Liberal Democracy: Dead End or Cross-Roads?

Abstract

The end of the twentieth century witnessed a wave of optimism regarding the future of Liberalism and democracy in the contemporary world. One of these absolute optimists is Francis Fukuyama who, following in the steps of the hegelian idealism and encouraged by the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union and the Eastern European bloc, declares liberal democracy a global winner. He perceives no further threat to this ideology and to the state system that it underlies, and foresees no future clashes of ideologies. In building his theory, however, he sees communism as the unique ideology and state system opposed to liberal democracy. The current paper contrasts Fukuyama’s “end of history” with some recent events in the Middle East. The aim is to determine whether Fukuyama’s discussion is entitled to be declared universal in nature.