Joe Biden’s foreign policy has so far been defined by decisions taken toward far-flung nations such as China and Afghanistan, but events closer to home are now demanding his greater attention. 

While Joe Biden’s first overseas presidential trip was to Europe, it is becoming clearer by the day that his administration’s foreign policy priority is the Asia-Pacific region and the rise of China.

As England casts aside almost all its remaining coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, the world is watching the experiment to see whether it shows a pathway back to “normality” or a new warning that even heavily vaccinated countries are not out of the crisis.

The Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC) held the first extraordinary leadership meeting in its history on Friday as the region recovers from the pandemic after the biggest economic and political shock since the Second World War. 

The surprise signing in December of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), despite the coronavirus chill in bilateral relations, was always likely to cause ratification headaches for Brussels and Beijing.

Angela Merkel visits Washington on Thursday for the last time in her long chancellorship, with US-German ties at a historic post-Trump, post-Brexit pivot point.

As the UK government finalizes plans for the forthcoming COP26 climate summit, this Sunday’s World Population Day will underline how much demographic issues have risen up the political agenda in recent years, especially on the sustainability front.

England’s third by-election in as many months took place last week, with another surprise result in a nation where politics have shown unprecedented volatility after a series of shocks from the 2016 Brexit referendum to the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Europe’s dominant politician, Angela Merkel, on Friday heads to the UK to begin a series of foreign farewells as she seeks to consolidate her legacy amid one of the most fluid political and economic landscapes in decades.

One of the success stories of the pandemic has been the fast speed of vaccine development, but this has not stopped some of the companies developing them from becoming political footballs.