Francis Fukuyama’s 1992 book The End of History was arguably the most influential post-Cold War neoconservative tract. But for some time Fukuyama’s been uneasy with his fellow neocons, mostly because of the Iraq war. In a big New York Times Magazine article this week, Fukuyama makes the break once and for all:

 

Neoconservatism, as both a political symbol and a body of thought, has evolved into something I can no longer support.

 

The neocons over-reliance on military power, egotistical brand of American exceptionalism and go-it-alone bravado are all contributing factors Fukuyama cites. His essay brings to mind Ronald Reagan’s famous rejoinder:

 

I didn’t leave the Democratic Party. It left me.

 

But as our colleague David Corn notes, Fukuyama should’ve known what he was getting into. He did, after all, sign a letter from the Project for a New American Century a week after 9/11 advocating for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein:

 

It may be that the Iraqi government provided assistance in some form to the recent attack on the United States. But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism. The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition. American military force should be used to provide a "safe zone" in Iraq from which the opposition can operate. And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means.

 

A little history can be a dangerous thing.