Fukuyama Essays (Examples)

Fukuyama, Huntingdon, Friedman

We are only a decade in to the twenty-first century, and anyone who hopes to analyze long-term geopolitical trends for America and its place in the world must begin by conceding that change is happening fast. Large scale ideological shifts that began taking place at the end of the twentieth century -- most particularly the end of the Cold War, that tense and heavily-armed standoff between rival ideologies which concluded not with a bang but a whimper as Gorbachev's Soviet Union devolved into Yeltsin's and then Putin's Russia -- have been occurring for long enough now that Francis Fukuyama's prematurely triumphalist announcement of "the end of history" seems closer to the end of twentieth century history, the end of an era. But the dawn of a new era is tempting for prognosticators, and I would like to address the varying overviews that three of the most influential…

" Both Whitman and othkopf, like Fukuyama, refer to potential of globalization to build bridges between previously isolated worlds, and to harmonize what were once disparate cultures.

Huntington is joined by countless others in a chorus of pessimism about the future of the world. Mcibben warns about the ill effects of population growth on both human societies and the environment. Huntington, Mcibben, and analysts like them make valid points about the dangers posed by globalization. Their points can be heard and taken into account while at the same time embracing the positive vision espoused by Fukuyama and othkopf. As Whitman suggests, globalization means "Passage to more than India!" Uniting the world under a blanket of common goals and ideals of freedom, liberty, and creativity, all conscientious citizens can welcome a new paradigm of peace.

eferences

McKibben, Bill. "A Special Moment in History." Atlantic Monthly. Boston. May, 1998.

othkopf, David. "In…

On the contrary, a realist would look at global terrorism as an international disaster that affects everyone irrespective of cultural background, gender, race or even religion.

Journal #6, Question 6

Fukuyama contends in "The West Has Won" that radical Islam does not constitute a serious alternative to Western liberal democracy. Do you agree or disagree?

Fukuyama shows his contentment with the approach that that depicts the West to have won and that radical Islam does not constitute a serious alternative to the Western liberal democracy. The group of suicide bombers targeting United States is tiny compared to the total number of people opposed to U.S. policies on international relations and fight against terrorist groups. Thus, the extensive hatred, disquiet and dislike seemingly represent something much deeper than mere opposition to U.S. policies that governs its association with other countries around the world. Fukuyama believes that one of the fundamental causes…

liberal democracy? Who are/Were its competitors?

This article by Francis Fukuyama was written 15 years ago, in 1989, so when reviewing his points, it is important to keep in mind that the views he makes are dated. Though his views are taken 15 years ago, that should not make them obsolete, it is just important to keep the perspective of when he offered this paper.

Liberal democracy is, from reading Fukuyama's article, the democratic force that defeated fascism (Hitler) and totalitarian fanaticism (Japan) in WWII. Since there are no "viable systematic alternatives to Western liberalism," the author states, then liberal democracy must be the best system (although that ignores the huge power wielded by the Chinese form of communism). Liberalism generally is defined as a progressive form of politics, where minorities and women should be given equal rights with men, and where voters decide whom their leaders will be -…

Even with the fact that the philosophy is appreciated by many individuals today, the fact that it promotes immoral behavior and that it influences people to take on aggressive attitudes against innocent people in order to achieve their goals makes it no different than earlier theories that ended in failure.

Individuals who have a cultural Islamic background are most likely to favor radical Islam. However, even these individuals are apparently inclined to express hesitation with regard to supporting the ideology. "After 23 years of rule by fundamentalist clerics, most Iranians, especially the young, would like to live in a far more liberal society" (Fukuyama). Even with the fact that some feel that it would be justified for them to be unsupportive of American cultural values, many consider that supporting radical Islam is not the answer to their problems.

