Francis Fukuyama is a prominent figure in the United States. He’s a successful philosopher, political scientist and writer. This man rose to prominence after publishing his book “The End of History and the Last Man”, which became a worldwide bestseller. Learn more about Fukuyama’s life and career at ichicago.net.
Childhood and youth
The future political scientist was born in Chicago in October 1952 to a family with an interesting background. His grandfather fled the Russo-Japanese War to the United States and started his own business, and during World War II he was incarcerated in a Japanese internment camp. The boy’s father devoted his career to religion, he had a doctorate in social sciences and worked for the United Church of Christ. His mother was born in Japan, to the family of the founder of the Economics Department of Kyoto University. In 1940, she came to the United States to study, but after meeting her future husband, she chose to devote herself to family and raising her only son.
Francis spent his entire childhood in Manhattan before moving to Pennsylvania with his parents when he was a teenager. After graduating from high school, he attended Cornell University, where he studied political philosophy and received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in ancient studies.
Fukuyama continued his studies at Yale University, where he pursued literary studies. He quickly became disillusioned with this field of study and began studying political science at Harvard. At the age of 29, he received a doctorate.
Career development
After defending his doctoral dissertation, the man began lecturing at several California universities. In 1980, he joined the US State Department, where he focused on Middle Eastern affairs, European military and political issues and studied Sovietization.
The philosopher rose to international prominence in 1980, when he published the article “The End of History?” Soon, Francis received a very lucrative offer from a publishing house, so he resigned from the civil service and began writing the book “The End of History and the Last Man”. It was released in 1992.
In his publication, the philosopher clearly defined Western-style liberal democracy as the pinnacle of human evolution and described the end of history as the end of confrontations, revolutions and wars. This book has become a global sensation, having been translated into more than 20 languages.
Furthermore, Fukuyama’s work sparked a surge of relevant publications, both positive and negative. For example, reviewers accused the philosopher of ideological bias and underestimation of Islamism.
On September 11, 2001, the administration of the former US President supported Fukuyama’s call for decisive action in Iraq and Afghanistan. However later, US authorities characterized the philosopher’s teachings as overly passive, and he responded by criticizing the White House’s foreign policy.
In his future publications, Francis returned to the principles of the first edition but gradually changed his views while remaining committed to the basic concept. Thus, in the first half of 2000, the philosopher referred to authoritarian countries as “alternative democratic,” while having earlier stated that they were not viable.
Furthermore, Fukuyama claimed that a powerful country is capable of preventing conflicts and poverty in the developed world.
After writing his first book, the doctor of political science returned to science and started teaching at Stanford University. In 2022, his book “Liberalism and Its Discontents” was released. In this work, the philosopher argues that in recent decades, the ideas of liberalism have been pushed to extremes, resulting in a division in society and increasing the danger to democracy.
Interesting facts
Francis and Laura Holmgren have been married for many years. The couple has three children. Fukuyama’s residence features a woodworking workshop where the man hand carves replicas of antique furniture. The philosopher also collects rare records and labels. In his spare time, he and his wife are engaged in photography.