View source for Foreign policy of the Obama administration

{{Short description|United States foreign policy (2009–2017)}}
{{Further|Presidency of Barack Obama}}
[[File:Barack Obama with European leaders at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.jpg|thumb|Obama briefing European leaders at the [[2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference]]]]
{{Barack Obama sidebar}}

The term [[Obama Doctrine]] is frequently used to describe the principles of [[Foreign policy of the United States|US foreign policy]] under the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]] (2009–2017). He relied chiefly on his two highly experienced [[United States Secretary of State|Secretaries of State]]{{mdash}}[[Hillary Clinton]] (2009–2013) and [[John Kerry]] (2013–2017){{mdash}}and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Joe Biden]]. Main themes include a reliance on  negotiation and collaboration rather than confrontation or unilateralism.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00918.x | volume=93 | title=Rhetoric and Reality? Unilateralism and the Obama Administration | year=2012 | journal=Social Science Quarterly | pages=1146–1160 | last = Kelley | first = Christopher S.| issue=5 }}</ref><ref>Andreas Krieg, "Externalizing the burden of war: the Obama Doctrine and US foreign policy in the Middle East." International Affairs 92.1 (2016): 97-113. [https://www.ispu.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/2012_The-Obama-Doctrine-in-the-Middle-East.pdf online]</ref>

Obama inherited the [[Iraq War]], the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan War]], and various aspects of the [[War on Terror]], all of which began during the [[presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]].<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-10-04 |title=Barack Obama: Foreign Affairs {{!}} Miller Center |url=https://millercenter.org/president/obama/foreign-affairs |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=millercenter.org |language=en}}</ref> He presided over the gradual [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|draw down of U.S. soldiers]] in Iraq, culminating in the near-total withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq in December 2011. After increasing the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan during his first term, Obama [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016)|withdrew all but approximately 8,400 soldiers from Afghanistan]] during his second term.<ref name="atilghman1">{{cite news|last=Tilghman|first=Andrew|title=New in 2017: Big decisions for the wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan|url=http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/donald-trump-iraq-syria-afghanistan-james-mattis|access-date=2 January 2017|work=Military Times|date=26 December 2016}}</ref> In 2011, Obama presided over a mission that led to the [[Killing of Osama bin Laden|death of Osama bin Laden]], the organizer of the [[September 11 attacks]]. The number of prisoners at the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp]] fell dramatically during Obama's tenure,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-23 |title=Remarks by the President on Plan to Close the Prison at Guantanamo Bay |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/23/remarks-president-plan-close-prison-guantanamo-bay |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}}</ref> but despite Obama's hopes to close the camp, 41 inmates remained at Guantanamo by the time Obama left office.<ref name="savageguantanamo1">{{cite news|last1=Savage|first1=Charlie|title=Obama Transfers 4 From Guantánamo, Leaving 41 There as Term Ends|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/19/us/politics/obama-transfers-4-from-guantanamo-leaving-41-there-as-term-ends.html|access-date=20 January 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=19 January 2017}}</ref> The Obama administration made increased use of [[drone strike]]s, particularly in [[Pakistan]], targeting alleged [[Al-Qaeda]] leaders such as [[Anwar al-Awlaki]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Targeted Killings |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/targeted-killings |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref> In 2013, [[Edward Snowden]] [[Global surveillance disclosures (2013–present)|revealed the existence]] of an extensive government surveillance program known as [[PRISM (surveillance program)|PRISM]], which Obama defended as "a circumscribed, narrow system directed at us being able to protect our people."<ref name="cbsberlin">{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-defends-narrow-surveillance-programs/|title=Obama Defends 'Narrow' Surveillance Programs|work=[[CBS News]] |first=Lucy|last=Madison|date=June 19, 2013 | access-date = June 30, 2013}}</ref>

In 2010, a series of protests across [[North Africa]] and the [[Middle East]] known as the [[Arab Spring]] broke out, eventually turning into more severe forms of unrest in several countries.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Qiblawi |first=Tamara |date=2019-12-30 |title=A decade of protests has reshaped the Arab world -- and more change is on the way |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/30/middleeast/middle-east-decade-in-review-intl/index.html |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=[[CNN]]|language=en}}</ref> Obama helped organize a NATO-led [[2011 military intervention in Libya|intervention]] in Libya, ultimately resulting in the fall of [[Muammar Gaddafi]]'s regime. Obama allegedly declined to become deeply involved in the [[Syrian civil war]] between the government of [[Bashar al-Assad]], the [[Syrian opposition]], and the [[Salafi jihadist]] group known as [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-01-13 |title=Obama's Syria legacy: Measured diplomacy, strategic explosion |language=en-GB |work=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38297343 |access-date=2023-08-06}}</ref> The U.S. supported the opposition throughout the civil war and occasionally executed strikes against ISIL. In 2014, after Russia [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexed Crimea]] and [[Russo-Ukrainian War|intervened]] in Ukraine, Obama and other Western leaders imposed sanctions that contributed to a [[Russian financial crisis (2014–2016)|Russian financial crisis]]. Russia later [[Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war|intervened]] in the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian Civil War]] and was accused of [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|interfering]] in the [[2016 United States presidential election|2016 U.S. presidential election]], which the Obama administration condemned.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-12-29 |title=The Administration's Response to Russia: What You Need to Know |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2016/12/29/presidents-response-russias-actions-during-2016-election-what-you-need-know |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}}</ref>

Seeking to shift the focus of U.S. foreign policy to East Asia, Obama organized a multi-nation [[free trade agreement]] known as the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]] (TPP), but the TPP was never ratified by Congress.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What's Next for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)? |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-trans-pacific-partnership-tpp |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref> Smaller trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama were approved by Congress and entered into force. Obama initiated the [[Cuban thaw]], providing diplomatic recognition to Cuba for the first time since the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Charting a New Course on Cuba |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/node/352651 |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=[[The White House]] |language=en}}</ref> His administration also negotiated the [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]], an accord in which [[Iran]] agreed to limit its nuclear program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-iran-nuclear-deal |access-date=2023-08-06 |website=Council on Foreign Relations |language=en}}</ref>

{{Toclimit|3}}

==History==
{{See also|Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign|Presidential transition of Barack Obama}}

===Background===
Obama gave his first major foreign policy speech of his campaign on April 23, 2007, to the [[Chicago Council on Global Affairs]], in which he outlined his foreign policy objectives, stressing five key points:

# "bringing a responsible end to this [[Iraq War|war in Iraq]] and refocusing on the critical challenges in the broader region,"
# "by building the first truly 21st century military and showing wisdom in how we deploy it,"
# "by marshalling a global effort to meet a threat that rises above all others in urgency – securing, destroying, and stopping the spread of weapons of mass destruction,"
# "rebuild and construct the alliances and partnerships necessary to meet common challenges and confront common threats", and
# "while America can help others build more secure societies, we must never forget that only the citizens of these nations can sustain them."

President-elect Obama nominated former rival, Senator Hillary Clinton to serve as his Secretary of State on December 1, 2008, and chose to keep Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] as his Secretary of Defense. He appointed General [[James L. Jones]] to serve as his [[National Security Advisor (United States)|National Security Advisor]] and nominated Governor [[Janet Napolitano]] as [[United States Secretary of Homeland Security|Secretary of Homeland Security]].

