"History is directional and progressive, and the modernization process points to liberal democracy as its fullest embodiment. But getting there is harder than it seemed back in 1992, and the possibility of institutional decay is ever-present," writes CDDRL Mosbacher Director Francis Fukuyama. Read here.
Please join Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL) on Sept. 27 for the launch of Francis Fukuyama's latest book, "Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment." Fukuyama, the Mosbacher Director of CDDRL, will be joined in conversation with Michael McFaul, the director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Affairs. The event will begin promptly at 4:00 pm and be followed by a light reception and book signing from 5:30-6:30 pm.
Please note that there is only 1 ticket permitted per person.
In 2014, Francis Fukuyama wrote that American institutions were in decay, as the state was progressively captured by powerful interest groups. Two years later, his predictions were borne out by the rise to power of a series of political outsiders whose economic nationalism and authoritarian tendencies threatened to destabilize the entire international order. These populist nationalists seek direct charismatic connection to the people, who are usually defined in narrow identity terms that offer an irresistible call to an in-group and exclude large parts of the population as a whole. Demand for recognition of one's identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in world politics today.
The universal recognition on which liberal democracy is based has been increasingly challenged by narrower forms of recognition based on nation, religion, sect, race, ethnicity, or gender, which have resulted in anti-immigrant populism, the upsurge of politicized Islam, the fractious identity liberalism of college campuses, and the emergence of white nationalism. Populist nationalism, said to be rooted in economic motivation, actually springs from the demand for recognition and therefore cannot simply be satisfied by economic means. The demand for identity cannot be transcended; we must begin to shape identity in a way that supports rather than undermines democracy.
Encina Hall, C148
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305
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f.fukuyama@stanford.edu
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Director of the Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy
Research Affiliate at The Europe Center
Professor by Courtesy, Department of Political Science
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Francis Fukuyama is the Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and a faculty member of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law (CDDRL). He is also Director of Stanford's Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy, and a professor (by courtesy) of Political Science.
Dr. Fukuyama has written widely on issues in development and international politics. His 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man, has appeared in over twenty foreign editions. His book In the Realm of the Last Man: A Memoir will be published in fall 2026.
Francis Fukuyama received his B.A. from Cornell University in classics, and his Ph.D. from Harvard in Political Science. He was a member of the Political Science Department of the RAND Corporation, and of the Policy Planning Staff of the US Department of State. From 1996-2000 he was Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Professor of Public Policy at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University, and from 2001-2010 he was Bernard L. Schwartz Professor of International Political Economy at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He served as a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics from 2001-2004. He is editor-in-chief of American Purpose, an online journal.
Dr. Fukuyama holds honorary doctorates from Connecticut College, Doane College, Doshisha University (Japan), Kansai University (Japan), Aarhus University (Denmark), the Pardee Rand Graduate School, and Adam Mickiewicz University (Poland). He is a non-resident fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rand Corporation, the Board of Trustees of Freedom House, and the Board of the Volcker Alliance. He is a fellow of the National Academy for Public Administration, a member of the American Political Science Association, and of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is married to Laura Holmgren and has three children.
(October 2025)
Global Populisms
A new project examining the global surge in populist movements and what it means for established democratic rules and institutions.
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), and Mosbacher Director of FSI's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law.
Encina Hall
616 Jane Stanford Way
Stanford, CA 94305-6055
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Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies, Department of Political Science
Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
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PhD
Michael McFaul is the Ken Olivier and Angela Nomellini Professor of International Studies in Political Science, Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, all at Stanford University. He joined the Stanford faculty in 1995 and served as FSI Director from 2015 to 2025. He is also an international affairs analyst for MSNOW.
McFaul served for five years in the Obama administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House (2009-2012), and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2012-2014).
He is a recipient of numerous awards, including an honorary PhD from Montana State University; the Order for Merits to Lithuania from President Gitanas Nausea of Lithuania; Order of Merit of Third Degree from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, and the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Stanford University. In 2015, he was the Distinguished Mingde Faculty Fellow at the Stanford Center at Peking University.
McFaul was born and raised in Montana. He received his B.A. in International Relations and Slavic Languages and his M.A. in Soviet and East European Studies from Stanford University in 1986. As a Rhodes Scholar, he completed his D. Phil. in International Relations at Oxford University in 1991.
