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2014 in Review

2014 marked a turning point in global politics, both on the foreign level and on the domestic level. The end of the Arabian Civil War would see Saudi Arabia, the arguably hegemonic power of the region, be brought down to its knees by the failures of domestic policy along with the results of radical ideology from the outside that came as a result of their actions. In its place was a new reformist Arabia, working on granting human rights and while not perfect, if in part due to the reinforced security and guards to ensure a smooth transition of power along with the culling of reactionary radicals, it was improving. At the same time, Iran would take its place and try to fill in the void, flexing its muscles and trying to show off the efforts of its Islamic republicanism, even if said successes came because of the dominance of Reformers, especially the rising new wave of such. The last bastions of the old guard were pleased yet concerned that the reforms would continue past what they would be comfortable with. At the same time, beyond adding another star on the list of surprising successes on aggressive foreign policy for the McCain Administration, it served as a reflection point for the American people. These victories would see the deescalation of conflict and presence in the Middle East and while they did serve as a rush of pride for the Americans, it gave way to introspection on America's place as it was evident that conflcits would've been motivated by lust for petrol had the Gore Administration not exposed the corruption and fact suppression by Exxon-Mobil and the implications under fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists were doing similar work with the paid assistance of certain politicians, most of whom would end up losing power and influence over time. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement would be viewed on as an explosive signal fire for the new radicals, revolutionaries and reformers to come together and overtake the calcifying establishment during a time when the people were clamoring for change.

Additionally, across the world, similar sentiments of change was being brought about. With last year having Australia swing to the left, some wonder if the trend would continue in the Anglosphere. Meanwhile, Russia's reputation in the world continued to go down as a result of their actions in Ukraine and Crimea. Long time allies were beginning to seperate from them and the Americans have been growing closer to the Chinese enough to where they were trying to arrange potential negotiations and agreements to deal with the Putin Administraton. Another instance was McCain's meeting with the head of state of North Korea. While initially planned in the winter, about a year after Jang Song-thaek became the leader, the Russian conflict delayed the meeting. It was considered a parallel to Nixon's vistation to China and was done that Song-thaek could help lead the nation to more prosperous times. Beyond such, it was a quiet affair though it did lead to a discovery of Chendoism for some people as vaguely interesting religion. Around that time was also when McCain took the visitation to China to discuss matters with their President and General Secretary, Li Keqiang. Namely issues involving international security and the liberation of their economies from the reliance of fossil fuels, especially as the renewables versus fossil fuels was becoming increasingly politicized due to the association of totalitarian states and reliance of petroleum for stability and the term "petrocartel" became more pronounced around the time.

Pop culture meanwhile saw the continuation of the trend of superhero films though perhaos more notable since it would be coming more from the heels of the success of the Avengers. The year started with Captain America: Winter Soldier. Following the events of Avengers, the film revolves around Steve Rogers, working with S.H.I.E.L.D. as Captain America. However, after an assassination attempt on S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury by the enigmatic Winter Soldier, Steve goes on the run with Black Widow to uncover the truth of a conspiracy along with Hawkeye being caught in the middle. A large shock came with the reveal came that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been compromised from within by Baron Wolfgang von Strucker, legendary HYDRA head, and thus had to be dismantled and dealt with. Furthermore, that the Winter Soldier, a brainwashed Bucky Barnes, was used to kill Tony's parents. This leads to a melancholic scene as Tony and Steve talk, the former recovering from his deal with the Mandarin before they wonder if Thor is doing all right. It also introduced new hero, Falcon. The film got very good reviews though a complaint was on the lack of color for the Falcon suit (which the actor himself noted as he would've wanted a more colorful suit.) Interestingly enough, the film also served as foreshadowing to a new franchise. Said franchise would be none other than The Fantastic Four. It's revealed that the accident that gave Reed, Susan, Johnny and Ben their powers had them unconscious during the events of Avengers and thus have to wake to deal with a bold new world, especially as Reed has to handle the salvaged technology. Insights are delved into the characters, like Susan being a former SHIELD agent, Ben in rocket engineering and Johnny a pilot. Realizing the dangers that laid ahead, they ended up going into space to try and figure out what happened, thanks to the new technology from the aliens making it easier. The "jump" into deep space has them come into conflict with the former Head Accuser of the Kree Empire, Ronan. Beyond a zealotry for the job, it was also because of his hunt of a Skrull woman named Lyja, who ends up in a growing romance with Johnny. The film was a surprise hit with a mix of comedy and space opera elements along with better elements and fight scenes, including social commentary on police brutality, profiling and exploration vs xenophpobia. References to a certain "Peter" was made and even more on the dangers of space and the Infinity Stones. The last Marvel film came near the end as a surprise, and that being The Amazing Spider-Man II. Picking off on where the previous film left off, it has Peter continue to explore the elements of responsability in his adulthood along with the revelation of the Avengers and the invasion, while still trying to be the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." Furthermore, the introduction of alien technology and how it affects working class folk is examined. This is seen with Max Dillion, an electric lineman who's desire to be a "somebody" has him experimenting with the alien tech. A disaster with the power source leads him to becoming Electro, allowing him to manpulate electricity and causing dangerous blackouts for coercion. The film has Peter fighting against him with Gwen's help and the usage of brain against brawn. The theme is also taken when reflecting on Peter and Gwen's relationship struggles, especially when George Stacey is killed in the line of duty. Said struggles underline the differences between them; this was initially foreshadowed (including in the last film) because of Peter's lower class background vs Gwen's more middle class background. However, the key thing is how they handle loss and misunderstandings, especially with each other. While the two do defeat Electro and a couple of different moments have each other being their supposed last thoughts, the ordeal forces them to confront that they may not be right for the other. They break up with Peter seeing Gwen off as she goes to London to study abroad and spend time with her extended family. Two post-credit scenes appear, one that has Peter talking to Aunt May on the ordeal before greeting Anna May Watson, Aunt May's best friend who has moved back into the neighborhood and bringing along her niece, Mary Jane Watson. The second meanwhile has him answer a job interview to meeting Tony... only for the revelation being that he's Spider-Man when Cap walks in. The film also includes hints on other films like Peter concerned when he leaves a message for the Baxter Building. Beyond the MCU though, other films began catching the eyes of people. Big Hero 6 however was delayed for a release in the next year. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes came out and brought new life there along X-Men: Days of Future Past helped revive interest. Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies did well along with Interstellar capturing the imagination of people.

