Francis Fukuyama

Known for

The End of History and the Last Man

Thought

Writing as the Cold War ended, Fukuyama argued that liberal democracy combined with free-market capitalism had defeated its last serious ideological rival and represented the final, universal endpoint of political and economic development for all societies — "the end of history". The claim proved hugely influential and hugely contested, especially as nationalism, authoritarianism and religious politics persisted and resurged in the decades after.

Biography

American political scientist and former US State Department official who first previewed his most famous thesis in a 1989 essay, before expanding it into a book.

Major works

• The End of History and the Last Man