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America At The Crossroads
Democracy, Power, And The Neoconservative Legacy
by Francis Fukuyama
The acclaimed political author and professor examines the neoconservative movement in American history and--unlike many of his fellow neocons--sharply criticizes the ongoing Iraq war.
Yale University Press, 240 pages
02/20/2006
$25.00
ISBN: 0300113994
Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics
NOTES:
Known as "After The Neocons" in the UK.
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
The New York Times Michiko Kakutani
Astute and shrewdly reasoned... tough-minded and edifying.
The New Yorker Louis Menand
Let’s continue to try to shape the world, but let’s not be so stupid about it, is the general idea.
The Economist
But is Mr Fukuyama's premise about the true threat correct? It is a view that is easier to take outside government than within it. No one will know whether the threat of nuclear terrorism is overrated until a terrorist has tried it.
The Guardian Martin Jacques
There seems little doubt that American foreign policy will now have to be rethought in a most profound way. With this book, Fukuyama, in breaking with his erstwhile neoconservative colleagues, has fired the first shots.
The Observer Rafael Behr
Much more interesting is Fukuyama's attempt to rescue "The End of History" by explaining how radical Islam does not constitute an ideological challenge to democracy of the type that he had earlier said would never emerge.
The Independent John Gray
Tony Blair is beyond redemption, but perhaps Gordon Brown and David Cameron should acquaint themselves with Fukuyama's latest thoughts - if only to prepare themselves for the next mess the Bush administration gets us into.
The Spectator Douglass Hurd
Not everyone in Britain will want to read his account of the academic origins of the neocon movement or his detailed prescriptions for reorganising the Washington bureaucracy. What is left is thoroughly worthwhile and will give many thoughtful people a sensible path forward.
Daily Telegraph Charles Moore
The great point in favour of the neocons is that they are always thinking hard about how free societies can be advanced or retarded. They have the strong apprehension of threat which conservatives naturally feel, but also an optimism about the capacities of our civilisation which is more typical of liberals. When we in Europe rail against them, what are we offering instead? Nothing much.
Boston Globe George Scialabba
Compared with neoconservatism -- especially as practiced by the Bush administration -- realistic Wilsonianism would be an enormous improvement. But in one respect, at least, it is not particularly realistic.
The Observer David Smith
Fukuyama is readable, but some of his arguments smack of translating common sense into academese.
PopMatters Tim Whitelaw
Crucially, he offers very little of use when it comes to the great geo-political conundrums of our age.
The New York Times Book Review Paul Berman
Fukuyama is always worth reading, and his new book contains ideas that I hope the non-neoconservatives of America will adopt. But neither his old arguments nor his new ones offer much insight into this, the most important problem of all — the problem of murderous ideologies and how to combat them.
Washington Post Gary Rosen
What's missing from this, as a reader of the old Fukuyama would know, is the Hegelian twist that gave his 1992 book "The End of History and the Last Man" its peculiar intensity and breadth. Liberal democracy, in that telling, was not only about the desire for pleasure and physical well-being but also about a second, more elevated drive: the individual's "struggle for recognition," the spirited -- and often political -- assertion of personal dignity and worth. About this deeply felt human need, Fukuyama is now silent. Yet in today's Middle East, nothing is so striking as the dearth of channels for its expression.
Daily Telegraph Harry Mount
His vanity mutates into an Olympian strain of benefit-of-hindsight syndrome.
Sydney Morning Herald Jeff Sparrow
Much of After the Neocons is a little obvious. Fukuyama tells us that the fall of dictatorships doesn't necessarily lead to democracy, that not all Muslims are terrorists, that most people around the world don't believe that the US is self-evidently a force for good, that many Arabs think America tilts towards Israel. Gosh, who knew?
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