669. Liberalism and Discontent: Exploring Modern Democracy with Francis Fukuyama
unSILOed with Greg LaBlancShow Notes
Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a faculty member of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). He is also Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy, and a professor (by courtesy) of Political Science. In addition he is the author of several books. His most recent titles are Liberalism and Its Discontents, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, and the upcoming In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir.
Greg and Francis talk about Frank’s “End of History” thesis and later work on liberalism, identity, trust, and political order. Fukuyama argues long-run historical progress is visible in the gap between developed and developing societies, but he still sees no coherent “higher” alternative to liberal democracy and market society. He also explains that modern discontent through generational forgetting of 20th-century horrors and a deeper human desire for recognition and struggle (thymos), including megalothymia - the drive for superiority, which can turn tyrannical.
They discuss how modern prosperity arose from Europe’s unique mix of innovation culture, political fragmentation, religious schism, and family changes that fostered individualism. Frank contrasts state strength with constraint, and traces democracy’s path through England to parliament and common law, critiques American anti-statism in state-building, and examines China vs India. They also discuss war’s effects on state capacity, the internet’s role in polarization and factual disagreement, and the need for shared liberal norms.
*unSILOed Podcast is produced by University FM.*
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