Clinton stated during her confirmation hearings that she believed that "the best way to advance America's interests in reducing global threats and seizing global opportunities is to design and implement global solutions." She stated, "We must use what has been called "[[smart power]]", the full range of tools at our disposal – diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal and cultural – picking the right tool or combination of tools for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of our foreign policy."<ref>{{cite web|last=Clinton |first=Hillary |url=https://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/01/115196.htm |title=Nomination Hearing To Be Secretary of State |publisher=State Department |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=2009-01-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090124153303/http://state.gov/secretary/rm/2009a/01/115196.htm |archive-date=January 24, 2009}}</ref>

During the last weeks before his [[First inauguration of Barack Obama|inauguration]], in addition to the several major conflicts in the world, fighting related to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] erupted anew, specifically in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], between Israel and the [[Hamas]]-led government. The [[Gaza War (2008–2009)|2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict]] ended in an uneasy cease-fire on January 18, 2009, two days prior to Obama's inauguration.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 19, 2009 |title=Israel and Hamas: Conflict in Gaza (2008-2009) |url=https://sgp.fas.org/crs/mideast/R40101.pdf |access-date=August 7, 2023 |website=Congressional Research Service}}</ref>

===Initial themes===
{{Further|First inauguration of Barack Obama}}
{{Wikisource|Barack Obama's Inaugural Address}}

In his inaugural address, Obama, elaborating on his foreign policy, suggested that he hoped to begin the process of [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq (2007–2011)|withdrawing from Iraq]] and continuing to focus on [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|the conflict in Afghanistan]]. He also mentioned lessening the nuclear threat through "working tirelessly with old friends and former foes." He spoke about America's determination to combat terrorism by proclaiming that America's spirit is "stronger and cannot be broken – you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you." To the Muslim world, Obama extended an invite to "a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect." He also said that the United States was willing to "extend a hand" to those "who cling to power through corruption and deceit" if they "are willing to unclench" their fists.<ref name="inauguration">{{cite web |title=Obama's inaugural address full text and video |publisher=[[White House]] |date=January 20, 2009 |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2009/01/21/president-barack-obamas-inaugural-address |access-date=2017-02-05}}</ref>

On his first full day as president, Obama called on Israel to open the borders of [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]], detailing early plans on his administration's peace plans for the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/7cf745dc-e8ce-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac|title=Obama urges Israel to open Gaza borders|access-date=2009-01-22}}</ref> Obama and Secretary of State Clinton named [[George J. Mitchell|George Mitchell]] as Special Envoy for Middle East peace and [[Richard Holbrooke]] as special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan on January 23, 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012202550.html|title=President Obama Delivers Remarks to State Department Employees|access-date=2009-01-23 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=January 22, 2009}}</ref> The Mitchell appointment signaled that Clinton might stay away from the direct Secretary-level negotiating that her predecessor, [[Condoleezza Rice]], had spent much effort on during the previous two years.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2009/01/us-foreign-policy-whos-in-charge-017811 |title=U.S. foreign policy: Who's in charge? |author=Smith, Ben |work=[[Politico]] |date=January 22, 2009 |access-date=2009-02-08}}</ref>

Within less than a week in her new position, Secretary of State Clinton already called almost 40 foreign leaders or foreign ministers.<ref name="nyt012709">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/washington/28diplo.html |title=Clinton Sees an Opportunity for Iran to Return to Diplomacy |author=Landler, Mark |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=2009-01-28}}</ref> She said the world was eager to see a new American foreign policy and that, "There is a great exhalation of breath going on around the world. We've got a lot of damage to repair."<ref name="nyt012709" /> She did indicate that not every past policy would be repudiated, and specifically said it was essential that the [[six-party talks]] over the [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|North Korean nuclear weapons program]] continue.<ref name="afp012709">{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h8Nz42mnD4KInXaR7sSafwvKDAsA |title=Hillary Clinton leaves quick stamp on US State Department |publisher=[[Agence France-Presse]] |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=2009-02-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131085207/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h8Nz42mnD4KInXaR7sSafwvKDAsA |archive-date=January 31, 2009}}</ref>

[[File:Hillary Clinton arrives at State Dept. 1-22-09 HRC-arrival-1.22.09 600 1.jpg|thumb|left|Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives at the State Department on her first day greeted by a standing room only crowd of Department employees.]]

His trip to Denmark, that failed to convince the [[International Olympic Committee]] to award the [[2016 Summer Olympics]] to Chicago, made Denmark the sixteenth country Obama visited since becoming president on January 20, 2009. This edged out Presidents Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush (both tied at 15 visits in their first year) to make Obama the most traveled first year President.<ref>{{cite web |last=Thomma |first=Steven |url=http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/76725.html |title=Obama's No. 1 – most foreign travel by first year president |publisher=[[McClatchy Newspapers]] |date=January 13, 2009 |access-date=2009-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015055019/http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/76725.html |archive-date=2009-10-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Appointments===
{{Further|Cabinet of Barack Obama}}

The administration appointed, or allowed to remain in office, 2,465 ambassadors. Most were career diplomats. 805 were political appointees. 110 of 150 ambassadorships were political in the Caribbean;  259 out of 358 appointees in Western Europe were political. Career diplomats dominated all other areas including: North and Central America, South America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East, East Asia, South Asia and Oceania. In Central Asia, all appointees were career.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/22/AR2009102204547.html |title=In the Loop:Donors and cronies still get the choice postings |author=Al Kamen |date=October 23, 2009 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |pages=24A}}</ref><!---note that box showing actual numbers do not show up online. Only in the print version.---><ref>{{cite web|url=https://afsa.org/appointments-barack-obama|title=Appointments - Barack Obama|access-date=August 27, 2021|website=American Foreign Service Association}}</ref>

{{multiple image
| header    = Obama's 2013 foreign policy team
| footer    =
| footer_align = center
| align     = left
| caption_align = center

| image1    = Joe Biden official portrait 2013 (cropped) 2.jpg
| width1    = 100
| alt1      = Joe Biden
| caption1  = '''[[Joe Biden]]'''
| link1     = Joe Biden

| image2    = John Brennan CIA official portrait.jpg
| width2    = 100
| alt2      = John Brennan
| caption2  = '''[[John Brennan (CIA officer)|John Brennan]]'''
| link2     = John Brennan (CIA officer)

| image3    = Susan Rice official photo.jpg
| width3    = 90
| alt3      = Susan Rice
| caption3  = '''[[Susan Rice]]'''
| link3     = Susan Rice

| image4    = James R. Clapper official portrait.jpg
| width4    = 100
| alt4      = James Clapper
| caption4  = '''[[James Clapper]]'''
| link4     = James Clapper

| image5    = John Kerry official Secretary of State portrait.jpg
| width5    = 100
| alt5      = John Kerry
| caption5  = '''[[John Kerry]]'''
| link5     = John Kerry

| image6    = Samantha Power official portrait.jpg
| width6    = 100
| alt6      = Samantha Power
| caption6  = '''[[Samantha Power]]'''
| link6     = Samantha Power 

| image7    = Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. 130227-A-SS368-001.jpg
| width7    = 100
| alt7      = Chuck Hagel
| caption7  = '''[[Chuck Hagel]]'''
| link7     = Chuck Hagel
}}

{|class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!colspan="8"|Obama administration Foreign Policy Personnel
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] ||colspan="7"|[[Joe Biden|Biden]]<br /><small>(2009–2017)</small>
|-
| style="width:225pt; text-align:left;|[[White House Chief of Staff]] ||[[Rahm Emanuel|Emanuel]]<br /><small>(2009–2010)</small> ||''[[Pete Rouse|Rouse]]''<br /><small>(2010–2011)</small> ||[[William M. Daley|Daley]]<br /><small>(2011–2012)</small> ||colspan="2"|[[Jack Lew|Lew]]<br /><small>(2012–2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Denis McDonough|McDonough]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] ||colspan="4"|[[Hillary Clinton|Clinton]]<br /><small>(2009–2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[John Kerry|Kerry]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] ||colspan="2"|[[Robert Gates|Gates]]<br /><small>(2009–2011)</small> ||colspan="2"|[[Leon Panetta|Panetta]]<br /><small>(2011–2013)</small> ||colspan="2"|[[Chuck Hagel|Hagel]]<br /><small>(2013–2015)</small> ||[[Ash Carter|Carter]]<br /><small>(2015–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations|Ambassador to the United Nations]]|| colspan="4" |[[Susan Rice|Rice]]<br /><small>(2009–2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Samantha Power|Power]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Director of National Intelligence]] ||[[Dennis C. Blair|Blair]]<br /><small>(2009–2010)</small> ||''[[David Gompert|Gompert]]''<br /><small>(2010)</small> ||colspan="5"|[[James Clapper|Clapper]]<br /><small>(2010–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Director of the Central Intelligence Agency]] ||[[Leon Panetta|Panetta]]<br /><small>(2009–2011)</small> ||''[[Michael Morell|Morell]]''<br /><small>(2011)</small> ||[[David Petraeus|Petraeus]]<br /><small>(2011–2012)</small> ||''[[Michael Morell|Morell]]''<br /><small>(2012–2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[John Brennan (CIA officer)|Brennan]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[National Security Advisor (United States)|Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs]] ||[[James L. Jones|Jones]]<br /><small>(2009–2010)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Thomas E. Donilon|Donilon]]<br /><small>(2010–2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Susan Rice|Rice]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Deputy National Security Advisor|Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs]] ||[[Thomas E. Donilon|Donilon]]<br /><small>(2009–2010)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Denis McDonough|McDonough]]<br /><small>(2010–2013)</small> ||colspan="2"|[[Antony Blinken|Blinken]]<br /><small>(2013–2015)</small> ||[[Avril Haines|Haines]]<br /><small>(2015–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Deputy National Security Advisor]] for Strategic Communications and Speechwriting ||colspan="7"|[[Ben Rhodes (White House staffer)|Rhodes]]<br /><small>(2009–2017)</small>
|-
|  style="width:225pt; text-align:left;"|[[Office of the United States Trade Representative|Trade Representative]] ||colspan="2"|[[Ron Kirk|Kirk]]<br /><small>(2009–2013)</small> ||''[[Demetrios Marantis|Marantis]]''<br /><small>(2013)</small> ||''[[Miriam Sapiro|Sapiro]]''<br /><small>(2013)</small> ||colspan="3"|[[Michael Froman|Froman]]<br /><small>(2013–2017)</small>
|}

