Liberal democracy's old story is losing its explanatory power

Harari opens by describing the disorientation of the current moment: for decades after the Cold War, the liberal democratic story — free markets, individual rights, ever-expanding global cooperation — seemed to be the only serious contender for organizing human societies, with communism and other rivals having visibly failed. That confident narrative, he argues, has been badly shaken by the 2008 financial crisis, rising inequality, and the resurgence of authoritarian and nationalist alternatives that no longer feel like historical relics.

He's careful not to declare liberal democracy dead, but to diagnose why its once-automatic appeal has weakened: it promised ever-rising prosperity and stability that many citizens in wealthy democracies no longer feel they're experiencing, while automation and globalization create winners and losers the old story struggles to explain or console.

This opening diagnosis sets the stage for the book's broader claim that humanity is currently between stories — the old ones fraying, no fully convincing replacement yet agreed upon.

Takeaway: political crises are often really storytelling crises — old explanations no longer matching lived experience.