Fukuyama is right in thinking that radical Islam makes no difference to…

ush and Iraq

According to the original reasoning behind ush's war on Iraq, Saddam Hussein's regime posed a terrorist threat to the free world, however (subsequent to evidence emerging in the press that this threat was exaggerated, if not fabricated) in more recent statements the ush administration has strongly implied that the war was justified not on the basis of freeing the world of terrorists but because Hussein was a brutal dictator and Iraq needed to be freed from his rule. The idea that the war on terror is actually a war to bring democracy to the world is one which may coincide somewhat with the controversial ideas espoused by Fukuyama, who taught that History (which is to say the evolution of society, not the happening of events) would end when all nations were converted to western liberal democracies and engaged in the global consumerist culture. Perhaps, some might argue,…

Huntington's Clash Of Civilization

confirm or refute Huntington's clash of civilizations thesis

Huntington's clash of civilization

Scholars, journalists, and policy makers have adopted and popularized the ideas of Samuel P. Huntington, who was a professor of government at Harvard University, to explain the emerging post-cold war world. According to Huntington, the world is divided into a number of distinct civilizations that are irreconcilable because they hold to entirely different value systems (Huntington, 1993, 22-49).

This essay in tends to refute the Huntington's clash of civilizations thesis by first of all looking at the summation of this thesis, before the researcher gives his own perspective of Huntington's theory. In the third section of this study, supporting evidence that draws from the readings from this essay and other accredited outside sources are discussed before the essay concludes.

Summation of Huntington's clash of civilization thesis

Born Samuel P. Huntington in 1927; a political…

Global Politics and Economy:

Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries

The world politics and economy of the late twentieth century were highlighted by the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the promise of a 'new world order' and the rise of 'globalization.' These developments were accompanied by a worldwide trend of increasing democracy, trade liberalization and booming economies. The start of the twenty-first century, on the other hand, has seen the emergence of the so-called 'clash of civilizations' and the long drawn out 'fight against terrorism' with the inevitable slump in global economies. In this essay we shall briefly discuss the major trends of the global politics and economy in this tumultuous period of world history.

Collapse of Communism

The 'Cold ar' period involving intense political and economic rivalry between the two superpowers, the U.S.A. And the Soviet Union, lasted from the end of orld ar…

It is important, therefore to understand the different frameworks by which the ethics of an act can be evaluated.

The art of citizenship, as identified by Barber (no date), must taught as part of one's education. It also holds that practical experience is the best way to teach the art of citizenship. People learn about the consequences of their actions by attaching themselves to those consequences physically. In my case, the sheer volume of shoes that I had to sort made the point clear -- I was helping people clothe themselves. Every box of children's shoes I sent was a child that I helped to live a better life. e have a responsibility, Barber argues, to understand the implications of our actions on our communities.

The different approaches to ethics can also be studied through practical experience. It is social interaction that illustrates for us the outcomes of our actions,…

Comparing Madison's ideas against Karl Marx's proposition of a new form of government (or aptly, a new social order) through Communism, salient differences emerge that highlight how Madison's democracy and Marx's Communism can be found in the opposite poles on the spectrum that is the political school of thoughts. Marx's The Communist Manifesto reflected human history's transition from a traditional to a capitalist society, and eventually, to a Communist society. This transition was a result of a history-long struggle of the "oppressed," who Marx referred to as the "proletariat," the social class that will eventually elevate the status quo of society from an oppressive to an egalitarian one -- that is, through Communism. Marx argues that transitions throughout history prior to the establishment of a Communist societydid not offer any the "class antagonisms" that existed in society:

The history of all past society has consisted in the development of class…

Generic, Grand & Specific Strategies for Your Individual Project

A strategy is a statement that will be used to achieve long-term objectives. Strategy is about two things, deciding where you want your business to go, and deciding how to get there. For this study we will look generic strategy, grand and specific strategies and how they are likely to be applied to help the Sikorsky Support Services (SSSI) attain its long time objectives based on competitive advantage, the object of most corporate strategy.

SSSI is an organization that provides aircraft maintenance and manufacturing services support for global commercial and military organizations. It is a global leader in this field.