==International trips==
{{Further|List of international presidential trips made by Barack Obama}}
[[File:Barack Obama foreign trips.svg|thumb|Countries visited by President Obama during his time in office]]
The number of visits per country where he travelled are:
* One visit to [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Cambodia]], [[Chile]], [[Colombia]], [[Costa Rica]], [[Cuba]], [[Egypt]], [[El Salvador]], [[Estonia]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Ghana]], [[Greece]], [[Iraq]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Jamaica]], [[Jordan]], [[Kenya]], [[Laos]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Norway]], [[Panama]], [[Peru]], [[Senegal]], [[Singapore]], [[Spain]], [[Sweden]], [[Tanzania]], [[Thailand]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Vietnam]], and the [[West Bank]]
* Two visits to [[Australia]], [[Belgium]], the [[Czech Republic]], [[Denmark]], [[India]], [[Indonesia]], [[Israel]], [[Italy]], [[Malaysia]], [[Myanmar]], the [[Philippines]], [[Portugal]], [[Russia]], [[South Africa]], [[Turkey]], and [[Vatican City]]
* Three visits to [[Canada]], [[China]], and [[Poland]]
* Four visits to [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]], [[Japan]], and [[South Korea]]
* Five visits to [[Mexico]], [[Saudi Arabia]], and the [[United Kingdom]]
* Six visits to [[France]] and [[Germany]]

==Americas==
===North America===
====Canada====
{{See also|Canada–United States relations#Stephen Harper and Barack Obama (January 2009 – November 2015)|l1=Canada–United States relations#Stephen Harper and Barack Obama (January 2009 – November 2015)|Canada–United States relations#Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama (November 2015 – January 2017)|l2=#Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama (November 2015 – January 2017)}}
[[File:Barack Obama meets Stephen Harper.jpg|thumb|right|Obama and Canadian Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]], February 2009]]
[[File:State Visit of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 18.jpg|thumb|right|Obama and Canadian Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]], March 2016]]
Following the victory of Obama in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 U.S. presidential election]], it was announced that [[Canada]] would be Obama's first international trip as president, which took place on February 19, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/obama-to-visit-canada-feb-19-pmo-confirms-1.364714 |title=Obama to visit Canada Feb. 19, PMO confirms |publisher=CTV News |date=January 28, 2009 |access-date=2011-02-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090606040521/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090128/canada_obama_090128/20090128?hub=Politics |archive-date=June 6, 2009 }}</ref>

Aside from Canadian lobbying against "Buy American" provisions in the US [[American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009|stimulus package]], relations between the two administrations had been smooth up to 2011.  On February 4, 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister [[Stephen Harper]] issued a "Declaration on a Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/02/04/joint-statement-president-obama-and-prime-minister-harper-canada-regul-0 |title=Joint Statement by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada on Regulatory Cooperation |publisher=obamawhitehouse.archives.gov |date=February 4, 2011 |access-date=2011-02-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=3931 |title=PM and U.S. President Obama announce shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness between Canada and the United States – Prime Minister of Canada |publisher=Pm.gc.ca |date=February 4, 2011 |access-date=2011-02-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219142120/http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?id=3931 |archive-date=2011-02-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]], who was [[2015 Canadian federal election|elected in October 2015]], visited the [[White House]] for an official visit and [[State banquet|state dinner]] on March 10, 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau set a date for first meeting in Washington|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/12/28/barack-obama-and-justin-trudeau-set-a-date-for-first-meeting-in-washington.html|access-date=January 2, 2016|work=[[Toronto Star]]|agency=[[The Canadian Press]]|date=December 28, 2015}}</ref> Trudeau and Obama were reported to have shared warm personal relations during the visit, making humorous remarks about which country was better at [[ice hockey|hockey]] and which country had better [[beer]].<ref>{{cite news|author=Daniel Dale |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/03/10/justin-trudeau-meeting-barack-obama-in-washington.html |title=Obama welcomes Trudeau to White House, 'About time, eh?' |work=[[Toronto Star]] |date=2016-03-10 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> Obama complimented Trudeau's 2015 election campaign for its "message of hope and change" and "positive and optimistic vision". Obama and Trudeau also held "productive" discussions on [[climate change]] and relations between the two countries, and Trudeau invited Obama to speak in the Canadian parliament in Ottawa later in the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/obama-on-growing-friendship-with-trudeau----what-s-not-to-like--/42014494 |title=Obama on growing friendship with Trudeau - 'What's not to like?' |publisher=Swissinfo.ch |date=2016-03-11 |access-date=2016-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318171615/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/obama-on-growing-friendship-with-trudeau----what-s-not-to-like--/42014494 |archive-date=2016-03-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Cuba====
{{See also|United States embargo against Cuba}}
{{Further|Cuba–United States relations|Cuban thaw}}
[[File:Handshake between the President and Cuban President Raúl Castro.jpg|thumb|Obama and Cuban President [[Raúl Castro]], April 2015]]
During his [[Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign|presidential campaign]] in 2008, Obama asserted that his policy toward [[Cuba]] would be based on "libertad", promising that as President of the United States, he would push the [[Politics of Cuba|Cuban government]] to embrace democratic reforms and free [[political prisoner]]s.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/05/23/obama.cuban.americans/index.html|title=Obama: Cuba policy to be based on 'libertad'|agency=[[CNN]]|date=May 23, 2008}}</ref> After his election, former [[President of Cuba|Cuban President]] [[Fidel Castro]] said he was "open" to the idea of meeting with the [[president-elect of the United States|president-elect]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/12/05/cuba.castro.obama/index.html|title=Castro expresses willingness to meet with Obama|agency=[[CNN]]|date=December 5, 2008|first=Morgan|last=Neill}}</ref> However most of his policies towards Cuba before 2014 were little changed from the Bush policies.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Lacey |first1=Marc |last2=Thompson |first2=Ginger |url=http://www.ocala.com/article/20091212/ZNYT03/912123006/-1/NEWS?Title=Cuba-Detains-a-U-S-Contractor |title=Cuba Detains a U.S. Contractor |publisher=Ocala.com |date=December 12, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref>

After Obama announced the intended closure of the [[Guantanamo Bay detention camp|Guantánamo Bay detention camp]] shortly after his [[First inauguration of Barack Obama|inauguration]], Cuban President [[Raúl Castro]] said [[Havana]] would continue to push for the U.S. to "liquidate" the entire [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] and return the land to Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://inthesenewtimes.com/2009/01/26/cuba-to-insist-on-guantanamo-base-closure-%E2%80%93-raul-castro/|title=Cuba to insist on Guantanamo base closure – Raul Castro|agency=Itar-Tass |date=January 22, 2009}}</ref> He was joined by his brother Fidel, who abandoned his magnanimity toward the new U.S. president and demanded that the base be retroceded to Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N29286719.htm|title=Fidel Castro demands Obama return Guantanamo base|agency=[[Reuters]]|date=January 30, 2009|first=Marc|last=Frank}}</ref>

