US President Joe Biden bound for global summits as domestic agenda in limbo

Headed first to Rome and then to Glasgow, Scotland, President Joe Biden will be pressed to deliver concrete ideas for stopping a global pandemic, boosting economic growth and halting the acceleration of climate change. 

Washington: President Joe Biden promised to show the world that democracies can work to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As he prepares to push that message at a pair of global summits, his case could hinge on what's happening in Washington, where he is rushing to finalise a major domestic legislative package.

Headed first to Rome and then to Glasgow, Scotland, Biden will be pressed to deliver concrete ideas for stopping a global pandemic, boosting economic growth and halting the acceleration of climate change. Those stakes might seem a bit high for a pair of two-day gatherings attended by the global elite and their entourages. But it's written right into the slogan for the Group of 20 meeting in Rome: "People, Planet, Prosperity." 

President Biden, who planned to deliver East Room remarks before leaving Washington on Thursday, has promised to align U.S. Diplomacy with the interests of the middle class. This has tied any success abroad to his efforts to get Congress to advance his environmental, tax, infrastructure and social policies. It could be harder to get the world to commit to his stated goals if Americans refuse to fully embrace them, one of the risks of Biden's choice to knit together his domestic and foreign policies.