If the objective is to essentialize these characteristics, then you're moving away from a liberal society that really does see a kind of underlying universal humanity behind people. And i think you don't, ere're many societies that are organized that way. But if you are a society where you still have the ability to treat people as individuals, you ought to stick to that before you move too far down the road to being bosnia with its three presidents and three parliaments and three police forces.
Following the fall of communism in 1989, American political scientist Francis Fukuyama shot to fame with his thesis about the ‘end of history’ – the idea that the entire world was set on a path towards universal liberalism. But 30 years on, liberalism is under attack from both the Right and the Left – and from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Professor Fukuyama was joined in conversation by John Gray, the British political philosopher, who rejects the idea of a universal momentum towards liberal values and human progress. Despite the view of many that the Russian invasion of Ukraine marks the end of the post-Cold War era, Fukuyama believes that it is a wake-up call for the West to rekindle the spirit of 1989, while Gray holds that the idea that liberalism will ever triumph is a mirage. Chairing the discussion is the journalist, author and broadcaster, Helen Lewis.
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