While the [[United States House of Representatives]] passed legislation, backed by Obama, to ease certain travel and cash transactions imposed against Cuba by the U.S., on February 25, 2009, sanctions which were further eased by Obama unilaterally in April 2009,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/13/some-cuba-travel-restrict_n_186197.html|title=Obama Lifting Cuba Travel Restrictions|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=April 13, 2009|first=Robert|last=Burns|work=[[HuffPost]]}}</ref> the president was initially coy about lifting the [[United States embargo against Cuba|embargo against Cuba]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE51O7AG20090225|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090301143724/http://uk.reuters.com/article/usPoliticsNews/idUKTRE51O7AG20090225|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2009|title=House votes to ease limits on Cuba trade, travel|work=[[Reuters]]|date=February 25, 2009 |first=Susan |last=Cornwell}}</ref> Obama professed to view the embargo as a useful tool for leverage on pushing for reform in Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011045005|title=Obama Promises To Maintain Cuban Embargo|work=All Headline News|date=May 23, 2008|first=Matthew|last=Borghese|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020133939/http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011045005|archive-date=October 20, 2008}}</ref> This is in contrast to what Obama stated in 2004 when he said that it was time "to end the embargo with Cuba" because it had "utterly failed in the effort to overthrow Castro."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2008/05/obamas-cuba-latin-america-policy-010591|title=Obama's Cuba, Latin America policy|work=[[Politico]]|date=May 23, 2008}}</ref> Obama's stance had met criticism from both Fidel Castro<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2008/05/26/castro-obama-embargo-plan-will-cause-cubans-to-go-hungry/ |title=Castro: Obama Embargo Plan Will Cause Cubans to Go Hungry |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=May 26, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417014313/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2008/05/26/castro-obama-embargo-plan-will-cause-cubans-to-go-hungry/ |archive-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref> and members of the U.S. government, including ranking member of the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] [[Richard Lugar]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/23/cuba.lugar/index.html|title=Key GOP senator calls Cuba embargo ineffective |agency=[[CNN]]|date=February 23, 2009}}</ref> A panel with the [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]-based [[Brookings Institution]] released a report in late February 2009 urging Obama to normalize relations with Cuba.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/27/us.cuba.relations/index.html|title=Panel urges Obama to normalize ties with Cuba|agency=[[CNN]]|date=February 27, 2009 |first=Arthur |last=Brice}}</ref>

On June 2, leading a delegation to [[Honduras]] for the [[Organization of American States]] General Assembly, Clinton affirmed that Cuba needed to reach a certain political and democratic standard to rejoin the organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna31055936 |title=Clinton says no consensus on Cuba at OAS |work=[[NBC News]] |date=June 2, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref> On 10 December 2013, Obama shook hands with Raul Castro at the [[Death of Nelson Mandela|state funeral of Nelson Mandela]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/obama-cuban-president-raul-castro-shake-hands-nelson/story?id=21158776 |title=Obama, Cuban President Raul Castro Shake Hands at Nelson Mandela Memorial |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=2013-12-10 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

In December 2014, after the secret meetings, it was announced that Obama, with [[Pope Francis]] as an intermediary, had negotiated a restoration of relations with [[Cuba]], more than a half-century after diplomatic ties were broken in 1961.<ref>{{cite news |first=Barbie Latza |last=Nadeau |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/17/the-pope-s-diplomatic-miracle-ending-the-u-s-cuba-cold-war.html |title=The Pope's Diplomatic Miracle: Ending the U.S.–Cuba Cold War |work=[[The Daily Beast]] |date=December 17, 2014 |access-date=December 18, 2014}}</ref> Popularly dubbed the [[Cuban thaw|Cuban Thaw]], ''[[The New Republic]]'' deemed the Cuban Thaw to be "Obama's finest foreign policy achievement."<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Gillin |first=Joel |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/121522/cuba-obamas-biggest-foreign-policy-success |title=Cuba Is Obama's Biggest Foreign Policy Success |magazine=New Republic |date=2015-04-13 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> On July 1, 2015, Obama announced that formal diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States would resume, and embassies would be opened in Washington and Havana.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obama announces re-establishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/01/politics/obama-note-to-castro-reestablish-ties/|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=July 1, 2015}}</ref> The countries' respective "interests sections" in one another's capitals were upgraded to embassies on July 20 and August 13, 2015, respectively.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article27862504.html|title=United States and Cuba reestablish diplomatic relations|first=Mimi|last=Whitefield|work=[[Miami Herald]]|date=July 20, 2015|access-date=July 19, 2015}}</ref>

Obama visited [[Havana]], Cuba for two days in March 2016, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to arrive since [[Calvin Coolidge]] in 1928.<ref>{{cite news |author=Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Damien Cave |date=March 21, 2016 |title=Obama Arrives in Cuba, Heralding New Era After Decades of Hostility |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=A1 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/21/world/americas/obama-arrives-in-cuba.html}}</ref>

====Haiti====
{{See also|Haiti–United States relations}}
President Obama announced that former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush would [[Clinton Bush Haiti Fund|coordinate efforts to raise funds]] for the [[Haiti|country's]] recovery after the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|2010 earthquake]]. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Haiti in January to survey the damage and stated that US$48 million had been raised already in the US to help Haiti recover. Following the meeting with Secretary Clinton, [[René Préval|President Préval]] stated that the highest priorities in Haiti's recovery were establishing a working government, clearing roads, and ensuring the streets were cleared of bodies to improve sanitary conditions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marr |first=Kendra |date=2010-01-16 |title=Obama meets Clinton, Bush in Oval Office |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/01/obama-meets-clinton-bush-in-oval-office-031575 |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=[[Politico]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hillary Clinton meets with Haiti leader after arrival - CNN.com |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/16/haiti.earthquake/index.html |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=www.cnn.com |language=en}}</ref>

====Honduras====
{{further|2009 Honduran coup d'état}}
{{further|Honduras–United States relations}}
On June 28, 2009, President [[Manuel Zelaya]] was arrested and exiled from the country. Obama condemned the action and described the event as a coup. On July 7, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Zelaya and agreed upon a U.S.-backed proposal for negotiations with the [[Roberto Micheletti|Micheletti]] government, mediated by President [[Óscar Arias]] of [[Costa Rica]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56424C20090707?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 |work=[[Reuters]]|title=Honduras' Zelaya says to meet coup backers on Thursday |date=July 7, 2009}}</ref> At the conclusion of the meeting, Clinton announced the suspension of economic and military aid to the Honduran government.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2009/july/125762.htm |title=U.S. Assistance to Honduras (Taken Question) |publisher=State.gov |date=July 7, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29 }}</ref> However, the U.S. led a group of Western Hempishere countries supporting the outcome of [[2009 Honduran general election|November 2009 presidential election]] of [[Porfirio Lobo Sosa|Porfirio Lobo]] as a way forward to resolve the situation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=9203250 |title=Honduran President-Elect Banking on US Support|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] }} {{dead link|date=April 2014}}</ref>

===South America===
====Argentina====
{{See also|Argentina–United States relations}}
[[File:Macri y Obama en Casa Rosada (cropped).jpg|thumb|Obama and Argentine President [[Mauricio Macri]], March 2016]]
President Obama made a state visit to Argentina on March 23–24, 2016 to improve the [[Argentina–United States relations]] under the administration of newly elected Argentine president, [[Mauricio Macri]]. This followed strained relations under predecessors [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] and [[Néstor Kirchner]] regarding investments.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Gilbert|first1=Jonathan|title=President Obama's Argentina Visit Is All About Trade|url=http://fortune.com/2016/03/23/obama-argentina-macri-trade/|access-date=March 23, 2016|work=[[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]]|date=March 23, 2016}}</ref>  Obama and Macri discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in promoting "[[universal value]]s and interests," such as in the areas of security, energy, health and human rights, where the two presidents have agreed for American help to assist [[Terrorism in Argentina|Argentina's counter-terrorism efforts]], to contribute to [[peacekeeping]] missions, combat [[illegal drug trade]] and [[organized crime]], respond to diseases and [[Disease outbreak|outbreaks]] like the [[2015–2016 Zika virus epidemic|Zika virus]], and develop resources and [[renewable energy]] strategies.<ref>{{cite web|title=Remarks by President Obama and President Macri of Argentina in Joint Press Conference|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/03/23/remarks-president-obama-and-president-macri-argentina-joint-press |publisher=[[White House Office of the Press Secretary]] obamawhitehouse.archives.gov |access-date=March 24, 2016|date=February 5, 2017}}</ref>

Obama declared a "fresh era" of relations to help Argentina's credibility in the Latin American region and the world, and announced trade and economic initiatives to reset the countries' relations after years of tension.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Julie Hirschfield|last2=Gilbert|first2=Jonathan|title=Obama Declares a New Partnership After Talks With Argentine Leader |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/24/world/americas/obama-argentina-president-mauricio-macri-brussels-attacks.html |access-date=March 24, 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=March 23, 2016}}</ref>

