Francis Fukuyama has now written a response to those who claim Huntington
was rigths, and Fukuyama was wrong. He restates his thesis, 'no regrets'...
"We remain at the end of history because there is only one system
that will continue to dominate world politics, that of the
liberal-democratic west."
My comments were about one peace petition, but as I said they are
symptomatic. The petition is written entirely from the perspectuve of the
'liberal-democratic west'. The signatories are people who have never once
in their lives questionned the core liberal-democratic values, so all they
can do is call feebly for peace. This is the general pattern for the
western critical intellectuals, after September 11.
This does confirm Fukuyama's view, that there is no comprehensive new
alternative ideology to liberalism - other than historical systems and
regimes, which it has sucessfully displaced. I have consistently said that
Fukuyama got it right. If I ask you people (critical geographers and so on)
to show me anyone who has damaged the liberal monolith, Osama bin Laden
would be the most realistic answer. Certainly not 'critical' intellectuals.
This petition, and others like it, are a failure and a mockery. Just
compare the defensive platitudes of the petition, to the agressive
self-confidence of George Bush and Tony Blair. That's the general picture.
--
Paul Treanor
|