AMONG ACADEMICS AND journalists there is no shortage of self-styled ‘public intellectuals’ – thoughtful writers who hope to make big ideas accessible to a popular audience. But few perform this role more effectively than Francis Fukuyama, who first gained worldwide attention with his intriguing claim that the fall of Communism marked the ‘end of history’.

From his academic berth at Johns Hopkins University, Fukuyama has come up with yet another arresting idea. After twenty-five years of trying to curb ‘big government’, he suggests, the international community now needs to master the art of ‘state-building’. Instead of focusing on privatisation or deregulation, it must learn how