Democracy will be tested, warns Francis Fukuyama

Here's how "The End of History and the Last Man," the 1992 best seller of political philosopher and Stanford University professor Francis Fukuyama, ends: "Perhaps this very prospect of centuries of boredom at the end of history will serve to get history started once again." Clearly, the engines of history restarted and have been working at warp speed in the past three decades.

When I spoke with Fukuyama on Skype recently, I asked him why liberal democracy creates so much boredom. He sighed and smiled, but instantly pointed out a contradiction that is central to the human spirit. "Liberal democracy is a good political system because it is based on the idea of universal recognition: that all citizens have equal rights that are respected. There is this fundamental equality in people's ability to choose and exercise individual agencies. But once democracy gets established and...