The USSC will launch the project titled "Assessing Implementation of Abe’s National Security Strategy" with five case studies: Defense spending debates, Counterstrike, Command and Control, Defense procurement and industrial base issues, and Intelligence capabilities and sharing on 22 December 2022 (tentative) after the release of Japanese new security documents. The principal investigator and the research team will begin with archival work (in Japanese and English) and conduct research trips to Tokyo, Hawaii, Canberra, and Washington. From April 2023 to December 2023, we will host five roundtable meetings with security experts in a hybrid (in-person/online) manner connecting Australia, Japan, and the US. We will also conduct elite and public opinion surveys in Japan to gauge the receptivity to different policy options in the five case study areas from September to November 2023. During the project, we will launch a microsite dedicated to the project on the USSC homepage, disseminate findings in podcasts (The Asian Chessboard) and op/eds in US, Japanese, and Australian newspapers and provide briefings in Washington. We will complete the project by publishing a co-authored monograph of about 150 pages. The grant activities end on 31 March 2024.

The Smith Richardson Foundation (SRF) is a private non-profit foundation in the United States that supports policy research in International Security, Foreign Policy, and US Domestic Public Policy. The USSC applied for SRF’s International Security & Foreign Policy program, and the application was successful. CEO Michael J. Green previously received grants from SRF at another organisation and successfully delivered projects.