Of course, video games also saw a rise as the new era of the console wars have begun. The Nintendo Twin/Nintwin continued to do well as it managed to establish itself as different enough from the Wii, but still maintaining the charm and some appear for it. New games appeared for it such as Donkey Kong Jungle Freeze, Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors, a new hack-and-slash Zelda game that brought fresh life and gave the opportunity for players for more dramatic sword-swinging action. However, the big game that came out was none other than Super Smash Bros Duels, the Nintwin's iteration of the popular Super Smash Bros game series. Many were excited to see who would be brought in for the next game, especially given the development cycle. There were many happy returns such as Krystal and Banjo/Kazooie and especially Sonic, confirming SEGA/Microsoft was more than happy to let him remain in the game. Of course, while some characters would get cut, new characters would come in. Diddy Kong, Palutena, Ridley, the Animal Crossing Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer were among the big names. All of them were welcomed in though the biggest surprise was none other than Mega Man himself being brought in. If that wasn't enough of a surprise, news came in over DLC that would be available to expand the game and included the possibility of voting for two characters to get in. The game itself featured a variety of obstacles and challenges for the player, with one mode inspired by one from Kirby Air Ride. Meanwhile, new games were coming out also for the Nintendo UDS. Kirby and the Crystal Shards UDS was a welcomed surprise along with another being Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, remakes of the third generation games of Pokemon. Another was Banjo-Kazooie UDS, a remastering of the classic Nintendo game. Meanwhile, SEGA released Bayonetta 2 for the Xbox One along with a new game, Sonic Synergy. Inspired by Sonic Heroes, the player plays a team of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy and switch between their various abilities to go through the various areas by working together. After the events of Sonic Lost World which saw Eggman's attempts of harnessing the power of dinosaur-like creatures fail, he follows on the leftover events and discovers crystals with synergous properties through vibrations. Beyond powering his robots, he plans to make a control ray with it. His tests result in Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy being "synergized", explaining why they have to work as a unit along with exploring their bonds. Of course,Xbox One would be home to other exclusives such as Sunset Overdrive, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Project Spark and Titanfall while the Playstation 4 would bring some new firepower with inFamous Second son and Last of Us Remastered. Other games dominated cross consoles such as Destiny, Watch_Dogs, Far Cry 4, Child of Light and others. Games on the computer also went well; World of Warcraft unleashed a new expansion with Warlords of Draenor, which saw the Old Horde return when Garrosh found a way to bring the old warlords of Draenor back. As such, this leads to a quasi-civil war between this Old Horde under Garrosh and the familiar Horde with the Alliance having to deal with fallout. Hearthstone provided a new venue for people to play with. Mobile gaming was also on the rise and gaming itself was becoming more and more prominent.