Up in the Air: Ten Global Summits That Will Test Joe Biden in 2021

In a Global Memo for the Council of Councils, I preview the global agenda facing Joe Biden, which is the most daunting any U.S. president has confronted in decades.

Summit diplomacy was a prominent casualty of COVID-19 during 2020. The pandemic forced the postponement of many high-level gatherings and the shift of others, like the annual opening of the UN General Assembly, to online platforms. Multilateralism-by-Zoom will continue into 2021, as the world rolls out novel coronavirus vaccines. Still, the coming year will be a critical one for international cooperation, even if the calendar remains fluid. Here are ten major summits that will test the mettle of President-Elect Joe Biden, as he executes a 180-degree turn from “America First” and tries to translate his multilateral rhetoric into concrete steps to address real-world problems. 

Read the full Global Memo here.