International Working Group on Russian Sanctions
The International Working Group on Russian Sanctions aims to provide expertise and experience to governments and companies around the world by assisting with the formulation of sanctions proposals that will increase the cost to Russia of invading Ukraine, and support democratic Ukraine in the defense of its territorial integrity and national sovereignty.
Director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Affairs, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution.
As Stacy Shimanuki delivered her presentation about the Pacific War (1941–45), I was reflective of the fact that the 73rd anniversary of the surrender of Japan, August 15, 1945, was five days away. Stacy was one of several American and Japanese high school students who were honored by SPICE during an annual event called “Japan Day” at Stanford University on August 10, 2018. The top three students of Stanford e-Japan (fall 2017 cohort) and three students of the Reischauer Scholars Program (2018 cohort) gave presentations on their course research papers. The Reischauer Scholars Program (RSP) is a distance-learning course on Japan and U.S.–Japan relations that is offered annually to high school students in the United States, and Stanford e-Japan is a distance-learning course on the United States and U.S.–Japan relations that is offered twice annually to high school students in Japan.
For me, Japan Day is not only a day of recognition of students but is also symbolic of the close friendship between the United States and Japan that has evolved from a once-bitter rivalry. Though the six students had met their instructors Naomi Funahashi (RSP instructor; Dr. Rie Kijima taught the latter part of the 2018 RSP course) and Waka Takahashi Brown (Stanford e-Japan instructor) in online “virtual classrooms,” it was their first time meeting face-to-face. Although they had never met before, it was remarkable to me how the students on both sides of the Pacific seemed almost like old friends by the end of the day.
Japan Day opened with comments by the Honorable Tomochika Uyama, Consul General of Japan in San Francisco. He stated,
The Japan–U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of security, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. As we look at the global challenges we face today, I believe that we must strive to ensure that our special relationship remains strong and vital. One way to accomplish this is by preparing the best and brightest of our young people with the kind of learning opportunities that will deepen mutual understanding. It is my belief that the Reischauer Scholars Program and Stanford e-Japan are admirably working toward this goal by providing the knowledge and expertise our young people will need as future leaders in Japan–U.S. relations.
Before the student presentations, Consul General Uyama took the time to speak with each of the honorees.
RSP honorees
Stanford e-Japan honorees
Grace Rembert, Bozeman High School, Bozeman, Montana
Stacy Shimanuki, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, California
Valerie Wu, Presentation High School, San Jose, California
Amane Kishimoto, Kyoto Prefectural Rakuhoku Senior High School, Kyoto
Yurika Matsushima, Keio Girls Senior High School, Tokyo
Jun Yamasaki, Shibuya Kyoiku Gakuen Senior High School, Tokyo
The students presented on topics ranging from open innovation, employment and people with disabilities, and the U.S. and Japanese educational systems to language and nationalism, literature on the atomic bombing of Japan, and urbanization in Japan. Brown and Funahashi had high praise for their students. “I’m always so proud of our e-Japan award winners,” stated Brown. “Their level of research is at such a high level, and to be able to conduct their presentations in English and with such poise is an amazing achievement for students at such a young age.” During the presentations by her students, Funahashi reminded the audience, “These are high school students!” Without fail on Japan Day, Funahashi hears audience members complimenting the intellect of her students and how articulate they are.
Waka Brown and Naomi Funahashi at podium
Attendees represented people from the Stanford community and the U.S.–Japan community in the Bay Area, including Dr. Takeo Hoshi, Director, Japan Program, and Junichiro Hirata, Visiting Scholar, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, FSI; and Dr. Kazuhiko Hasegawa, Executive Director, San Francisco Office, Osaka University, Kathleen Kimura, Japan Society of Northern California, and Dr. Yoichi Aizawa, Executive Director, San Francisco Office, Waseda University. Amanda Minami Chao and David Chao were recognized for their many years of support to SPICE.
Following the formal program, the students enjoyed a tour of Stanford University. The SPICE staff and I were left hoping that someday we would see them again as undergraduate or graduate students on campus and more importantly, hoping that they will remain friends to further strengthen the decades of friendship between Japan and the United States.
