Fukuyama’s Concept of the «The End of History» in the Context of Modern Globalization Processes

Abstract

In its general features, globalization is the process of formation of a new world order,
which is characterized by a common economic, political, socio-cultural and technological
aspects. At the end of the 20th century the works of the American scientist and political figure F.
Fukuyama became the subject of considerable debate. He expressed his understanding of the
main trends of modern historical development and globalization in his concept of the philosophy
of history i.e. «the end of history». This concept has rather important theoretical significance for
explaining the essence and prospects of globalization processes and modern geopolitical
strategies.
F. Fukuyama refers to the historiosophical paradigm of historical progress, according to
which history has certain internal content and direction, thus, humanity is moving towards more
equitable and free social order based on liberal democracy. This paradigm took shape in the
philosophy of the Enlightenment. It was focused on understanding the logic of the progressive
historical development of mankind.
Like Hegel, F. Fukuyama believes that «the end of history» means that there will be no
more progress in the development of principles and institutions of social order, since all major
issues will be resolved. That was exactly that kind of state that the world reached at the end of
the 20th century, when the ideas of liberalism (liberal democracy) as the highest embodiment of
freedom from Fukuyama’s point of view won in almost the whole world. In order to substantiate
his concept of the «end of history», F. Fukuyama indicates that the communist ideology and the
socialist countries were economically and ideologically defeated and there are no forces able to
challenge liberal democracies led by the United States of America. Thus, the ideology of
liberalism will gradually translate into the economic and political spheres, which in its turn will
contribute to the strengthening of the liberal ideology. The concept of the «end of history»,is
based on the paradigm of progressive historical development. It is rather contradictory, and that
did not escape the attention of Fukuyama critics. First, the tragic events of the 20th century
(totalitarian regimes, fascism, world wars, cold war, etc.) brought disappointment in the
paradigm of the progressive historical process; second, critics see the Fukuyama concept as an
apology for the expansionary US foreign policy; third, there are alternative concepts of history,
such as, the «clash of civilizations» by S. Huntington.
However, the multifaceted nature of historical development cannot be «squeezed» into
any theoretical schemes, which in various aspects reflect certain angles of multidimensional
world development. The debate about the logic of the modern historical process will continue
further, because almost every researcher offers his own interpretation of the concept of history,
and, consequently, of the historical process itself. But it is always a productive dispute in the
sense that it forces people to rethink their past, to comprehend the present and look into the
future.