Core values: Biden has presented himself as a unifier, capable of bringing the country together after the divisions of the Trump era. To those who are repulsed by Trump's vulgarity, he promises the return of decency and civility to American politics.

Climate change: Biden argues that the environment and the economy are inextricably linked. He wants to use decarbonisationRemoving emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from the output of the economy. to create new jobs and expand the US economy. He has pledged to set the US on the path to net-zero carbon emissionsA situation in which the same amount of carbon dioxide is absorbed as is released. Many countries, including the UK, have set this as their target for 2050, though some environmentalists want them to go further and achieve it by 2030. by 2050, invest in infrastructure to mitigate the damage of climate change, and to work with the rest of the world to secure agreements on lowering emissions. However, he has come under fire for refusing to ban frackingA method of extracting of gas and oil from underground rocks. Fracking firms have been given permission to conduct surveys in protected woodland, despite fears about the technology's environmental impact..

Covid crisis: the Democratic hopeful has made much of his promise to "listen to the science" on Covid-19. He plans to fix the USA's test-and-trace systemSeen by many as the key to controlling an epidemic, a test-and-trace system tests people for a disease and then traces their contacts to warn them that they might have been infected., increase production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and provide emergency resources for small businesses to ensure that they can keep customers safe. He also wants to invest $25bn in the creation and distribution of a vaccine.

War and peace: the Democratic Party has generally become more hostile towards Russia since 2016 when it blamed Russian interference for Trump's victory in that year's election. Biden is no exception: he has called Russia "the biggest threat to America". He also intends to maintain diplomatic pressure on China. Biden has criticised Trump's "love affair with autocrats"; however, he has himself praised US-aligned dictators like former Egyptian president Hosni MubarakThe President of Egypt between 1981 and 2011. He was accused of torturing his opponents and trampling on Egyptians' human rights..

Race and policing:n in the 1970s, he opposed busingAfter desegregation in the 1960s, many US schools were still effectively segregated because they served predominantly white neighbourhoods. Busing was a scheme to integrate these schools by bringing in children from black neighbourhoods on designated buses. Biden's running mate Kamala Harris was a beneficiary of this scheme., a measure to diversify school populations by bringing black children into majority-white schools. In 1994, Biden co-wrote the controversial crime billOfficially known as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, this law made 60 crimes punishable by the death penalty, and abolished education provisions for prison inmates., which expanded the prison population and disproportionately affected African Americans. More recently, he has apologised for this history with the black community, but he still refuses to endorse an ambitious police reform programme.

Poverty and inequality: unwilling to alienate moderate Republicans with big tax and spending hikes, Biden has instead proposed a more cautious tax rise on incomes over $400,000. He has floated the idea of appointing hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs to his cabinet, suggesting that he does not intend to take on big business. His running mate, Kamala Harris, hopes to introduce new tax credits for poorer families, plans that analysts have suggested could lift 20 million people out of poverty.

Brexit Britain: Biden is proud of his Irish Catholic roots, and he has sworn not to make a trade deal with the UK if the Good Friday AgreementThe treaty that ended the Troubles, a decades-long conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, which also saw fighting between the British government and Irish republicans. One of its central tenets is an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. is threatened. Britain was once an important US ally, but in the last ten years successive US presidents have looked to Germany and France instead, and many US politicians think that Brexit has reduced British global influence. It is unlikely that President Biden would prioritise a trade deal for the UK.

Yes, say some. There is a significant chance that the Democrats will win the Senate as well as the White House in the coming election, which would allow Biden to carry out his domestic agenda unimpeded. If his poverty plan comes to fruition, 20 million people will be better off. Additionally, his climate plan would be the most ambitious that any president has ever adopted.

No, say others. Biden may wish to seem like a unifier, but the US was just as divided when he was vice-president under Barack Obama as it has been under Trump. He has no answer to the pressing question of police brutality. His climate plan is less ambitious than it needs to be and a tough line on China would prevent meaningful environmental negotiations with the world's biggest polluter.