President Obama will, in the space of 48 hours this week, address the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly, chair a rare “heads-of-state” level meeting of the United Nations Security Council, and host a meeting of the G20 leading nations in Pittsburgh.

At the General Assembly on Wednesday, I expect a cross between the president’s April speech in Prague and the one given by US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice last month at New York University. If nothing else, the image of Barack Obama behind that green marble podium, representing the United States of America in front of all the other world leaders, will send an unmistakable message about the nature of our democracy.

Of course the most newsworthy items at the UNGA will likely be President Obama’s Tuesday meeting and photo with the Israeli prime minister and the president of the Palestinian Authority… and his efforts to avoid crossing paths with President Ahmadinejad of Iran and Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi.

As for the Security Council, the topic will be nuclear arms control. And the president has been quite forceful on this issue. He campaigned on deep strategic arms cuts with the Russians and a plan to secure all loose nuclear material (the stuff terrorists can get) within the next four years. Reports say the president rejected the first revised nuclear arms plan from the Pentagon because it didn’t go far enough to reduce our arsenal. And last week’s announcement scrapping the missile defense shield in eastern Europe could open the door for the broadest global cooperation on nukes in a generation. Thursday’s Security Council meeting will be the first indicator. A draft resolution to be debated at the session has been leaked.

Finally, Air Force One leaves New York Thursday for Pittsburgh and the G20 summit. Note that this is the fourth global summit in 10 months. We had the G20 in Washington in November and then again in London in April. July was the G8 (which actually had about 30 countries in attendance) in Italy. There is a very real case of summit fatigue in major global capitals.

Some have already set low expectations for this G20 session. Protectionism is on the rise and bonus pay (a populist issue with no real impact on the global economy) may steal the spotlight. But I will be reading other tea leaves in the Pittsburgh confab.

The G meetings have become the red hot center of 21st century global governance.

These rotating, informal gatherings have the flexibility needed for today’s fluid policy environment. The G8 is moving to include more of the world’s rising powers, and the G20 has proven nimble in the face of a global financial crisis. The real tests will therefore be a) can these bodies continue to show leadership even after the current crisis fades, b) can the Gs find ways to keep moving beyond photo-ops into further accountability for their pledges, and c) can they find meaningful ways to interface with the legitimate, universal institutions (like the United Nations) to implement and lock in real international cooperation?

I plan to write more on all of this as the week unfolds.

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