Porter, (1998) It is worthy to note that Generic strategies provide customers with what they want at a better price, or more effectively than others.) In this case, Sikorsky Support Services (SSSI), would rather choose whether it will compete on price,…

For the most part none of these three examples ever had the experience of living under an autocratic form of government and so the transition from one form of government to another was much smoother. A tradition of democracy supersedes the influence of ethnic diversity in that such tradition cultivates an understanding and respect for negotiated solutions for contentious issues in society which in the long run increases the chances that a democracy will sustain itself.

The final variable in determining the sustainability of democratization is a nation's economic status. Nations that enjoy a prosperous economy are far more likely to accept democratization than one where economy is struggling and it matters very little whether such democratization is imposed or pacted.

The track record on imposed democratization is not a good one. In most imposed democratization situations the tradition of democracy and the balance of power necessary to sustain the…

Researchers at Cornell University discovered that Monarch butterfly caterpillars died when they ate plants dusted with the pollen of Bt corn that was growing in nearby fields, and many scientists worry that with so much insecticide in the corn plants, insects might develop a resistance to it (Dyer 2002). These fears and concerns are echoed by Francis Fukuyama who believes that genetic enhancement will undermine the system of human rights by disrupting the boundary that encloses all humans in a single group, thus believes society should limit genetic science to allow therapy but prohibit enhancement, such as genetically altered food crops, and non-therapeutic procedures (Tobey 2003). In other words, enhancement will allow society to increase genotypic and phenotypic diversity, yet such diversity will press society to the point of losing its shared humanity (Tobey 2003).

orks Cited

Adams, endy a. (2002, January 01). Reconciling private benefit and public risk in…

A widely quoted and interesting functioning definition has been provided by Geert Hofstede who suggests that culture should be considered as software of a person's mind. He is reported to have said that each individual possesses certain patterns and forms of contemplation, emotions and possible acting that they have probably acquired during their life (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005).

Most of these patterns have been obtained through their early childhood experiences as those are the time when an individual is most likely to acquire learning and build on it. Just the way a computer regards its "thought processes" and functioning as its software, the patterns or formations of thinking, experiencing and carrying out psychological processes in an individual can be referred to as the software program of the mind (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005).

However, this does not imply, most definitely that individuals are supposed to function or behave as a computer…

2006). The neurological degeneration caused by this disease has also been found to reduce cognitive abilities pretty much across the board, and the inclusion of emotional recognition in its list of reduced functions suggests a stronger neurological basis for the phenomenon (Winblad et al. 2006). This also suggests a definite relationship between the neurological functions recognized in conscious cognition and the processing of emotional inputs (Winblad et al. 2006).

Much of the information regarding the psychological mechanisms that allow for the phenomenon of emotional recognition via facial features also comes from the study of unhealthy or abnormal cases. Interestingly, in one study involving "average" college students, the existence of primary psychopathic traits was positively correlated with recognition of fearful faces, but seemed to show no effect on the ability to recognize other emotions (Del Gaizo & Falkenbach 2008). This suggests a psychological predisposition to the recognition of certain emotions even…

While Friedman may have provided a plausible explanation as to why the rush to join the globalization bandwagon, he, however, fails to explain the politics behind such policy actions of nation-states. That the more powerful, developed nation-states which have more resources at their disposal to turn international economic policies that influence domestic macroeconomic policies to their favor is lost in the author's discussion. He is keen to caution that caution is utmost necessary for governments to take into consideration not so much as whether to globalize but how nation-states undertake the transition process to respond accordingly to the vagaries of globalization (163).

The author makes a clear case emphasizing the importance of the role of government in the era of globalization, which appears to be a very strong position for a free-market advocate. The elements of an effective state in the age of globalization are characterized by transparency, efficiency, and…

, lands useful to man, but according to technical and conspicuous for purposes that each civilization.

