This report describes the potential role of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in strategic competition. Understanding the national security implications of both international CBDC developments and a potential U.S. CBDC is a central component of President Biden's March 2022 Executive Order 14067 on "Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets." This executive order mandated an assessment of foreign CBDCs and their potential effect on U.S. finance, as well as effects on national security and financial crime — concerns that are overshadowed by the relatively advanced stage of China's CBDC. This report contributes to the discourse that has emerged from that executive order by describing whether and how the more advanced stage of China's CBDC project might advantage China, how decisions regarding the international governance of CBDCs might affect U.S. national power, and how the design choices of a U.S. CBDC might affect its capabilities as an instrument of national power.

As of 2017, 83 percent of state inmates and 49 percent of federal inmates released from U.S. prisons were rearrested within nine years and eight years, respectively. Implementing evidence-based rehabilitative interventions to reduce recidivism begins with valid risk and needs assessment (RNA) tools. In a prison setting, these tools allow staff to make informed decisions about inmates in their charge, but successfully implementing these tools can be challenging. Prison systems are highly complex, are often underresourced, and might lack the internal capacity to effectively implement RNAs in their operations. Furthermore, it can be difficult to change institutional culture to accept an evidence-based approach in an environment in which custody objectives are paramount.,To examine this issue, the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), supported by the 兰德公司 in partnership with the University of Denver, hosted a two-day workshop to examine the use of RNA tools in prisons. During this meeting, four major themes were identified: organizational issues, the selection and implementation of RNA tools, the administration of assessments, and programming. Workshop participants called for additional training and guidance for leadership, evaluation of RNA tools, and research assessing the effectiveness of approaches to assessments and programming.