremonial, solemn commemorations, social occasions, and the work of public and cultural diplomacy.1
In the debates on the best way to conduct diplomacy, music marks a divide between practitioners o... more In the debates on the best way to conduct diplomacy, music marks a divide between practitioners of the new and the old. From the middle of the twentieth century to the present, music has been a flagship of new programs in cultural and public diplomacy. Conversely, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, musical diplomacy appeared to betray a misguided attachment to Ancien Regime practices and the enjoyments of good society. These opposite assessments both foreground the social composition of international relations and the ways music can inform it. Indeed, music and dance test a diplomat’s very conception of who makes up the diplomatic scene and how. Not surprisingly, the branding of diplomacies as old or new has tended to obfuscate the broader spectrum of practices in either of the time periods considered in this chapter. A component of protocol, music plays a part in the conventional script of official interactions while allowing the host to underscore cultural differences, po...
Journal of International Political Theory
Harmony is a generally agreed-upon idea in international and diplomatic discourse. A common theme... more Harmony is a generally agreed-upon idea in international and diplomatic discourse. A common theme in multiple traditions of thought, Platonist and Confucian among others, it underlies today’s significant investments in musical activism, cultural diplomacy, conflict resolution and peace building. Yet despite this wide currency and long history, the idea of harmony seldom receives more than liminal attention in political theory. In the context of Western thought, an essay written in the 1830s by the French philosopher Jean Reynaud offers a striking point of departure: Reynaud defines diplomacy as ‘the science of harmony among states’. This article, drawing from Reynaud’s text as well from the wider history of music, art and political thought, maps a series of conceptual fault lines that touch on the concept’s function in international thought; the inscription of difference, dissonance, conflict and even war within the idea of harmony; the hegemonic and imperial temptations harmony enc...
Despite the lively scholarly debate on the place of The Sleeping Beauty (1890) in the political a... more Despite the lively scholarly debate on the place of The Sleeping Beauty (1890) in the political and cultural history of the Franco-Russian alliance in the 1890s, the representation of international relations in the first production of The Nutcracker (1892) has so far received little attention. This representation includes the well-known series of character dances in the second act of the ballet, but also the use of French fashion from the revolutionary era to costume the party guests, the mechanical dolls, the toy soldiers, and even Prince Nutcracker. The fairy-tale world offered a frame that not only promoted the absolutist aspirations of Alexander III's regime, but also solved the symbolic challenge of a problematic alliance between republican France and tsarist Russia. The same visual repertoire informed diplomatic life: four years after The Nutcracker, in 1896, the décor for the state visit of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna in France duplicated that of the fairy-tale world on stage.
Critical response to Tchaikovsky’s Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker), the ballet-féerie premiered i... more Critical response to Tchaikovsky’s Casse-Noisette (The Nutcracker), the ballet-féerie premiered in December 1892 in St. Petersburg, has historically been mixed. An aesthetic mongrel, the original production joined the highbrow expectations of Romantic ballet with the popular conventions of the féerie and challenged its first audience just as much as its immediate predecessor, The Sleeping Beauty. To this day, writers object to the original libretto’s uneven distribution of pantomime and dance and its lack of a coherent story, of continuous development, and of a satisfying conclusion. This article offers an alternative reading that reconstructs the dramatic disruptions and turnabouts and relates them to the first production’s aesthetics and politics. The ballet’s composer and choreographers, using music, action, and dance, repeatedly placed the audience in a position of wonder and awe similar to that of the young heroine Clara. This aesthetic captured Alexander III’s particular “scenario of power” (Richard Wortman) in late-nineteenth-century Tsarist Russia, projecting imperial court culture and sovereign power onto a fantastic canvas.
‘Among the fine arts, I clearly see something to say only about architecture, sculpture, painting... more ‘Among the fine arts, I clearly see something to say only about architecture, sculpture, painting. As for music, dance […], I see nothing’. Tocqueville's observation in the Rubish for the second volume of Democracy in America is not only startling, but theoretically important: it ratifies the liberal (and nowadays oft-assumed) separation between musical life and political constitution. This, however, should give us cause to wonder. While in America, Tocqueville and Beaumont had multiple occasions to hear music in public festivals and private spaces. Though other European and highbrow observers also declared American music to be ‘in its infancy’, music nonetheless played a significant part in antebellum social and political life. Nor was Tocqueville insensitive to sound in his relation to others. Indeed, Tocqueville perhaps saw in the demise of music as the art of ‘making harmony’ a symptom of the democratic era. However, like Montesquieu, Tocqueville refused to consider music a constitutive principle of democratic regimes—including in the context of Ancient Greek political theory. In doing so, Tocqueville sharply dissociated himself from republican political theory, but failed to raise the question of music's contribution to the culture and exercise of freedom in the modern era.
Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia, 2014
The moral and political propriety of musical pleasure constituted one of Charles Burney's continu... more The moral and political propriety of musical pleasure constituted one of Charles Burney's continuous lines of thought from the 1770s to the 1790s. As a public figure, the music historian found himself called upon to state why music matters – in a preface, a dedication or an essay. Like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Burney read in musical performances symptoms of contemporary society and politics, but, unlike Rousseau, he perceived in modern music signs of civilization's progress. Musical excellence, according to Burney, required both freedom and affluence; thus while Burney rejected absolutist monarchy, he nevertheless praised the achievements of court culture. Indeed, his advocacy of music as an ‘innocent luxury’ reads as an addendum to eighteenth-century disputes on the morality and benefits of luxury. The social implications of this definition of music, however, are problematic: while Burney acknowledged the right of each individual to feel as they please, he also claimed for the music critic the exclusive authority to speak publicly about music. This essay explores these aspects of Burney's political philosophy of music in relation to the works of Rousseau, Montesquieu, Avison, Wollstonecraft and Hume.
How does music (its concepts, practices, and institutions) shape the exercise of diplomacy, the p... more How does music (its concepts, practices, and institutions) shape the exercise of diplomacy, the pursuit of power, and the conduct of international relations? Drawing together sixteen international scholars with backgrounds in musicology, ethnomusicology, political science, cultural history, French studies, German studies, and communication, this volume interweaves historical, theoretical, and practical perspectives. Considering such issues as what it means for political bodies to act "in concert," the question of music's "universality," the concept of free improvisation as it relates to twenty-first century political policy, the role of orchestras and traveling musicians in promoting cultural exchange, and the use of music as an agent of globalization and transnational encounter, the essays not only cross disciplinary boundaries but also geographical and musical ones.
Florence ALAZARD, La métaphore musicale et la genèse de l'Etat moderne: Musique, politique, et Re... more Florence ALAZARD, La métaphore musicale et la genèse de l'Etat moderne: Musique, politique, et Renaissance [Musical metaphor and the genesis of the modern state: Music, politics, and Renaissance]; Esteban BUCH, De la musique au politique, en passant par la culture [From music to politics, via culture]; Richard D. LEPPERT, La musique 'poussée au bord de l'existence': Adorno, l'écoute et la question de l'espoir [Music 'pushed to the edge of existence': Adorno, listening, and the question of hope]; Damien MAHIET, De l'éducation musicale en démocratie libérale [On music education in a liberal democracy]; Bruno MOYSAN, Liszt et le politique: Action, langage et représentation [Liszt and the political: Action, language, and representation]; Jann PASLER, Au service de la démocratie: L'utilité publique de la musique, de la IIIe République à la Fête de la musique [In the service of democracy: The public utility of music from the Third Republic to the Fête de la Musique]; Sylvie PÉBRIER, La revendication de la différence dans le champ de la musique classique [The demand for distinction in the field of classical music]; Frédéric RAMEL, La musique comme matériau pour l'internationaliste: Le cas des opéras [Music as material for the internationalist: The case of operas]; Jacques RIGAUD, Musique et politique culturelle [Music and cultural policy]; Tracy B. STRONG, Rousseau: Nature, langage, politique [Rousseau: Nature, language, politics]; Pascal TERRIEN, L'enseignement de la musique comme outil irremplaçable d'une socialisation [Music education as an irreplaceable tool for socialization].
Since the end of the Cold War, scholars, musicians, peace activists, and government officials ali... more Since the end of the Cold War, scholars, musicians, peace activists, and government officials alike have used the idea of concert to evoke voluntary and peaceful cooperation of independent actors on the international stage. This casual reference to the concert bears witness not only to a desire for peace, but also an anxiety in the face of increasing heterogeneity and violence. In this instance, music history offers a critical perspective on a turn of phrase whose emotional appeal can also elicit a reflection on the conditions of political accord. Both historically and conceptually, harmony does not come about without conflict, and therefore, politics. The concert, which originally referred to the mixture of human voices and musical instruments, has alternatively served to symbolize hegemonic ambitions and multilateral aspirations. This talk, through a few engravings and paintings, concisely accounts for the contribution of musicians and musical representations to modern international thought. In effect, the concert problematizes the performance of cooperation and the treatment of difference by begging the question of its origin.
Nineteenth-Century Music Review, 2019
Musicology Now (http://musicologynow.ams-net.org/), Jul 14, 2015
Both practically and intellectually speaking, interest in musical diplomacy has never been greate... more Both practically and intellectually speaking, interest in musical diplomacy has never been greater. This Musicology Now blogpost outlines recent developments in the field.
Musical category, political concept, and political myth, the Concert of nations emerged within 16... more Musical category, political concept, and political myth, the Concert of nations emerged within 16th- and 17th-century court culture. While the phrase may not have entered the political vocabulary before the end of the 18th century, the representation of nations in sonorous and visual ensembles is contemporary to the institution of the modern state and the first developments of the international system. As a musical category, the Concert of nations encompasses various genres- ballet, dance suite, opera, and symphony.