When business needs and adds prestige to urban heritage, religions, however, that mark their territories of pagodas, churches, monasteries, mosques and other places of worship, this singularity is affirmed more, while the forms of urban and rural habitat are specified, they are luxuries or miserable. And civilization, always customary in everyday life acquires additional visibility monumental materializing the skills of craftsmen-artists who enrich the work of the builders.

Added to this are, of course, the wealth and prestige that comes from adding additional, oral traditions of all time, written tradition gradually spread to shops and palaces, and the ideological apparatuses of all kinds, from which they eventually win the depths of peoples. o, the graphics become, like languages, distinctive marks of the various civilizations.

Maturation profoundly affects trade flows of civilization. On the one…

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One of these leaders of nations who had subsisted to the promise of Communism is Vladimir Lenin, Revolutionary leader who became the first leader of Soviet Russia, and eventually, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Under Lenin's leadership, he began realizing Marx's vision of a Communist society, where there is no private property and no class stratification. However, Lenin did not subscribe to Marx' belief that it should be the working class who will induce social reform and revolutionize to build a Communist society, in opposition against capitalism. In "What is to be done?," Lenin argues that revolution under a broad organization of revolutionaries made up of "hardened workers" is not feasible, simply because this organization is "loose," making the revolutionaries of workers more susceptible to outside intervention. These interventions, he states, are the police and gendarmes; hence, a broad organization of workers are not ideal, for it…

Price Beauty?

'For though beauty is seen and confessed by all, yet, from the many fruitless attempts to account for the cause of its being so, enquiries on this head have almost been given up"

illiam Hogarth, The Analysis of Beauty, (1753)

Not very encouraging words, but if the great artist illiam Hogarth felt himself up to the task, we can attempt at least to follow his lead. That beauty is enigmatic goes almost without saying. Different ages, different cultures, and even different individuals, will have their own definitions of "beauty." The problem is more than skin deep. Any term that can be so widely and irregularly employed is bound to trap the casual researcher ... Or reader ... Or viewer ... Or for that matter, any other human being who attempts to define what is and what is not "beauty." People, places, things -- even ideas dreams -- can…

likeability is effected by management in the international workplace. It assumes a phenomenological approach to the notion of likeability, and is based on the idea that likeability in management is fundamental to achieving "connectedness" among employees and to inspiring the drive needed to ensure an organization's success. By conducting a survey of employees and managers from every major business continent of the globe (Asia, Europe, America, the Middle East), it seeks to understand the different ways in which likeability is manifested, discerned, appreciated, and utilized in the cross-cultural international workplace. Its aim is to fill a gap in likeability research regarding the importance of international managerial likeability and hopes to raise awareness about the essentiality of likeability to success. It also aims to identify the phenomenon of likeability as it appears in different cultures. Identifying that phenomenon and coming to terms with it will help business managers to better develop…

Terrorism seems to have taken over the world. No matter how hard the industrialized countries try to find ways to achieve peace and stability in the world but somehow the opposite happens. Today's world is predominantly inhabited by hatred that is visible in the never-ending terror and fear produced by the attacks of September 11th and the military responses undertaken by Super powers. Wars apparently carried out in order to eradicate terrorism are seen by the affected countries as excuses to simply dominate more countries and establish and American hegemony or new colonialism all over the world.

The reasons for escalating terrorism are complex and more than often not understandable. However, some of the reasons are as follows: The growth in the number of terrorist groups is instigated largely by the religious imperative that is greatly funded by the state governments of the Islamic countries; the highly advanced technology and…

Bonner, William and Addison Wiggin. (2003) Financial Reckoning Day.

The idea of a 'soft depression' may seem oxymoronic to the reader's eye, much like 'jumbo shrimp' or 'a sure return' on your investment. A soft depression, however, is not another economic term a downturn in the economy less onerous upon the population than a 'hard depression.' Rather a soft depression is a depression that is based in a multitude of historical and demographic as well as economic factors that can cause a growing instability in the economy over time, rather than a quick, harsh decent into economy misery.

