Reihan Morshed Salam (; born 29 December 1979) is a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

American political commentator, columnist and author who since 2019 has been president of the

Manhattan Institute The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Ant ...

. He was previously executive editor of ''

National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by the author William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief i ...

'', a columnist for ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', a contributing editor at ''

National Affairs ''National Affairs'' is a quarterly magazine in the United States about political affairs that was first published in September 2009. Its founding editor, Yuval Levin, and authors are typically considered to be conservative and right-wing. The ma ...

'', a contributing editor at ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', an interviewer for

VICE A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...

and a fellow at the

University of Chicago Institute of Politics The Institute of Politics is an extracurricular, nonpartisan institute at the University of Chicago designed to inspire students to pursue careers in politics and public service. The Institute accomplishes its goals through four major avenues: a c ...

Early life and education

Salam was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. His parents are

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

i-born

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

immigrants who arrived in New York in 1976. Salam attended

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School (pronounced ), commonly referred to among its students as Stuy (pronounced ), is a State school, public university-preparatory school, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school ...

and

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

before transferring to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, where he was a member of the

Signet Society The Signet Society of Harvard University was founded in 1870 by members of the class of 1871. The first president was Charles Joseph Bonaparte. It was, at first, dedicated to the production of literary work only, going so far as to exclude debate ...

and lived in

Pforzheimer House Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (''FOE-hoe'') and formerly named North House, is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr, major University and Radc ...

. He graduated from Harvard in 2001 with an

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in Social Studies.

Career

After graduating from Harvard, Salam worked as a reporter-researcher at ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hum ...

'' and as a research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations before becoming an editorial researcher for David Brooks at ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Salam also worked as a producer for

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

's ''

The Chris Matthews Show ''The Chris Matthews Show'' was a half-hour weekend news and political round table program produced by NBC News. It was taped in Washington, D.C., and nationally syndicated by NBCUniversal Television Distribution. The program debuted on September ...

'', and as an associate editor at ''

'', thereafter accepting a fellowship at the think tank, New America.

National Review

In 2014, Salam was named executive editor of ''National Review''. While on staff, ''National Review'' gained a reputation for publishing clashing opinions on a wide range of policy issues.

''Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream''

In 2008, Salam co-authored ''Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream'' with

Ross Douthat Ross Gregory Douthat (born 1979) is an American political analyst, blogger, author and ''New York Times'' columnist. He was a senior editor of ''The Atlantic''. He has written on a variety of topics, including the state of Christianity in Americ ...

. The book grew from a cover story for ''

The Weekly Standard ''The Weekly Standard'' was an American neoconservative political magazine of news, analysis and commentary, published 48 times per year. Originally edited by founders Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes, the ''Standard'' had been described as a "red ...

'', which called for a reinvention of Republican domestic policy. Salam and Douthat argued that the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

had lost touch with its own base and that its Bush-era, big-government policies were "an evolutionary dead end." They instead advocated "tak ngthe 'big-government conservatism' vision" of Bush and giving it "coherence and sustainability" by vigorously serving the interests of the less affluent voters, who had become the party's base. The platform would include "an economic policy that places the two-parent family—the institution best capable of providing cultural stability and economic security—at the heart of the GOP agenda."

''Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders''

Salam's second book ''Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders'', was released in 2018. It "contends that while the United States should welcome more high-skilled immigrants, mass low-skilled immigration is swelling the number of poor people in a country that is struggling--with modest success at best--to fulfill the aspirations of the less privileged citizens already living here". The ''New York Times'' Ross Douthat (co-author of Salam's previous book) described it as "a rigorous, policy-driven argument for more-humane-than-Trump immigration restriction".

Megan McArdle Megan McArdle (born January 29, 1973) is an American journalist, columnist, and blogger based in Washington, D.C. She writes for ''The Washington Post'', mostly about economics, finance, and government policy. She began her writing career with a ...

commended it for its "admirable and all-too-rare willingness to lay out the problem in clear terms", and Noah Smith, writing in ''Foreign Affairs'', called it, "a thoughtful well-informed, mostly economic argument for limiting low-skilled immigration".

Cato Institute The Cato Institute is an American libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Ed Crane, Murray Rothbard, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries.Koch Indust ...

immigration expert

Alex Nowrasteh Alexander Nowrasteh is an American analyst of immigration policy currently working at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank located in Washington D.C. Nowrasteh is an advocate of freer migration to the United States. He previously worked as ...

argues that Salam makes numerous factual and logical errors in arguing for reducing immigration.

