George Shultz on Economic and Political Systems

Karl Marx viewed that the world would inevitably move towards communism (as the working class united and took over the bourgeois). However, Francis Fukuyama recently articulated in "The End of History" that the move towards global capitalism and democracy is inevitable. He stated that this was documented by recent history (the US winning the Cold War, Capitalism growing popular in the world and Marxism/Maoism/Communism's popularity declines). In today's WSJ, George Shultz, Reagan's Secretary of State, articulates this move in describing "neoconservatism."

"I don't know how you define 'neoconservatism,'" he replied, "but I think it's associated with trying to spread open political systems and democracy. I recall President Reagan's Westminster speech in 1982 -- that communism would be consigned to 'the ash heap of history' and that freedom was the path ahead. And what happened? Between 1980 and 1990, the number of countries that were classified as 'free' or 'mostly free' increased by about 50%. Open political and economic systems have been gaining ground and there's a good reason for it. They work better. I don't know whether that's neoconservative or what it is, but I think it's what has been happening. I'm for it."