In fact, a soft depression, quite unlike a 'soft fall' is often much worse in terms of its ramifications than a short, sharp shock of a quick depression, much like drowning rather than a death by a firing squad, to use the type of metaphorical language so beloved by the authors William…

Kagan

obert Kagan has been described as a "neoconservative historian,"[footnoteef:1] and yet the commentator's views are more complex than can be squeezed into one phrase. Kagan does exhibit some of the hallmarks of neoconservative ideology, including the continued belief in American exceptionalism, and a willingness to use terms like "new world order."[footnoteef:2] Kagan vehemently opposes the belief that the American hegemon is declining in status and power, admitting only that the United States is rethinking its role in foreign policy and international affairs. Kagan is a foreign policy advisor who Barack Obama has reportedly heralded and cited in presidential speeches.[footnoteef:3] One reviewer of books in The New York Times described the author's work as being "wonderfully argued."[footnoteef:4] Another claims that glaring logical fallacies, "fuzzy generalizations, debatable assertions and self-important declarations of the obvious," generally discredit the international relations maestro.[footnoteef:5] Therefore, obert Kagan emerges as a highly controversial commentator who, at…

In addition, he notes that the Chinese and ussians somehow "choose" to be continuing autocracies, and then acknowledges the power of their leaders. Thus, the people are under the thumb of their leaders, and may be "settling" for autocracy because they see democracy as unattainable and out of reach. Take the ussians, for example, who had a real shot at democracy when the Soviet Union fell, and have instead allowed Putin to create another autocracy not unlike much of the Soviet regime before the fall. Indeed, people may choose autocracy, or they may be bullied into it, or they simply may be more comfortable with it, because it is so ingrained in their lives.

Gee does make valid points throughout his essay, including the notation that most large, successful countries fail without democracy. ome and Greece are two of the dominant democratic cultures that notoriously fell from power and crumbled…

The interview questions will be prepared based on the literature review. Merrian (2006) describes

4. Chapter Structure

The dissertations will be divided into five chapters. Chapter-1: Introduction will consist of an introduction of the research issues, problem statement, significance and scope of the research. Chapter 2-Literature eview will be review of the literature relevant to the research topic. The researcher will focus on discussing the conceptual framework or theory for the research, a detailed discussion of the concept of neoconservative and its connection to Iraq War, the views of opponent and supporters of neoconservative as well as its long-term impacts on United States.

Chapter 3-methodology will consist of research design, selection of research instrument, sample population and sampling techniques as well an elaboration of data collection and analysis methods will be described. Chapter 4-Discussion of esults in which results of study will be described and analyzed while chapter 5 will…

eptember 11 and the New Emerging International Order America and Europe in the New World Order

This is a paper that outlines the international order in American and Europe in the formation of New World Order. It has 11 sources.

As the War in Iraq takes place, and people hope for a quick end to all conflicts around them there is deep thought continuously being given to the emergence of a new world order. People aren't really sure in which direction military conflicts are going to talk them. Most people are afraid, and they are rightly so, because presently nothing is certain at all.

IT seems on one hand there is a dominant American nationalist move to take control gradually of all the weaker countries that it might be able to exploit. On the other hand it is hardly seems likely that Europe would stand by and watch the Americans…

War in Iraq

Should we have gone to war with Iraq based on the reasons given at the time the war started? When we went to war with Iraq, ush gave three reasons for doing so. First, he claimed that Saddam Hussein had ties to al-Qaeda (Richelson, p. 44, p. 69). Secondly, he said that Saddam Hussein at the very minimum was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons and in fact might have already gotten them. Third, he claimed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Of the three claims, the third one regarding WMD was instantly believable, because American news had been full of pictures of dead Kurds, citizens of Iraq, killed with Iraq's chemical weapons. Hussein had used WMD's in the past on his own citizens, and so it seemed likely that he could easily use them on people he regarded as enemies of his country. In addition,…