The first step in applying to the Smith Richardson Foundation is the submission of a concept paper. If the staff determines that a project warrants further consideration under the Foundation’s guidelines, an applicant will be asked to submit a full proposal.  The objective of this Program is to assist the U.S. policy community in developing effective national security strategies and foreign policies. The Foundation is committed to supporting projects that help the policy community face the fundamental challenge of ensuring the security of U.S., protecting and advancing American interests and values abroad, and enhancing international order. The Program has a number of priority areas of interest. In recent years, the Foundation has sought to assist the policy community’s efforts to combat global terrorism by supporting projects on critical issues, such as improving intelligence gathering. Because the battle against terrorism will also be fought on the ideological front, the Foundation has supported projects on improving U.S. public diplomacy in order to promote democracy and to give foreign publics a better understanding of U.S. policies. The Foundation also supports projects designed to improve the effectiveness of U.S. military forces through defense transformation and to develop recommendations for U.S. strategy and policy toward important regions and countries, including China, Southeast Asia, India, and Pakistan.