Manhattan Institute presidency

In February 2019, it was announced that Salam had been selected to become the new president of the

Manhattan Institute for Policy Research The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research (renamed in 1981 from the International Center for Economic Policy Studies) is a conservative American think tank focused on domestic policy and urban affairs, established in Manhattan in 1978 by Anto ...

. He succeeded Larry Mone, who retired after leading the Institute for 24 years. In May 2019, he officially took the helm. "I know not only that ideas matter, in other words, but also that the Institute's ideas can change lives for the better", he said at the Institute's 2019 Hamilton Award Dinner", continuing: A self-described "coalition builder", Salam was profiled in the Wall Street Journal shortly after taking on the presidency and described his interest in examining topics like urban "political monocultures", and "punitive multiculturalism", while still maintaining the Institute's focus on issues such as school choice, pension reform, limited government, and lower taxes. In 2022, Salam defended Manhattan Institute fellow

Christopher Rufo Christopher Ferguson Rufo (born August 26, 1984) is an American conservative activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. He is best known for his activism against critical race theory, which he says "has pervaded every aspect of the fe ...

amid his campaigns to ban LGBTQ instruction at schools.

Political views and style

Salam has been described as "Literary Brooklyn's Favorite Conservative." He has written that he intends to "pump ideas into the bloodstream of American conservatism." Salam has taken a strong interest in

congestion pricing Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tele ...

and the encouragement of denser living arrangements, the promotion of

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

and nuclear power, reform of the US tax code, and the fostering of a more competitive and diverse marketplace of educational providers. In the wake of the shooting death of Michael Brown in

Ferguson, Missouri Ferguson is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is part of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. Per the 2020 census, the population was 18,527. History What is now the city of Ferguson was founded in 1855, when William B ...

, Salam argued that

white flight White flight or white exodus is the sudden or gradual large-scale migration of white people from areas becoming more racially or ethnoculturally diverse. Starting in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms became popular in the United States. They refer ...

and unsustainable

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

had contributed to high poverty levels. Drawing on the San Francisco Bay Area as an example, he has identified restrictive

zoning Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

policies as an important barrier to upward mobility in the US. He has defended work requirements for welfare recipients in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and elsewhere. He initially supported the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

but has since called it a disaster of "world-historical proportions." He claims to advocate policies that strengthen traditional family structure and has opposed

gay marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. He has described as "brilliant" figures like Canadian Marxist philosopher

Gerald Cohen Gerald Allan Cohen, ( ; 14 April 1941 – 5 August 2009) was a Canadian political philosopher who held the positions of Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, University College London and Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Sou ...

and Reagan adviser and neoclassical economist

Martin Feldstein Martin Stuart Feldstein ( ; November 25, 1939 – June 11, 2019) was an American economist. He was the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and the president emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER ...

He has called for reducing immigration levels to encourage assimilation and integration, advocating the end of automatic

birthright citizenship ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

Bibliography

Books

* With Ross Douthat, ''Grand New Party''. New York: Doubleday, 2008. () * ''Melting Pot or Civil War?'' New York: Sentinel, 2018. ()

Recent articles

* ''The Atlantic'',
New York's Socialist Revolution Isn't What It Seems
, July 8, 2019 * ''The Atlantic'',
The New GOP Coalition Is Emerging
, November 14, 2018 * ''National Review'',
Melting Pot or Civil War?
, October 15, 2018 * ''The Wall Street Journal'',
A Way Out of the Immigration Crisis
, September 21, 2018 * ''The Atlantic'',
A Better Way to Absorb Refugees
, September 6, 2018 * ''The Atlantic'',
The GOP's Path to Economic Populism
, April 27, 2018 * ''The Atlantic'',
A Single Solution for New York's Two Biggest Problems
April 11, 2018

References

External links

*
Profile of Salam at TheAmericanScene.com

Profile of Salam at The New America Foundation site

Slate articles by Salam

Video debates featuring Reihan Salam
on

Bloggingheads.tv Bloggingheads.tv (sometimes abbreviated "bhtv") is a political, world events, philosophy, and science video blog discussion site in which the participants take part in an active back and forth conversation via webcam which is then broadcast onl ...

*
"They're Young, They're Bright, They Tilt to the Right"
A conversation with Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam from

n+1 N1, N.I, N-1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now mostly ...

* Review Essay by Salam in March/April ''

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

'
The Missing Middle in American Politics; How Moderate Republicans Became Extinct
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salam, Reihan 1979 births Living people American Muslims American people of Bangladeshi descent American bloggers American male journalists Journalists from New York City Stuyvesant High School alumni Cornell University alumni Harvard University alumni National Review people New York (state) Republicans 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers