Is state building the road to world order?

We summarize Fukuyama’s contribution and explore the limits of his arguments. However, a traditional summary is challenging: Fukuyama tries to bring together research traditions in political science, political/historical sociology, International Relations, and, perhaps most importantly, “New Institutional Economics” (NIE). Moreover, Fukuyama also links his theoretical lessons to a wide range of case studies and real-world political scenarios, from (failed) state-building in Eastern Europe to the when and how of military intervention in sovereign states (e.g., Bosnia, Iraq). To put it mildly, State Building is a book with a very wide scope – and, to borrow, Fukuyama’s own vocabulary, too much scope may limit the strength. Fukuyama essentially tries to “ground” and expand political science and IR with insights from NIE. As we will see, doubts remain concerning the theoretical framework proposed. Many links between theory and a series of substantive claims are left unarticulated, raising the possibility that the book’s policy recommendations are unwarranted.