End of history

The end of history is a hypothetical future period of time in which the world's societies simply stop evolving and maintain their peace, freedom, and stability indefinitely. Important historic events such as wars and coups will no longer occur, thus signifying the "end of history," or at least the end of history of any significance.

The ending of history is often considered a byproduct of world peace, as history is often characterized as the product of conflict.

Francis Fukuyama popularized the expression in his 1993 book The End of History and the Last Man in which he predicted that the ending of the Cold War signaled the end of the world's last major conflict, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution, and the inevitable universalization of Western liberal democracy[?] as the final form of human government. Though initally popular, Fukuyama's book is now considered dated by many, as continuing wars, and terrorist attacks such as those on September 11, 2001, have shown that the world is still full of conflict and hatred, much of which is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

See also: End of the world