The present book is not a restatement of my original article,
nor is it an effort to continue the discussion with that article's
many critics and commentators. Least of all is it an account of the
end of the Cold War, or any other pressing topic in contemporary
politics. While this book is informed by recent world events, its ·
subject returns to a very old question: Whether, at the end of the
twentieth century, it makes sense for us once again to speak of a
coherent and directional History of mankind that will eventually
lead the greater part of humanity to liberal democracy? The answer I arrive at is yes, for two separate reasons. One has to do with
economics, and the other has to do with what is termed the "struggle
for recognition.