Francis Fukuyama holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Cornell University. He studied comparative literature at Yale and, during an exchange programme in Paris, took classes with Jacques Derrida and Roland Barthes. He subsequently switched to political science and obtained a PhD at Harvard.

In 1989, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, he published an article entitled “The End of History” in the American magazine “The National Interest” and in the French magazine “Commentaire”, in which he announced the triumph of the democratic model throughout the world. Francis Fukuyama was an advisor to the Reagan administration at the time. In it, he explained that communism was on the verge of extinction and that a new era of peace was about to dawn thanks to liberalism. In the months that followed, the Soviet bloc collapsed. The political scientist developed his ideas in an essay entitled “The End of History and the Last Man” (1992).
In his view, “The End of History”, an allusion to a famous phrase by Karl Marx, does not mean the absence of conflict, but rather the superiority and historical solidity of liberal democracy. He sees this ideal not as an unattainable horizon for our time, but as a possible achievement.

The focus of Francis Fukuyama’s article and book is on international relations. His arguments are partly based on philosophy. Reviews of the essay approach it from both these angles. The fact remains that “The End of History” has become a work translated into several languages that kindles intellectual debate. Thirty years on, in the face of the current crisis, which demonstrates that it is not possible to take the existing liberal world order for granted, Francis Fukuyama calls on us not to let our guard down and to reawaken the “spirit of 1989”.