Dr. Francis Fukuyama is the political scientist who became famous for a 1989 essay titled "The End of History?"
The essay arrived right as the Cold War was winding down, and raised the question: Has democracy and free market capitalism won the day?
At the time -- with the Soviet Union collapsing -- the spread liberal values and institutions to the remaining countries of the world could easily have seemed like an inevitablity. As we’ve seen, though, it hasn’t quite turned out that way, and in recent years, democratic institutions in many countries have been losing ground just as populous leaders, some with very illeberal views, have made gains.
If there has been a delay to the end of history, Dr. Fukuyama says one issue we should take a good long look at is that of identity. It's a potent force that he says lies behind diverse movements: from brexit to black lives matter to the rise of authoritarianism in Russia.
On this edition In Depth we discuss Dr. Fukuyama’s new book titled Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment, and examine the outsized influence that identity politics is playing in the major events shaping our world today.
Guest: Francis Fukuyama, director of the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University