It was the rotting Ottoman remains that the British occupied (a big eye on the oil) and started modernising (that Blairish word) after the first world war, with largely unsuccessful results that culminated in Saddam Hussein, from a pro-Nazi clan in Tikrit, a city now occupied by Isis.
And certainly not when it is compared to the years that Tsiskaridze's predecessor, Vera Dorofeeva, has spent modernising and expanding the Vaganova's curriculum and forging links with other schools around the world.
White House officials have been anxious to stress that the mixture of princes and senior ministers attending in their absence when the summit moves to the wooded presidential retreat at Camp David on Thursday will be more than capable of completing the agenda of "modernising and deepening security cooperation" between the US and GCC countries.
Noting that the Conservatives' shortlist of potential candidates was an all-male one, Ms Jackson added: "This throws into sharp focus William Hague's claim to be modernising the Conservative party.
Haggling over reforms expected to focus on eradicating corruption, overturning the tax system and modernising Athens'dysfunctional public administration will take months – if, indeed, creditors accept them in preliminary form on Monday.
In 1966 the Irish Republic celebrated the 50th anniversary of the rising at a time when the country was modernising under Seán Lemass and emerging from years of stagnation and economic autarky.
Sir David Lloyd Jones, the chairman of the Law Commission for England and Wales, and Lord Pentland, the chairman of the Scottish Law Commission, said: "[We] are committed to cleaning up and modernising our legislation.
Powell's achievements in modernising women's football in this country are heroic, awe-inspiring and downright revolutionary.
Very calmly and quietly, a series of the GAA's elected presidents, such as Joe McDonagh, Sean Kelly and Nickey Brennan, have set about modernising the organisation.
Getting care right for this hugely important group of patients is a critical part of modernising the NHS, and ensuring that it can look after patients of all ages.
The net result was that Labor was remembered for all these negatives but lost the high ground of being associated with the positives of modernising the economy, turning our nation towards Asia and appropriately and fairly responding to the native title decisions of Mabo and Wik.
