Dr. Francis Fukuyama

Plenary 1 - 9:30 – 11:00 a.m.
Dr. Francis Fukuyama
Professor, Johns Hopkins University

Highlights

Few thinkers have so strongly influenced the direction of modern social and political philosophy and public policy as Francis Fukuyama. Professor Fukuyama has written extensively on a wide range of important contemporary issues.

In his most recent book, America at the Crossroads: Democracy, Power, and the Neoconservative Legacy, he offers his critique of the neoconservatism that has shaped current American foreign policy and proposes an alternative approach that balances neoconservative idealism with a much-needed realism. Professor Fukuyama was himself a leading voice among the neoconservative circles he now criticizes; his defection and his book are realigning the dialog that shapes American public policy, as his books have done in the past.

This was most notably the case with the best-selling The End of History and the Last Man. He is the author of several other important books, as well.

Professor Fukuyama has worked at several prominent think tanks and public policy organizations, he has served the U.S. Department of State in posts related to Middle East affairs, and is a 2002 appointee to the President’s Council on Bioethics.

Francis Fukuyama is Bernard Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, and Director of its International Development Program.

He is a cofounder of the magazine and website, The American Interest, a new and independent voice devoted to the broad theme of “America in the world.” He is chair of its editorial board.

The American Interest

The American Interest analyzes America’s conduct on the global stage and the forces that shape it, examines what American policy should be, and invites citizens of all nations into the American national dialogue. This enterprise begins a “discourse characterized by mutual respect, humility and passion for useful truths,” qualities that have always characterized the work of this important thinker.

America at the Crossroads

With his new book, America at the Crossroads, plus an important summary article that appeared in the New York Times Magazine and the launch of The American Interest, one of America’s most important political intellectuals takes the lead again in a new dialog about our future. We stand at a crossroads. Behind us lie the failures of the Iraq war and the misinterpretations of neoconservative political thought that the Bush administration relied on. Ahead lie all the problems of unintended consequences and an opportunity to redefine American foreign policy. Francis Fukuyama offers a valuable history of the ideas, people and actions that have brought us to this intersection and new ideas about how to relate to the rest of the world.

Areas of Expertise

Books

Credentials