====Colombia====
{{See also|Colombia–United States relations|United States–Colombia Free Trade Agreement}}
Obama continued [[Plan Colombia]], a diplomatic aid initiative launched by President [[Bill Clinton]] to aid Colombia's economy. Partially as a result of Plan Colombia, Colombian President [[Juan Manuel Santos]] negotiated an agreement with the guerrilla organization [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]].<ref name="ntoosi"/> Though Colombia remained a major producer of drugs, it saw remarkable progress in the reduction of kidnappings, homicides, and unemployment.<ref name="ntoosi"/> In addition to continuing Plan Colombia, Obama appointed [[Bernard W. Aronson|Bernard Aronson]] as a [[Diplomatic rank|special envoy]] to the [[Colombian peace process|peace process]] between the Colombian government and FARC in order to facilitate negotiations.<ref name="ntoosi">{{cite news|last1=Toosi|first1=Nahal|title=Obama tees up a much-needed foreign policy win in Colombia|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2016/02/colombia-offers-obama-a-rare-foreign-policy-win-218416|access-date=18 February 2016|work=[[Politico]]|date=1 February 2016}}</ref> However, Congresswoman [[Ileana Ros-Lehtinen]] and others criticized Obama for engaging with FARC, an organization that appears on the State Department's [[United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|list of terrorist organizations]].<ref name="ntoosi"/> Obama promised a continuation of its policy of financial aid to Colombia in the aftermath of the proposed peace deal.<ref name="jlederman">{{cite news|last1=Lederman|first1=Josh|title=Peace Deal in Reach, Obama Says US to Help Colombia Rebuild|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/colombia-leader-obama-dollars-terror-list-change-36706412|access-date=18 February 2016|agency=[[Associated Press]]|date=4 February 2016}}</ref>

====Venezuela====
{{further|United States–Venezuela relations#Presidency of Barack Obama}}
While Obama set a conciliatory tone for his relations with [[Venezuela]] during his candidacy, saying he would be willing to meet with [[President of Venezuela|Venezuelan President]] [[Hugo Chávez]] without preconditions at a July 23, 2007, presidential debate.<ref>{{cite video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Oj7Jn9rv4 |title=Obama / Clinton on meeting anti-US leaders |publisher=[[CNN]]|via=[[YouTube]] |date=February 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717202808/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Oj7Jn9rv4 |archive-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref>

In January 2009 Chávez derided Obama as taking the same stance toward Venezuela as Bush, but the next month, as the price of oil fell, Chavez communicated openness to discussions with the Obama administration.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Michael |title=Chávez's Latest Victory an Opportunity for Obama |url=https://www.newsweek.com/chavezs-latest-victory-opportunity-obama-82427 |work=[[Newsweek]]|date=18 February 2009 |language=en}}</ref> On February 15, 2009, Chávez said, "Any day is propitious for talking with President Barack Obama,"<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=101268|title=Venezuela President Chavez Ready to Talk to US President Obama |agency=Novinite|date=February 15, 2009}}</ref> but said later that month that he "couldn't care less" about meeting the new U.S. president<ref>{{cite news|url=http://rawstory.com/news/afp/_Couldn_t_care_less_about_meeting_O_02272009.html|title='Couldn't care less' about meeting Obama: Chavez|agency=AFP|date=February 27, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228213144/http://rawstory.com/news/afp/_Couldn_t_care_less_about_meeting_O_02272009.html|archive-date=February 28, 2009}}</ref> ahead of an impending confrontation between the two leaders at the [[Summits of the Americas|Summit of the Americas]] in [[Port of Spain|Port-of-Spain]], [[Trinidad]], in mid-April.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/article.php?news_id=13952|title=Obama and Chavez to meet in Trinidad in April|agency=Caribbean Net News|date=February 2, 2009|first=Oscar|last=Ramjeet|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205080513/http://caribbeannetnews.com/article.php?news_id=13952|archive-date=February 5, 2009}}</ref>

However, as recently as the first week of March the same year, Chávez called upon Obama to follow the path to socialism, which he termed as the "only" way out of the [[global recession]]. "Come with us, align yourself, come with us on the road to socialism. This is the only path. Imagine a socialist revolution in the United States", Chávez told a group of workers in the southern Venezuelan state of [[Bolívar (state)|Bolívar]]. He said that people were calling Obama a "socialist" for the measures of state intervention he is taking to counter the crisis, so it would not be too far-fetched to suggest that he might join the project of "21st century socialism" that the Venezuelan leader is heading. Later in March, he referred to Obama as a "poor ignoramus" for not knowing the situation in Latin America and even implied that Brazil's President Lula was not completely happy with his meeting with Obama. However the Brazilian Foreign Ministry denied that this was the case.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE52L19G20090322?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true/Venezuela's |title=Venezuela's Chavez calls Obama "ignoramus" |publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=March 22, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref>

In [[Trinidad]] on April 17, 2009, Obama and Chávez met for the first time. Later, Chávez walked over to Obama during the summit, and handed him a copy of [[Open Veins of Latin America]] by [[Uruguay]]an author [[Eduardo Galeano]], an essay about U.S. and European economic and political interference in the region. During the summit, Obama is reported to have said, to much applause, "We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms, but I pledge to you that we seek an equal partnership. There is no senior partner and junior partner in our relations".{{citation needed|date=April 2014}}

In December 2014, during the presidency of Chávez's successor, [[Nicolás Maduro]], Obama signed a sanctions law on Venezuelan government officials.<ref>{{cite news |date=December 18, 2014 |title=Obama signs U.S. Sanctions law on Venezuela officials |newspaper=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-venezuela-sanctions-idUSKBN0JW2JF20141218}}</ref>

===== Operation Money Badger =====
{{Excerpt|Operation Money Badger|only=paragraphs}}

==Arctic==
{{Further|Arctic policy of the United States}}
During Obama's presidency, there was increased global attention paid to the Arctic, and the challenges and opportunities present in the region. The Obama administration responded accordingly by placing significantly greater focus on the Arctic and Arctic issues than the Bush administration, achieving a notable first in September 2015 by becoming the first sitting president ever to visit the Arctic Circle.

The Arctic is divided between 8 Arctic states that serve as permanent members of the [[Arctic Council]]. The primary policy of the Obama administration within the region had been to facilitate cooperation among these states on regional issues.<ref>{{cite news
|date=August 25, 2016 |url=http://polarconnection.org/obama-arctic-legacy/ |title=What is Obama's Arctic Legacy? |publisher=Polar Research and Policy Initiative |access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref> Upon assuming office, Obama looked to reset relations with Russia across the board; however, as US–Russian relations deteriorated in other matters of mutual interest, the Arctic remained a site of cooperation between the two states.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

In 2011, the Arctic states created the [[Arctic Search and Rescue Agreement]], which established the search parameters for Arctic states. Search and Rescue collaboration between states has since strengthened further with the creation of the Coast Guard Forum in 2015.

During Obama's presidency, the United States assumed chairmanship of the Arctic Council 2015-2017 and looked to launch major collaborative projects while in that office.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/opa/arc/uschair|title=U.S. Chairmanship of the Arctic Council|work=state.gov|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> During the United States chairmanship, the Arctic Council focused on improving economic and living conditions for Arctic communities; improving Arctic Ocean safety, security and stewardship; and addressing the impacts of climate change.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} The last Arctic Council meeting of Obama's presidency was in Maine in 4–6 October 2016 where the agenda focused on Arctic sustainable development and the climate.

Countering the regional effects of climate change was a major focus of the Obama presidency's Arctic policy, particularly during his final two years in office. Obama agreed in March 2016 to protect at least 17% of its Arctic territory from development during a joint event with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

Within the Arctic Council, an expert group was created in 2015 investigating the threat posed by black carbon to the region which concluded its findings and recommendations in 2016. The administration had also looked to increase data sharing—a major agenda item at the inaugural White House Arctic Science Ministerial in September 2016.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 16, 2016 |url=http://polarconnection.org/us-canada-cooperation/ |title=A Tale of Friendship and Legacy: Bilateral North American Polar Protection |publisher=Polar Research and Policy Initiative |access-date=November 18, 2016}}</ref>

While regional co-operation to counter joint challenges was the primary commitment of the Obama administration, US Arctic military capabilities also increased under Obama. In 2016, the [[ICEX: US Navy Mission in Arctic|ICEX exercise]] was carried out and was widely regarded to be a major success. President Obama had also commissioned two new US icebreakers in 2015.

