Fukuyama is interesting to read because he is one of those thinkers who is not afraid to change. He remains a consistent supporter of liberalism and considers it the best political value system, which does not prevent him from seeing its weaknesses.
This book is about why liberalism is now losing influence in the world. Among the reasons are internal factors: the evolution of liberalism itself, to extreme forms that undermine its very foundations. This phenomenon is particularly noticeable in the United States.
For external reasons, it is about its inability to respond to the challenges of our time, such as the need to reconcile freedom of speech, threatened not only by states, but also by corporations, and privacy, which is becoming less and less in an increasingly open world.
The author’s reflections on the relationship between liberalism and the nation state are important. Fukuyama does not support the idea that the nation-state is useless or even harmful, which is held by some extreme liberals, who consider it a relic of the past. After all, the national state is the framework in which liberalism can be effective.
“Nations are important not only because they are centres of legitimate power and tools for controlling violence. It is also the only source of commonality. We feel the strongest bonds of friendship with the closest people, such as friends and relatives; when the circle of acquaintances expands, our sense of duty towards them inevitably weakens. At the same time, as human societies grew larger and more complex over the centuries, bonds of solidarity spread dramatically from families, villages, and tribes to entire nations. But few love humanity in general. For most individuals in the world, the nation remains the largest unit of solidarity to which they instinctively feel loyalty.
In fact, this commitment becomes a critical pillar of the state’s legitimacy, and therefore its ability to govern. We see the catastrophic consequences of societies with a weak national identity all over the world — from developing countries like Nigeria or Myanmar, which are barely able to cope, to failed states like Syria, Libya, or Afghanistan.”
A small but useful book for thinking about the future of Ukraine and the world. Thank you to Nash Format for publishing it in Ukrainian.
