Next month’s US presidential election will not just settle a slew of major domestic issues for at least four years, it will also have a profound impact on key international ones, perhaps the biggest being the future of global climate action.

Donald Trump and Joe Biden meet for the first presidential debate on Tuesday with not just themselves but “Brand America” itself on the ballot. 

As the Labor Day holiday in the US on Monday marks the traditional start of the presidential election campaign, it is striking how much international interest there is in the race.    

A new round of UK-EU Brexit negotiations begins next week with talks on a knife-edge. While an agreement could still be reached, a no-deal exit remains a significant possibility, as no major progress has yet been made on two key issues: Future “level playing field” rules and fishing rights.

The hand of history was on the minds of Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel in their mini-summit last week; 76 years after Paris was liberated from Nazi forces, the two leaders plotted the future of the EU and Europe’s wider role in the world.

EU-UK trade talks resume this week amid growing optimism about a deal, but the UK’s wider Brexit trade strategy remains hampered, and Japan is the only major economy with which an agreement may be imminent.