Nowadays, Fukuyama observes, we live disconnected from others, distrustful of institutions and uncertain of what this world will bring us next. This is what he calls the Great Disruption. What makes this observation depart from the obvious is Fukuyama's optimistic conclusion. Things are changing for the better. Crime rates are at 30-year lows throughout the country.
Teenage pregnancy is down, and divorce rates have leveled off.
And after an upward spike in the 1990s, drug use is beginning to decline again. Perhaps society's ability to tear itself apart is at least matched by its ability to sew itself back together again. Fukuyama has a prolific background studying people and the institutions and societies they build. He currently teaches public policy at George Mason University and directs that school's International Commerce and Policy Program. He worked several stints for the RAND Corp. and for the U.S. State Department, studying Middle Eastern and later European affairs.