==Asia==
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced in 2011 a rebalancing of foreign policy to give more emphasis to Asia, especially in response to the rapidly growing Chinese role in the region. She called for "a substantially increased investment – diplomatic, economic, strategic, and otherwise – in the Asia-Pacific region."<ref>Hillary Clinton, "America's Pacific Century: The future of politics will be decided in Asia, not Afghanistan or Iraq, and the United States will be right at the center of the action," ''Foreign Policy'' (Nov 2011) [https://web.archive.org/web/20131209064350/http://us-global-trade.com/Hilary%20Clinton.Asia%20(Foreign%20Policy%20Nov.%202011).pdf online]</ref> As of 2014, many analysts did not find significant changes and some argued that the U.S. is again neglecting the region.<ref>Euan Graham, "Southeast Asia in the US Rebalance: Perceptions from a Divided Region," ''Contemporary Southeast Asia'' (Dec 2013) 35#3 pp 305-332, online.</ref> Obama's support of the [[Trans-Pacific Partnership]] was motivated in large part by his goal to "pivot" the US to East Asia.<ref name="jcart1">{{cite news|last1=Cartillier|first1=Jerome|title=With free trade deal, Obama solidifies US pivot to Asia|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/free-trade-deal-obama-solidifies-us-pivot-asia-225909096.html?ref=gs|access-date=24 April 2016|publisher=[[Yahoo! News]]|date=5 October 2015|archive-date=25 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425111722/https://www.yahoo.com/news/free-trade-deal-obama-solidifies-us-pivot-asia-225909096.html?ref=gs|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===East Asia===
{{further|East Asian foreign policy of the Obama administration}}
[[File:Chinadialogue speaking CK-0038.jpg|thumb|left|President [[Barack Obama]] addresses the opening session of the first U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue.]]
[[File:Barack Obama arrives at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh.jpg|thumb|right|President Obama at the Vimean Santepheap (Peace Palace) in [[Phnom Penh]], Cambodia]]
Secretary of State Clinton left on her first foreign policy tour (to Asia) on February 15, 2009, with stops in Japan, China, South Korea, Philippines, and Indonesia.<ref name="post021509">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/14/AR2009021401382.html |title=China Is at the Heart of Clinton's First Trip |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=February 15, 2009 |access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref> The Secretary had travelled to the region extensively, including at least three trips to various countries in the region in 2009, 2010 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/trvl/index.htm |title=We're sorry, that page can't be found |publisher=State.gov |date=2016-10-13 |access-date=2016-11-09 }}</ref> In July 2012, Secretary Clinton traveled Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/2012/194566.htm |title=Secretary Clinton: Travel to France, Afghanistan, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt, and Israel |publisher=State Department |date=July 5–17, 2012 |access-date=2012-09-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921100959/https://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/2012/194566.htm |archive-date=September 21, 2012}}</ref>  The visit to Laos was the first by a Secretary of State in 57 years.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jane Perlez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/12/world/asia/on-visit-to-laos-clinton-is-reminded-of-vietnam-war.html |title=Vietnam War's Legacy Is Vivid as Clinton Visits Laos |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2012-07-11 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

On April 1, 2009, Obama and [[Hu Jintao]] announced the establishment of the high-level [[U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue|U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue]], which superseded the [[Strategic Economic Dialogue]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Roach |first=Stephen S. |url= |title=Accidental Conflict: America, China, and the Clash of False Narratives |date=2022 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-26901-7 |location=New Haven |doi=10.12987/9780300269017 |jstor=j.ctv2z0vv2v |oclc=1347023475 |author-link=Stephen S. Roach}}</ref>{{Rp|page=288}} It was co-chaired by Hillary Clinton and [[Timothy Geithner]] on the U.S. side and [[Dai Bingguo]] and [[Wang Qishan]] on the Chinese side and on May 16, 2009, Obama personally announced the nomination of [[Jon Huntsman Jr.|Jon Huntsman, Jr.]], the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[List of governors of Utah|Governor of Utah]] to fill the position of [[List of ambassadors of the United States to China|Ambassador to China]]. Huntsman was the only ambassador in the Administration to be personally announced by the President.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_UTAH_GOVERNOR?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710061909/http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_UTAH_GOVERNOR?SITE=CONGRA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |title= Utah GOP governor is Obama's pick as China envoy |publisher=[[Associated Press]] |date= May 16, 2009 |first= Darlene |last= Superville}}</ref> Later that year, President Obama and Secretary Clinton made a high-profile trip to China on November 15–18, 2009 marking Obama's first visit to China. It was Obama's first presidential Asia trip since he was inducted. He also went to Japan, Singapore for the [[APEC]] summit and South Korea for the first U.S.-ASEAN summit. The [[United States Indo-Pacific Command|United States Pacific Command]] had also been at the forefront of efforts to strengthen military relationships in the region.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sutter |first=Robert |url=http://apac2020.the-diplomat.com/feature/sun-to-set-on-us-role-in-apac/ |title=Sun to Set on US Role in APAC? |work=The Diplomat |date=January 2010 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref> The United States and China often clashed over China's [[Nine-dash line|claims]] in the [[South China Sea]], parts of which are also [[Territorial disputes in the South China Sea|claimed]] by Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia.<ref name="jperlez1">{{cite news |last1=Perlez |first1=Jane|title=Obama Faces a Tough Balancing Act Over South China Sea|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/asia/obama-xi-jinping-meeting-washington.html|access-date=24 April 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=29 March 2016}}</ref>

In 2012, Obama became the first sitting American president to visit [[Cambodia]] and [[Myanmar]].

In 2014, President Obama stated that the United States [[Tibetan sovereignty debate|recognized Tibet as part of China]] but also encouraged the Chinese authorities to take steps to preserve the unique cultural, religious and linguistic identity of the Tibetan people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/06/08/remarks-president-obama-and-president-xi-jinping-peoples-republic-china- |title=Remarks by President Obama and President Xi Jinping in Joint Press Conference |publisher=obamawhitehouse.archives.gov |date=2014-11-12 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

In 2016, Obama became the first sitting American president to visit [[Laos]], which the United States had bombed during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="mlandler1">{{cite news|last1=Landler|first1=Mark|title=Obama Acknowledges Scars of America's Shadow War in Laos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/07/world/asia/obama-laos-bombs-war.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news|access-date=6 September 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=6 September 2016}}</ref> Obama also increased funding to clean up [[unexploded ordnance]] in Laos.<ref name="mlandler1"/>

During the Obama administration, the US signed more bilateral agreements with China than it had during any other US administration, with a focus on bilateral efforts to address climate change.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewis |first=Joanna I. |title=Cooperating for the Climate: Learning from International Partnerships in China's Clean Energy Sector |date=2023 |publisher=The [[MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-54482-5 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}</ref>{{Rp|page=2}}

[[File:Obama and Lee Myung-bak.jpg|thumb|right|United States President [[Barack Obama]] and Lee walking after a meeting at the [[Blue House]] in Seoul in November 2010]]
[[File:Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with Hor Namhong June 12, 2012.jpg|thumb|left| Clinton with Cambodian Foreign Minister [[Hor Namhong]]]]

