Fukuyama Clarifies 37-Year-Old 'End of History' Thesis in New Memoir

3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 2

Francis Fukuyama says his new memoir aims to settle what he calls a 37-year misunderstanding of his 1989 “End of History?” essay and spell out where he was wrong and still right.
The 73-year-old political theorist argues he never claimed events or wars would end, only that no system had yet proved more satisfying than liberal democracy—though he says China remains a serious open test.
In the book, “In the Realm of the Last Man,” he links today’s nationalist populism to unmet demands for dignity and recognition, saying Trump grasped voters’ sense of disrespect better than liberal elites did.
Fukuyama also blames social media for widening the gap between stable material life and apocalyptic political feeling, reviving the boredom and hunger for struggle he warned about in 1989.
The memoir doubles as an account of his ideological shift from Reagan-era conservatism after the 2003 Iraq war and the 2008 crash, toward a stronger belief in state capacity and liberal guardrails.