This week’s “Daily Journal” guest columnist is Kory Swanson, Executive Vice President of the John Locke Foundation.

A few weeks ago, I told you about some of the journals I read on the Left. Today’s column covers the other side of the reading divide: journals I read on the Right. The discussion on the Right is vibrant, substantive, and testy. As a heterogeneous political movement, the Right is brimming with interesting debates on immigration, national defense policy, government spending and the size of government, and the direction of Western culture. As with my reading on the Left, my bias is towards journals that cover a wide range of topics, including culture and the arts. Although The Weekly Standard, National Review, and Reason are on my reading list, there are many other fine journals that call for your attention. Here are six lesser-known journals on my reading list.

Commentary

This is the best known journal on the current list. It is considered one of the primary homes of neo-conservatism. Indeed Irving Kristol, whom many consider the founding father of the neo-conservative movement, was the managing editor from 1947 to 1952. Published by the American Jewish Committee since 1945, the magazine covers politics, international affairs, and societal issues from an American Jewish perspective. The current issue covers topics from United Nations corruption to the influence of the late feminist Betty Friedan to the controversies surrounding cloning.

The Salisbury Review

A conservative publication from Great Britain, The Salisbury Review was founded in 1982 by the Salisbury Group of Tories. They chose British philosopher and conservative Roger Scruton to be the editor, a position he held for 18 years. A marvelous journal with a traditional conservative outlook, The Salisbury Review covers a range of cultural and political issues from around the world. It publishes various articles on subjects not generally discussed in the mainstream press.

Describing his tenure as editor of The Salisbury Review, Scruton writes that it “cost me many thousand hours of unpaid labour, a hideous character assassination in Private Eye, three lawsuits, two interrogations, one expulsion, the loss of a university career in Britain, unendingly contemptuous reviews, Tory suspicion, and the hatred of decent liberals everywhere. And it was worth it.”

The American Enterprise

Published by the American Enterprise Institute and edited by veteran journalist and researcher Karl Zinmeister, The American Enterprise advocates free-market economics and takes a neo-conservative stand on foreign affairs. Zinmeister has written two well-received books on the War in Iraq: Boots on the Ground: A Month with 82nd Airborne in the Battle for Iraq and Dawn Over Baghdad: How the U.S. Military is Using Bullets and Ballots to Remake Iraq. His careful research and reporting is reflective of this journal’s high quality.

The New Criterion

This New York-based journal of culture and art criticism is known for its conservative take on the arts. Edited by Hilton Kramer (a former art critic for The New York Times) and conservative art critic Roger Kimball, The New Criterion offers a decidedly fresh view of the artistic and literary worlds. The essays and reviews are always insightful and thought provoking. If you want to make sense of what is taking place in the world of art and literature, this is an excellent place to begin.

Policy Review

Launched by the Heritage Foundation, Policy Review is now published by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Policy Review is unmatched for penetrating essays and analysis on foreign policy and domestic issues and for well-written book reviews. A recent issue considered the appropriateness of the Vietnam analogy for Iraq, Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, China’s considerable economic power in Asia, and the proper disposition of dictators.

First Things: A Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life

First Things is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life, an inter-religious, nonpartisan research and education institute. Its editor-in-chief is the prolific Father Richard John Neuhaus. I like First Things for its sophisticated look at the public square and the role of religion in American society. In-depth, well-researched articles by leading academics on a wide array of public policy issues, well-reasoned opinion columns, and thoughtful book reviews on a wide variety of topics make for good reading.

Now that I’ve offered a sample of my reading lists on the Left and Right, I would like to know what you are reading. Contact me at [email protected].