The Social Affairs Unit addresses social, economic and cultural issues with an emphasis on the value of personal responsibility. We research, challenge and debate issues from welfare to warfare, always seeking to draw out the role of the individual's obligations.

We identify research with a potential to inform public policy and translate it from academic discourse into public debate. The ideas we promote come largely from historians, sociologists and philosophers but also medical doctors and hard scientists.

Analysis, commentary and reviews by the Social Affairs Unit's authors are found on our constantly updated web review or, sorted by topic, at SAU Articles. This website also enables visitors to purchase our books and reports. A selection of these, along with our digital-only reports, are available to read online.

The Social Affairs Unit is the publisher of Standpoint, the monthly cultural and political news-stand magazine launched in June 2008.

So Why Did We Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child? Lincoln Allison fondly remembers being caned Lincoln Allison

Mass. Movement? Towards a Coalition for a (new) Republican Majority - Brendan Simms sketches out a strategy Brendan Simms

Theodore Dalrymple gets a parking ticket - and ponders how a state can remain adept at revenue extraction when it is so incompetent at everything else Theodore Dalrymple

Sri Lanka's Presidential Election: How the General who ruthlessly defeated the Tamil Tigers has become the hope of Sri Lanka's liberals and Tamils Clifford Bastin

Farthing wise, pound foolish: Brendan Simms argues that universities would do better cutting academic salaries - especially those of Vice-Chancellors - than closing excellent departments Brendan Simms

An anti-semitic Fledermaus in Berlin? Brendan Simms on Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus at the Staatsoper Unter Den Linden, Berlin Brendan Simms

David Womersley shines a light on some of the less cuddly features of the man who became the nation's teddy-bear: Betjeman's England - John Betjeman David Womersley

David Womersley asks, has Sebastian Faulks plagiarised Joni Mitchell? And was it deliberate or unconscious? A Week in December - Sebastian Faulks David Womersley

David Womersley considers if drinking wine is fundamentally different from drinking anything else: I Drink Therefore I Am: A Philosopher's Guide to Wine - Roger Scruton David Womersley

Theodore Dalrymple recommends taking your holiday at an airport hotel - so long as you don't switch on the television Theodore Dalrymple

Private Views: Voices from the Frontline of British Culture
The Nation that Forgot God
In Search of the Moderate Muslim
War Since 1990
Don't Tread on Me: Anti-Americanism Abroad
What If? Counterfactualism and the Problem of History

Warning: Immigration Can Seriously Damage Your Wealth
Wealth And Poverty: A Jewish Analysis
How to Maximise Your Expenses: Advice to new Members of the European Parliament
Butler's Dilemma: Lord Butler's Inquiry and the Re-Assessment of Intelligence on Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction
British Anti-Americanism
Mr Blair's Messiah Politics: A story of inspired government, 1997-2007