The International Security and Foreign Policy 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 has continued to address traditional security issues even when pressing matters, such as terrorism, dominate the headlines. For example, the Foundation 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.

The Foundation supports policy-relevant strategic studies by young scholars and researchers. The Strategy and Policy Fellows program underwrites the research and writing of a book with implications for current policy. All applicants must have received a Ph.D. degree by the time of the deadline. Within the academic community, this program supports junior or adjunct faculty, research associates, and post-docs who are engaged in policy-relevant research and writing. Within the think tank community, the program supports members of the rising generation of policy thinkers who are focused on U.S. strategic and foreign policy issues.

The Foundation also supports Ph.D. dissertation research on American foreign policy, international relations, international security, strategic studies, area studies, and diplomatic and military history through its World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship.

The deadline for this year's Strategy and Policy Fellows grant proposal submission is June 15, 2012. The deadline for this year's World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship application is October 17, 2012.