Commentary

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Commentary

description Political magazine
language English
publishing company Commentary Inc.
First edition 1945
Frequency of publication per month
Sold edition 27,000 copies
(Self-reported)
Editor-in-chief Neal Kozodoy
editor John Podhoretz
Web link Commentarymagazine.com
ISSN (print) 0010-2601

Commentary is a US monthly magazine launched in 1945 by the American Jewish Committee . The influential publication describes itself as "the most important opinion-forming monthly and a decisive voice in American intellectual life" as well as the "flagship of neoconservatism in the USA" since the 1970s. The editorial team notes: "A large number of articles can be counted among the milestones of American literature and intellectual life."

Commentary is published in New York . As the July / August editions are combined, the magazine appears eleven times a year.

Founder and previous editor

The founder and first publisher or editor-in-chief was Elliot E. Cohen . After his death in 1959 , Norman Podhoretz took over the chief editor; he headed the magazine until 1995 . Currently ( as of early 2007) he is the editor ; he regularly writes, in some cases quite extensive, articles on current political issues such as the Iraq strategy or the Bush doctrine , the ideological core of which can be traced back to the work of the neocons . In contrast to other protagonists of the movement ( see Francis Fukuyama ) or original proponents of the propagated concepts ( see Thomas L. Friedman ), Podhoretz still stands by the neoconservative ideas of the spread of democracy.

Topics and viewpoints

Commentary's main themes are political and international affairs, social affairs, culture and art, and Judaism . Many articles and contributions originally represented secular Jewish-US-American positions, as were most authors of Hebrew origin, sometimes emigrants such as B. Hannah Arendt . Even Paul Celan , but also Golo and his father Thomas Mann published in Commentary.

Since the 1970s, however, more liberal or left-wing authors increasingly turned away from Commentary ; There was an open break between Norman Podhoretz and numerous former friends and companions, about which the most outstanding Neocon next to Irving Kristol (the godfather ) has written a book.

"The roots of much of the Bush administration's now discredited policies can be found in Commentary Magazine over 50 years ago," said Nathan Abrams. “Commentary was the vehicle (or the 'soap box' as the New York Times called it) for the conception, maturation, birth and transformation of neoconservatism from a small movement to philosophy at the immediate center of power. "(Cf. Bush Doctrine )

readership

Commentary still stands out from other established right-wing or (neo) conservative publications due to its downright elitist claim. It recruits its audience mainly from opinion leaders and those responsible in politics, administration, science, culture and those in the media landscape.

Well-known authors

literature

  • Nathan Abrams, Edward N. Luttwak (Foreword): Commentary Magazine 1945-59: A Journal of Significant Thought And Opinion. Vallentine Mitchell, 2006, ISBN 0-85303-664-0
  • Neal Kozodoy (Ed.): What to Do About…: A Collection of Essays from Commentary Magazine. HarperCollins, 1995, ISBN 0-06-039154-5 .
  • Robert Zwarg: Commentary. In: Dan Diner (Ed.): Encyclopedia of Jewish History and Culture (EJGK). Volume 2: Co-Ha. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02502-9 , pp. 17-19.
  • Benjamin Balint : Running Commentary: The Contentious Magazine That Transformed the Jewish Left Into the Neoconservative Right . New York: PublicAffairs: 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Commentary: About Us
  2. ↑ Where Neo-Conservatism Was Born . History News Network. December 11, 2006. Retrieved December 18, 2010.