From Philip Rojc at Inside Philanthropy in 2016:

Like many influential worldviews in Washington, neoconservative thought didn’t emerge fully-formed from the wellspring of American public sentiment. It was nurtured, and the Connecticut-based Smith Richardson Foundation is one key nurturer.

Compared to other major conservative policy funders—think Bradley, Scaife, and Olin—Smith Richardson’s most distguishing trait is its heavy focus on foreign policy: the U.S. as beacon to the world. That story begins with the philosophy of its founder, H. Smith Richardson, a firm believer in American exceptionalism. For Richardson, “America, the new world…has offered to humble families, native born or immigrant, the Opportunity [sic] to gain a fortune…if they were diligent and lucky.”

That creed underpins a vigorous history of grantmaking to think tanks and universities to support policy that the foundation sees as protecting American security and extending American influence. (Critics, of course, might have a different take.) The money’s source is [Greensboro‘s] Vicks, manufacturer of Vicks VapoRub and, more recently, NyQuil and DayQuil. Now owned by Proctor & Gamble, Vicks got its start as a purveyor of cold remedies under H. Smith Richardson’s father, Lunsford Richardson…

In recent years, the Smith Richardson Foundation has certainly supported big names in conservative and neoconservative policy research. Some notables are the American Enterprise Institute (nearly $10 million since 1998), the Hudson Institute ($5,543,000), the Jamestown Institute ($5,163,000), Freedom House ($4,302,000), the Hoover Institution ($3,521,000), the Manhattan Institute ($2,232,000), and the Center for a New American Security ($1,595,000).

 From Asa Winstanley at The Electronic Intifada:

The leading neoconservative think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies is functioning as an agent of the Israeli government, Al Jazeera’s forthcoming investigation on the US Israel lobby will reveal.

According to a source who has seen the undercover documentary, it contains footage of a powerful Israeli official claiming that “We have FDD. We have others working on this.”

Sima Vaknin-Gil, a former Israeli military intelligence officer, is said to state that the foundation is “working on” projects for Israel including “data gathering, information analysis, working on activist organizations, money trail. This is something that only a country, with its resources, can do the best.”..

Al Jazeera’s film reportedly identifies a number of lobby groups as working with Israel to spy on American citizens using sophisticated data gathering techniques. The documentary is also said to cast light on covert efforts to smear and intimidate Americans seen as too critical of Israel.

Israel lobby groups have placed intense pressure on Qatar, which funds Al Jazeera, to shelve the film, fueling speculation it may never be aired.

Greensboro’s Center for Creative Leadership is a product of the neocon Smith Richardson Foundation.  Are they also working for Israel?