These are critical times. Not since before the New Deal have working people in this country been so vulnerable, and perhaps never before has the right been so influential and self-confident. Abroad, U.S. military and corporate power embraces the world in a stranglehold.

There are hopeful signs: the leftward shift in Latin American politics, the inspiring struggles of French students and workers, the growing, fierce resistance in China, to mention a few. But too often the major opposition to a U.S. imperium has been dictatorship or the politics of reactionary religious fundamentalism.

And here in the U.S., there have been some encouraging developments: massive marches against the Iraq war, the unprecedented immigrant rights movement, and Bush's growing unpopularity despite the timidity of the Democrats. Yet the left is too organizationally and intellectually weak to seriously challenge the Establishment.

New Politics seeks to help revitalize the left. The magazine offers ideas and strategies, not set down in advance as a "line," but generated through discussion and analysis from a radical, democratic, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist standpoint. Within these broad parameters, NP welcomes debate. NP is not attached or subordinated to any political party or institution. We stand for popular empowerment and democratic control at every level, opposition to all forms of authoritarianism, no matter how "leftist" their rhetoric -- in short, a politics from below.

During the Cold War, NP was a beacon of principled socialist clarity. It tirelessly exposed the lie that identified the socialist legacy with Communist states, and published Soviet-bloc democratic dissidents. NP championed the struggles of the 60s and 70s movements against the Vietnam War and U.S. intervention in Central America, for women's and black liberation, for union democracy and affirmative action. We have firmly defended the rights of both Palestinians and Israelis to self-determination and security.

Since the Cold War, we have spoken out against the "shock therapy" that devastated former Soviet societies and against the first Gulf War, as well as the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq.

NP has been inspired throughout by the vision of a "third camp"; during the Cold War it meant "Neither Washington nor Moscow"; today it means opposing Washington's imperial aggression while making no apologies for its antagonists when they are anti-democratic, be they Milosevic, Saddam Hussein or authoritarian religious fundamentalists.

Today, surveying the bleak political landscape, especially in the U.S., some argue that the left should trim its sails and be modest in its ambitions. We dare not do this. Not caution, but bold and imaginative radicalism Is needed.

The aim of NP is to do whatever a magazine can do to help transform popular struggles for peace, social justice and freedom of cultural expression into an intelligent movement for a democratic, just and peaceful world.

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"New Politics has served for many years as a thoughtful and constructive voice of the independent left. Its analyses and inquiries into a wide range of issues of critical importance have been a constant source of illumination. The journal has made significant contributions to the political culture, filling a role that is very badly needed."

-- Noam Chomsky

"New Politics is an exciting venue for democratic debate. Constructive controversies and diverse perspectives enrich social justice theory and advocacy."

-- Gwendolyn Mink

"New Politics has established itself as a leading independent radical journal. It is uncompromisingly committed to democracy and socialism while encouraging diversity and controversy. Its thoughtful, provocative articles have a permanent place in the literature of the American left."

-- Cornel West

"New Politics speaks to a wide-ranging audience in a stimulating and thoughtful way with theoretical articles as well as essays on current political issues. It has an important place on my bookshelf."

-- Nancy Hartsock

"History, far from coming to a stop is quickening pace. But the left is bewildered. Its project has to be reinvented. For this it needs a genuine debate. New Politics, open and controversial, but also international and firmly anti-capitalist in outlook is a precious instrument in that search."

-- Daniel Singer

"In these mean times when every aspect of economic, social and racial justice is under assault, when the poor are penalized and the rich rewarded, New Politics, more than ever, has a role to play as an independent journal of the socialist left."

-- Elaine Bernard

"New Politics is one of the most exciting and serious American journals on the left today. As an eco-anarchist, I believe it provides a multi-spectrum forum for a wide range of articles. It is a welcome presence in a time of compromise with and adaptation to capitalist society. It deserves strong support from radicals of all kinds."

-- Murray Bookchin (1921-2006)

"For the best in independent left scholarship, I go to NP. It's stimulating article son the major questions of our day makes it indispensible reading for anti-racist feminists as well as other dissenters from Bush's America."

-- Ellen Boris

"International in perspective, democratic in spirit, and American in its roots, New Politics stubbornly refuses to surrender the dream of socialism or to give the reader the easy comfort of feeling history can only be observed."

-- David McReynolds

"The editors of New Politics have stated their position and they will not yield an inch to bureaucracy, moral corruption or any of the thousands of little vices known to governments, labor organizations and liberal institutions. At once principled and controversial, theirs is consequently the most fearless and the most consistently radical journal that I see."

-- Paul Buhle

"It's been a long, long history that the founders of New Politics and I have traveled together, with loops and turns along the way. New Politics has always been an essential part of my journey and to my thinking through the world we live in."

-- Deborah Meier

"For nearly two generations NP has been essential reading for anyone who seeks to make sense of the great social conflicts of our era."

-- Nelson Lichtenstein