In the editorial in the inaugural issue, editor
Yuval Levin elaborated on the magazine's mission: "
National Affairs will have a point of view, but not a party line. It will begin from confidence and pride in America, from a sense that our challenge is to build on our strengths to address our weaknesses, and from the conviction that chief among those strengths are our
democratic capitalism, our ideals of liberty and equality under the law, and our roots in the longstanding traditions of the
West. We will seek to cultivate an open-minded
empiricism, a decent respect for the awesome complexity of life in society, and a healthy skepticism of the serene
technocratic confidence that is too often the dominant flavor of social science and public policy. And we will take politics seriously". The editorial expresses gratitude to the editors of
The Public Interest, and notes that "the complete archives of
The Public Interest are available for the first time" on its website. On September 7, 2009,
David Brooks of the
New York Times reviewed the first issue. He wrote that "
The Public Interest closed in 2005", leaving "a gaping hole. Fortunately, a new quarterly magazine called
National Affairs is starting up today to continue the work." Brooks continued by noting that the magazine occupied "the bloody crossroads where social science and public policy meet matters of morality, culture and virtue". "In a world of fever swamp politics and arid, overly specialized expertise," Brooks wrote in his closing, "
National Affairs arrives at just the right time."
National Affairs "makes its home at the
American Enterprise Institute." == Notes ==