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Dec 28, 2021
HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jul 6, 2022
The war in Ukraine is, irremediably, a cultural, if not civilizational, conflict. 1 If culture is... more The war in Ukraine is, irremediably, a cultural, if not civilizational, conflict. 1 If culture is always a component of power relations and strategic interactions, key actors made sure it would also be a battlefield in this instance. "Let me emphasize once again," Russia's President Vladimir Putin declared on February 1, "that Ukraine for us is not just a neighboring country. It is an integral part of our own history, culture, spiritual space." 2 Playing into Western anxieties over book bans and "cancel culture," Putin suggested on March 25 that he led a war in defense of global values, posing for example as a defender of the embattled British writer J.K. Rowling who, in his words, was "canceled" because she "did not please fans of so-called gender freedoms." 3 (Rowling promptly objected on Twitter. 4) For Putin, "cancel culture" and LGBTQ rights are manifestations of Western hegemony that go hand in hand with NATO expansion. Far from rejecting this characterization of the war, US President Joe Biden had already underscored a conflict of values, stating on December 9, 2021, in his remarks at the first Summit for Democracy, that "all around the world, democracy needs champions" against "autocrats" who "seek to advance their own power, export and expand their influence around the world, and justify their repressive policies and practices as a more efficient way to address today's challenges." 5 Three months later,
Music and Postwar Transitions in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Diplomatica
Diplomacy is sonorous: diplomats deliver speeches, manage silences, applaud, and laugh; they give... more Diplomacy is sonorous: diplomats deliver speeches, manage silences, applaud, and laugh; they give toasts, clink glasses, and make noise. They listen to the tone of their interlocutors and modulate the timbre of their own voices. Sound-a vital component of representation, mediation, and negotiation-permeates the record of diplomacy, as media transmits images or recordings of leaders in the act of giving a speech or holding a conversation. And music, or "organized sound," is a standard feature of diplomatic ceremonial, solemn commemorations, social occasions, and the work of public and cultural diplomacy.1
In the debates on the best way to conduct diplomacy, music marks a divide between practitioners o... more In the debates on the best way to conduct diplomacy, music marks a divide between practitioners of the new and the old. From the middle of the twentieth century to the present, music has been a flagship of new programs in cultural and public diplomacy. Conversely, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, musical diplomacy appeared to betray a misguided attachment to Ancien Regime practices and the enjoyments of good society. These opposite assessments both foreground the social composition of international relations and the ways music can inform it. Indeed, music and dance test a diplomat’s very conception of who makes up the diplomatic scene and how. Not surprisingly, the branding of diplomacies as old or new has tended to obfuscate the broader spectrum of practices in either of the time periods considered in this chapter. A component of protocol, music plays a part in the conventional script of official interactions while allowing the host to underscore cultural differences, po...
Journal of International Political Theory
Harmony is a generally agreed-upon idea in international and diplomatic discourse. A common theme... more Harmony is a generally agreed-upon idea in international and diplomatic discourse. A common theme in multiple traditions of thought, Platonist and Confucian among others, it underlies today’s significant investments in musical activism, cultural diplomacy, conflict resolution and peace building. Yet despite this wide currency and long history, the idea of harmony seldom receives more than liminal attention in political theory. In the context of Western thought, an essay written in the 1830s by the French philosopher Jean Reynaud offers a striking point of departure: Reynaud defines diplomacy as ‘the science of harmony among states’. This article, drawing from Reynaud’s text as well from the wider history of music, art and political thought, maps a series of conceptual fault lines that touch on the concept’s function in international thought; the inscription of difference, dissonance, conflict and even war within the idea of harmony; the hegemonic and imperial temptations harmony enc...
Nineteenth-Century Music Review
Early Music, 2011
... officio by Malcolm Bilson, also celebrated the pioneering generation to which most of the jur... more ... officio by Malcolm Bilson, also celebrated the pioneering generation to which most of the jurors (Penelope Crawford, Pierre Goy, Tuija Hakkila ... prerequisite: the first round presented contestants with instruments by Paul McNulty and Chris Maene, the former after a c.1805 Walter ...
Diplomatica
That festivities are woven into the historical image of the Austrian diplomat, foreign minister, ... more That festivities are woven into the historical image of the Austrian diplomat, foreign minister, and state chancellor Clemens von Metternich (1773–1859) is in part the byproduct of his investment in music. As an amateur performer, passionate connoisseur, attentive patron, and frequent host, Metternich cultivated an international soundworld that presented opportunities for cooperative performances. Ensemble music and collective listening provided experiences of international concert that gained significance in the context of multilateral congresses and meetings. Musical exchanges, sustained through the activity of women and professional musicians, contributed to fostering diplomatic relations and international presence. In the context of the Restoration’s competing soundworlds, Metternich deployed a patronage of Rossini’s work and Italian opera music, with increasing intensity but mixed effect. This history speaks to the function of music in the presentation of self in international ...
Music and Diplomacy from the Early Modern Era to the Present, 2014