[4] The magazine was created in 1985 from the merger of two John Birch Society publications: American Opinion and The Review of the News.

[12] As described by the academic Charles J. Stewart, articles in the magazine in the 1980s and 1990s argued that the collapse of communism in the Eastern Bloc at the end of the Cold War was a tactical move in the conspiracy and a "jump forward in the development of socialism".

The magazine has alleged that such a conspiracy also animates the United Nations, the European Union, and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

[16] The New American publishes the Freedom Index, which rates members of Congress and state legislators “based on their adherence to constitutional principles of limited government, fiscal responsibility, national sovereignty and a traditional foreign policy of avoiding foreign entanglements.”[17][better source needed][18] Contributors have included Hilaire du Berrier, Samuel Blumenfeld, Larry McDonald, and Ron Paul.

[19] The magazine has interviewed members of Congress including Andy Biggs, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Ronny Jackson.