====North Korea====
[[North Korea–United States relations|Relations between the U.S. and North Korea]] were contentious during the Obama administration, largely due to conflict over the [[North Korea and weapons of mass destruction|North Korean nuclear weapons program]] and threats of military action.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.questia.com/read/1P3-2989428211/the-disappointments-of-disengagement-assessing-obama-s |title=The Disappointments of Disengagement: Assessing Obama's North Korea Policy |author=Delury, John |journal=Asian Perspective |volume=37 |issue=2 |date=April–June 2013 |pages=149–182 |doi=10.1353/apr.2013.0001 |s2cid=154299049 |access-date=2016-11-09|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Not long after Obama took office North Korea elbowed its way back onto the international stage after a period of relative quiet,<ref>{{cite news|agency=The Progressive|url=http://www.progressive.org/mag/mfeffer021909.html|title=North Korea to Obama: Don't Ignore Us!|first=John|last=Feffer|date=February 17, 2009|access-date=April 10, 2011|archive-date=January 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170114051650/http://www.progressive.org/mag/mfeffer021909.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> drawing accusations of planning a new long-range [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] test weeks after Obama was sworn in<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |first=Jay |last=Solomon|author2=Siobhan Gorman|date=February 3, 2009|title=U.S. Believes North Korea May Be Preparing Long-Range Missile Test |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB123369457060044717?mod=googlenews_wsj}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|agency=Times Online|first=Richard Lloyd|last=Parry|date=February 3, 2009|title=North Korea 'prepares to test long-range missile'|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5647653.ece |location=London |work=The Times}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> and performing an unannounced [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear warhead]] and [[missile]] testing in late May 2009 to the disapproval of the State Department.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/05/200952842228594660.html |title=US-Seoul alert raised over N Korea|agency=Al Jazeera English|date=May 28, 2009}}</ref> Relations were further strained with the [[2009 imprisonment of American journalists by North Korea|imprisonment of American journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling]] for their alleged illegal entry into North Korean territory on assignment for a media organization.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atVK6Ln3Mb.w |publisher=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]|last=Koo|first=Heejin|date=August 2, 2009|access-date=2009-08-02|title=U.S. Journalists Say Soldiers Dragged Them Back to North Korea}}</ref> although both women were later released on August 5, 2009.<ref name=CNNpardon>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/04/nkorea.clinton/index.html |title=N. Korean leader reportedly pardons U.S. journalists |work=[[CNN]]|date=August 4, 2009|access-date=2009-08-04}}</ref> Later that year, Pyongyang announced its intention to terminate the 1953 [[armistice]] ending hostilities in the [[Korean War]] on May 28, 2009, effectively restarting the nearly 60-year-old conflict, and prompting the [[ROK/US Combined Forces Command#1953 onwards|South Korea-United States Combined Forces Command]] to [[DEFCON|Watchcon II]], the second-highest alert level possible.<ref name="Alert level raised on North Korea">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8071175.stm|title=Alert level raised on North Korea|agency=[[BBC News]]|date=May 28, 2009}}</ref> In 2010, two more major incidents with North Korea occurred: the [[ROKS Cheonan sinking|sinking of a South Korean Navy Ship]] that actuated new rounds of military exercises with South Korea as a direct military response to sinking<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-25-la-fg-korea-ship-20100525-story.html |title=U.S., South Korea plan military exercises |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2010-05-25 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> and the [[Bombardment of Yeonpyeong]] prompting the [[United States Navy|US]] [[aircraft carrier]] {{USS|George Washington|CVN-73|6}} to depart for joint exercises in the Yellow Sea with the [[Republic of Korea Navy]], to deter further North Korean military action.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dogyun |first1=Kim |last2=Steward |first2=Phil |title=U.S. aircraft carrier heads for Korean waters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL3E6MN0SQ20101124 |publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=November 24, 2010 |access-date=2010-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sanger |first1=David E. |last2=McDonald |first2=Mark |title=South Koreans and U.S. to Stage a Joint Exercise |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/24/world/asia/24nkorea.html?_r=1&hp |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 23, 2010 |access-date=2010-11-27}}</ref> In light of the geopolitical developments with North Korea, the Obama administration had called the [[South Korea–United States relations|U.S.–South Korean alliance]] as a "cornerstone of US security in the Pacific Region."<ref name="Alert level raised on North Korea"/> During Obama's presidency, North Korea's nuclear-weapons and missile program became "steadily more alarming" to the United States and Obama was criticized for failing to hinder or eliminate the program.<ref>{{cite news|title=A timeline of North Korea's nuclear ambitions|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2016/09/troubling-trajectory|access-date=11 September 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

====Japan====
Japan, a major ally of the United States, has been engaged in a diplomatic dispute with China over control of the South China Sea. In Secretary of State Clinton's inaugural tour of East Asia, she reassured Japanese officials of Japan's centrality in the network of American alliances.<ref name="Alford">{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25065503-2703,00.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121215173310/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25065503-2703,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 15, 2012 |title=Clinton reaffirms Japanese alliance |last=Alford |first=Peter |work=[[The Australian]] |date=February 16, 2009 |access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref> In response to the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]], the United States initiated [[Operation Tomodachi]] to support Japan in [[Emergency management|disaster relief]] following the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami]]<ref name="LATMar12">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/sc-dc-japan-quake-us-relief-20110313,0,5697005.story|title=U.S. military, aid teams headed for Japan|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=March 12, 2011 |first=Ken |last=Dilanian}}</ref> earning gratitude from Japan's minister of defense, [[Toshimi Kitazawa]] who, while visiting the ''[[USS Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan]]'', thanked its crew for its assistance as part of Operation Tomodachi saying, "I have never been more encouraged by and proud of the fact that the United States is our ally."<ref>[[Kyodo News]], "Japanese defense chief thanks U.S. military for humanitarian efforts", April 4, 2011.</ref>

On May 27, 2016, Obama became the first sitting American president to visit [[Hiroshima]], Japan, 71 years after the [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima]] towards the end of [[World War II]]. Accompanied by Japanese Prime Minister [[Shinzō Abe]], Obama paid tribute to the victims of the bombing at the [[Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum]].<ref>{{cite news |title=President Obama visits Hiroshima |publisher=[[BBC News]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-us-canada-36395350 |access-date=June 19, 2016}}</ref> Although he was pressured to by atomic bomb survivor groups, he did not apologize for the decision to drop the bomb.<ref>{{cite news |title=Sympathy for victims but no apology as Obama makes historic Hiroshima visit |work=[[USA Today]] |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/27/obama-visit-hiroshima-bomb-site-pledges-no-apology/85022938/ |access-date=July 13, 2021}}</ref>

===South Asia===
{{further|South Asian foreign policy of the Obama administration}}

The Obama administration's [[South Asia]]n foreign policy was outlined in "The Obama Administration's Policy on South Asia" by [[Robert O. Blake Jr.|Robert O. Blake, Jr.]], [[United States Assistant Secretary of State|Assistant Secretary of State]] for the [[Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs]], who wrote "[o]ur goal was and remains to support the development of sovereign, stable, democratic nations, integrated into the world economy and cooperating with one another, the United States, and our partners to advance regional security and stability."{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

At the start of the Obama administration there were several regional [[:wikt:hot spot|hot spots]] within South Asia including India and Pakistan.

[[File:Cross hall India USA.jpg|thumb|left|President Obama with Indian Prime Minister [[Manmohan Singh]] during the first state dinner hosted by the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]]]]

In August 2009, Obama ordered the expansion of airstrikes to include the organization of [[Baitullah Mehsud]], the militant chief reportedly behind the 2007 [[assassination of Benazir Bhutto|assassination]] of [[Benazir Bhutto]],<ref>{{cite news |work=[[BBC News]]|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7163626.stm|title=Profile: Baitullah Mehsud|date=December 28, 2007}}</ref> as priority targets.<ref name=Mazzetti>{{cite news|title=Obama Expands Missile Strikes Inside Pakistan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/washington/21policy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss|author=[[Mark Mazzetti]], David E. Sanger|date=February 20, 2009|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

There was nuclear tension between India and Pakistan since both had [[nuclear weapon]]s. This conflict had been ongoing since August 1947 after the [[Partition of India]]. Criticism had been leveled at the Obama administration for its apparent lack of an early response to U.S. foreign policy with India. The former director for South Asia in the National Security Council in the Bush administration, [[Xenia Wickett|Xenia Dormandy]] claims that India is America's indispensable ally in the region and that the Obama administration should take steps to improve relations with India.<ref>{{cite web|last=Twining |first=Dan |url=http://shadow.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/02/15/a_us_asia_strategy_for_hillary_clintons_trip |title=A U.S. Asia strategy for Hillary Clinton's trip |work=Foreign Policy |date=February 15, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chang |first=Gordon G. |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/10/hillary-clinton-china-opinions-columnists_0211_gordon_chang.html |title=Mrs. Clinton Goes To China |work=[[Forbes]]|date=February 11, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Varadarajan |first=Tunku |url=https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/15/obama-india-hillary-opinions-columnists_0216_tunku_varadarajan.html |title=Obama Should Visit India—Soon |work=[[Forbes]]|date=February 16, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Pham |first=J. Peter |url=http://www.nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=20816 |title=Ignoring India |work=The National Interest |date=February 11, 2009 |access-date=2012-09-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613031638/http://nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=20816 |archive-date=2010-06-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="asiatimes_india">{{cite web|url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KC14Df01.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090315235711/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KC14Df01.html|url-status=unfit|archive-date=2009-03-15|title=India frets over Obama's Chinamania|work=Asia Times Online}}</ref>

==Europe==
{{Main|European foreign policy of the Obama administration}}
[[File:P031214PS-0710 (14104760453).jpg|thumb|left|President [[Barack Obama]] talks with Prime Minister [[Arseniy Yatsenyuk]] of [[Ukraine]] at the conclusion of their bilateral meeting in the [[Oval Office]], March 12, 2014.]]
Fabbrini in 2011 identified a cycle in anti-Americanism in Europe: modest in the 1990s, it grew explosively between 2003 and 2008, then declined after 2008. He sees the current version as related to images of American foreign policy-making as unrestrained by international institutions or world opinion. Thus it is the unilateral policy process and the arrogance of policy makers, not the specific policy decisions, that are decisive.<ref>Sergio Fabbrini, "Anti-Americanism and US foreign policy: Which correlation?," ''International Politics'' (Nov 2010) 47#6 pp 557–573.</ref>