To stay informed of SPICE-related news, follow SPICE on Facebook and Twitter.
Funding for SPICE’s distance-learning courses is generously provided by Amanda Minami Chao and David Chao, and Jean Mou and Yoshiaki Fujimori. Funding for the 2018 RSP was generously provided by Gen Isayama, the Center for Global Partnership/The Japan Foundation, and The Japan Fund, FSI. Funding for the Stanford e-Japan 2017 courses was generously provided by the United States-Japan Foundation, and for the Stanford e-Japan spring 2018 course by Noriko Honda Chen, Harry Gunji, Akira Horiguchi, Paul Li, Tomonori Tani, and the Capital Group Companies.
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The Honorable Tomochika Uyama with six student honorees | Rylan Sekiguchi
Federal health advisors say women can now consider three options when it's time for their cervical cancer screening tests. The influential group, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), has expanded its recommendations for this potentially life-saving exam.
The new recommendations were published in the latest issue of JAMA.
Pap smears have saved many lives since they became available decades ago. Inspecting samples of cervical tissue for pre-cancerous changes is effective at catching possible cancer, and is still the go-to test for women aged 21 to 29, according to the USPSTF guidelines. But there's another option.
"Most cervical cancer is caused by what's called the human papilloma virus, or HPV," says Stanford Health Policy's Dr. Douglas Owens, a professor of medicine at Stanford Medicine and vice-chair of the USPSTF. "And we now have tests for HPV and that's an important step forward."
Encina Commons, Room 190
615 Crothers Way
Stanford, CA 94305
650-497-1191
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bpriestl@stanford.edu
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MPH
Ben Priestley provides leadership and oversight for financial operations, strategic planning, human resources, grant and contract administration, academic affairs, and facilities/space planning. Ben has expertise in interventional clinical research operations and management, specifically in cancer trials. His interest and career in public health began in the field of Parkinson’s Disease research. He received his MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and his BS in Cognitive Science from University of California San Diego.
"If you want some notion of the problem, just try uttering the words “public administration” before a roomful of students and watch them look at their phones or start to fall asleep. Nonetheless, the classic field of public administration is one of the most important today, and its decline (at least in the United States) is one of the reasons why we get poor service from government," writes CDDRL Director Francis Fukuyama. Read the article here.
In this study published in the American Journal of Managed Care, the authors found that premiums for ACA Marketplace plans were higher in rating areas in which physician, hospital, and insurance markets were less competitive. An increase from the 10th to the 90th percentile of physician concentration and hospital concentration was associated with increases of $393 and $189, respectively, in annual premiums for the Silver plan with the second lowest cost. A similar increase in the number of insurers was associated with a $421 decrease in premiums. Physician–hospital integration was not significantly associated with premiums.
"The idea that the big internet platforms are not media companies has never really been tenable, and the contradictions in their public protestations of neutrality have become ever more apparent over time," writes Francis Fukuyama in The American Interest. Read the article here.
The Trump administration's immigration crackdown may be leading to an unintended consequence: a drop-off in benefits enrollment among legal Hispanic immigrants, according to new research by Stanford Health Policy's Marcella Alsan.
This CBS News story about her work notes that an immigration program called Secure Communities, which was rolled out during the Obama administration, is linked to a lower take-up of benefits such as food stamps and health care enrollment.
In a new paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Alsan and Crystal Yang of Harvard Law School found Hispanic households were particularly hard-hit, even those with legal immigration status.
"We find evidence that our results may be driven by deportation fear rather than lack of benefit information or stigma," the researchers wrote. "Though not at personal risk of deportation, Hispanic citizens may fear their participation could expose non-citizens in their network to immigration authorities. We find significant declines in SNAP and ACA enrollment, particularly among mixed-citizenship status households and in areas where deportation fear is highest."
"What is different today is the speed and extraterritorial reach of disinformation. Over-restriction on content undermines our democratic values, but understanding the mechanisms of manipulation opens up the solutions." Our Eileen Donahoe, Executive Director of CDDRL's Global Digital Policy Incubator, said in the podcast "Digital Media: Combatting Threats in the Era of Fake News." Listen here.
Waka Brown and Naomi Funahashi at podium
