Welcome to AI cont’d. Have fun!
A few introductory remarks would be in order, I think, so I’ll make them just to get things going. AI cont’d. will follow in spirit The American Interest magazine itself. What that means is that we are a “big tent” project. We invite those with different interests and views to give us their best shot in trying to define, analyze and solve the main problems before the United States and the world. We want to let ideas and perspectives knock up against each other, and see what happens. We don’t want The American Interest or AI cont’d. to be a self-referential vehicle for the polarization and isolation of views or schools of thought. We have plenty of that already.
Big tent within reason, of course. None of this means that the AI‘s editorial board, its global advisory council, its editor and publisher do not have views–strong views, too. It means, however, that these views are not uniform, and their application to problems at hand is not numbingly predictable. These views do not run ALL the way across the board, it’s true. It’s probably fair to say that there aren’t many Michael Moore fans among the AI family, nor many Patrick Buchanan fans either.
But our angle of view is still pretty wide, not least because we’re interested in the sources as well as the manifestations of American conduct in the world. There hasn’t been as tight an ideological fit between foreign and domestic policy views as some think. There have always been hawkish Democrats with stellar ADA ratings, and there have been dovish Republicans who are very crusty fiscal conservatives. So among us there is more to argue over than usual.
Some people have already tried to categorize us, to put us in some kind of comfortable box–comfortable to them, that is. We keep telling people we’re not going to label ourselves, that we really do believe that inherited orthodoxies and the vocabulary that goes with them are no longer adequate for the times. Some just don’t believe us, it seems. But it’s true. Read us, try us, and judge for yourself.
I look forward to recieving the first issue of AI and look forward to checking in on AI cont’d on regular basis. I think that you and the board have made it clear what this project is about but for those of us not in the know it would be nice to at least have an idea of what went down at TNI. I wish you luck in this new venture and look forward to being a long-time subscriber.
Well, The Cardinal, thanks. We’ll try not to disappoint you as a loyal reader.
As for what “went down”, as you put it, at TNI, I don’t think we’re inclined to spend energy discussing that. You haven’t missed anything important; it’s just “Washington stuff.” Better, we think, to look ahead, and not perseverate on the past.