March 8, 2011

Francis Fukuyama's "The Origins of Political Order" reviewed in New York Times

In a book to be published in April, The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution, Francis Fukuyama, the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow, presents a sweeping overview of human social structures throughout history, writes Nicolas Wade in the New York Times. Dr. Fukuyama, he says, is concerned mostly with cultural aspects of human society. He explicitly assumes that human social nature is universal, and built around certain evolved behaviors such as reciprocal altruism, creating and following rules, and a propensity for warfare. Because of this shared human nature, "human politics is subject to certain recurring patterns of behavior across time and across cultures," Fukuyama writes. Read more »