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| Content | | | | The Return of History and the End of Dreams | Author: Robert Kagan
Publisher: Knopf, April 2008
During the 1990s, after the fall of communism, it appeared that democratic capitalism had triumphed with no serious ideological challengers on the horizon. It was famously designated by Francis Fukuyama as "the end of history." Enlightenment had reached its final stage. Most of the pundit class believed that China and Russia were well on their way to becoming liberal democracies. The theory was that once their respective middle classes reached a certain level of wealth they would be demanding the legal and political rights that are required of constitutional liberalism.
Robert Kagan does not believe this will happen. He reminds his readers of the competitive nature of human beings and of the "stubborn traditions" now once again clearly resurgent in many nation states. Autocracies such as China and Russia will not make the transition to liberal democracy on their own, nor will they change if they are safely embedded in the international liberal order. Kagan argues that the Chinese and the Russians do not view democracy as competitive elections. The ruling classes are not so much concerned with human rights as they are with satisfying public needs. In both countries a relatively small ruling class controls all the levers of power. Even though they line their own pockets, they have served their populations rather well. The majorities of their populations actually seem content with this "style" of democracy.
Kagan does not hide the fact that he is American; and as many of his fellow countrymen he has a somewhat missionary zeal when it comes to the role of the US in the geopolitical arena. However, all in all this essay offers a sound and intelligent analysis of contemporary international affairs.
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