===East Europe===
====Russia====
{{See also|Russia–United States relations#Obama administration (2009–2017)|Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama (2015-09-29) 01.jpg|thumb|240px|Meeting between President Obama and Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] in New York City, September 2015]]
Tensions remained as Russia pushed back against attempts at further eastward [[Enlargement of NATO|expansion of NATO]] and the [[European Union]] into areas that had previously been part of the [[Russian Empire]] and the [[Soviet Union|USSR]]. [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] and [[Ukraine]] were the major flash points. Early on, Obama called for a "reset" of relations with Russia, and in 2009 the policy became known as the [[Russian reset]]; but critics debated whether or not it could improve bilateral relations or was about to concede too much to Russia.<ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1080/09662839.2013.777704|title = Assessing the reset: Successes and failures in the Obama administration's Russia policy, 2009–2012|journal = European Security|volume = 22|issue = 4|pages = 500–523|year = 2013|last1 = Deyermond|first1 = Ruth|s2cid = 153331684}}</ref>

At the end of March 2014, president Obama dismissed Russia as a "regional power" that did not pose a major security threat to the U.S.<ref name="nothreat">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/25/barack-obama-russia-regional-power-ukraine-weakness |title=Barack Obama: Russia is a regional power showing weakness over Ukraine|date=25 March 2014|newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=1 November 2014}}</ref> The statement was later sharply criticised by Putin as "disrespectful" and an attempt to prove America's [[American exceptionalism|exceptionalism]]<ref>[http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/51155 Интервью немецкому изданию Bild. Часть 2] Kremlin.Ru, 12 January 2016.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://rbth.com/news/2016/01/12/putin-disagrees-with-obama-over-russias-regional-status-us-exceptionalism_558563|title=Putin disagrees with Obama over Russia's regional status, US exceptionalism|agency=Interfax|date=12 January 2016|work=rbth.com|access-date=20 January 2017}}</ref> as well as by the president of the [[European Commission]] [[Jean-Claude Juncker]] who in November 2016  said, "We have a lot to learn about the depths of Russia, we are very ignorant about it at the moment. ... Russia is not, as President Obama said, 'a regional power'. This was a big error in assessment."<ref name="obamaignorant">{{cite news|url=http://www.euronews.com/2016/11/26/global-conversation-exclusive-interview-with-european-commission-president-jea|title=Exclusive Interview with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker|publisher=Euronews|access-date=November 26, 2016}}{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

After Russia's [[Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war|military intervention]] in [[Syria]] in 2015 and the [[Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections|alleged interference]]<ref name="ftelect">{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c596c0a8-a278-11e6-82c3-4351ce86813f |newspaper=The FT|title=US election: The Russia factor: Officials say Moscow's interference is unprecedented. Has the Kremlin achieved its goal? |date=November 4, 2016}}</ref> in the 2016 [[2016 United States presidential election|election campaign in the U.S.]], relations between the Russian government and Obama administration became more strained. In September 2016, the U.S. government publicly accused Russia of "flagrant violations of international law" in Syria.<ref name="voanews.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/kerry-calls-for-war-crimes-probe-into-russian-activity-in-syria/3541086.html |title=US-Russian Feud Over Syria Escalates with Talk of War Crimes |publisher=[[Voice of America]] |date=2016-10-07 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> [[Thomas Friedman]] opined, "Obama believed that a combination of pressure and engagement would moderate Putin's behavior. That is the right approach, in theory, but it's now clear that we have underestimated the pressure needed to produce effective engagement, and we're going to have to step it up. This is not just about the politics of Syria and Ukraine anymore. It's now also about America, Europe, basic civilized norms and the integrity of our democratic institutions."<ref name="friedmnyt">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/opinion/lets-get-putins-attention.html?_r=0 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Let's Get Putin's Attention |date=October 5, 2016}}</ref>  [[George Robertson, Baron Robertson of Port Ellen|George Robertson]], a former UK defense secretary and NATO secretary-general, said that Obama had "allowed Putin to jump back on the world stage and test the resolve of the West", adding that the legacy of this disaster would last.<ref name="obexit">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/07/world/europe/europeans-view-obamas-exit-with-a-mix-of-admiration-and-regret.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Europeans View Obama's Exit With a Mix of Admiration and Regret |date=November 6, 2016}}</ref>

In mid-November 2016, the Kremlin accused president Obama's administration of trying to damage the U.S.' relationship with Russia to a degree that would render normalisation thereof impossible for the incoming administration of [[Donald Trump]].<ref name="obamadamage">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kremlin-obama-team-trying-to-damage-ties-with-russia/2016/11/17/af64d55a-acd6-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161118035654/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/kremlin-obama-team-trying-to-damage-ties-with-russia/2016/11/17/af64d55a-acd6-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 18, 2016 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|title=Kremlin: Obama team trying to damage ties with Russia |date=November 17, 2016}}</ref>

In December 2017, [[Mike Rogers (Michigan politician)|Mike Rogers]], who was Chairman of the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]' [[United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence|Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence]] in 2011–2015, said that Obama and his inner circle had a habit of rejecting the idea that Russia under Putin was a resurgent and perilous adversary; and this dismissiveness on Russia "filter[ed] its way down".<ref>[https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/dec/7/mikhail-lesins-death-swung-attention-to-russia-aft/ Obama-led intel fiasco paved way for Russian subversion] The Washington Times, 7 December 2017.</ref>

====Ukraine====
{{Main|2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine}}
In the wake of the [[Euromaidan]] protests the Obama administration embraced the new government of Prime Minister [[Arseniy Yatsenyuk]]. After Russia began to occupy the [[Crimean peninsula]] Obama warned Russia of "severe consequences" if Russia annexed the region and attempted to negotiate a withdraw of Russian troops. To date, all negotiations have been unsuccessful.<ref>{{cite web|author=Paul Adams |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26583697 |title=No Ukraine accord in US-Russia talks |work=[[BBC News]]|date=2014-03-14 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> On December 18, 2014, Obama signed into law [[Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/18/statement-president-ukraine-freedom-support-act |title=Statement by the President on the Ukraine Freedom Support Act|publisher=obamawhitehouse.archives.gov |author=White House|date=December 18, 2014|access-date=31 January 2015|author-link=White House}}</ref> Since early 2014, Russia has maintained de facto control over the peninsula.

==Middle East==
{{Main|Middle Eastern foreign policy of the Obama administration}}
{{Further|United States foreign policy in the Middle East}}

The [[Wilsonianism|Wilsonian]] goal to promote democracy in the region seemed feasible when the [[Arab Spring]] broke out in 2010 and demanded democracy.<ref>Fouad Ajami, “The Arab Spring at One: A Year of Living Dangerously.” ''Foreign Affairs'' 91#2 (2012), pp. 56–65, [http://www.jstor.org/stable/23217221 online].</ref>

=== Afghanistan ===
{{See also|Afghanistan–United States relations}}
[[File:Barack Obama, Hamid Karzai & Asif Ali Zardari in trilateral meeting 5-6-09 3.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Asif Ali Zardari]], Obama, and [[Hamid Karzai]] during a US-Afghan-Pakistan trilateral meeting]]
On February 18, 2009, Obama announced that the U.S. military presence in [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] would be bolstered by 17,000 new troops by the summer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25074581-2703,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219134205/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25074581-2703,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 19, 2009 |title=Obama launches Afghanistan surge |work=The Australian |date=February 19, 2009 |first=Amanda |last=Hodge }}</ref>

On December 1, 2009, Obama stated that 30,000 troops would be added to Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/world/asia/02prexy.html|title=Obama Adds Troops, but Maps Exit Plan|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2 December 2009 |last1=Stolberg |first1=Sheryl Gay |last2=Cooper |first2=Helene }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125967363641871171|title=Obama Bets Big on Troop Surge|newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]|date=December 2, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna34218604|title=Obama details Afghan war plan, troop increases|website=[[NBC News]] |date=December 1, 2009 }}</ref>

The number of American soldiers in Afghanistan would peak at 100,000 in 2010.<ref name=nyttrooplevels>{{cite web|title=American Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/06/22/world/asia/american-forces-in-afghanistan-and-iraq.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> [[David Petraeus]] replaced McChrystal in June 2010, after McChrystal's staff criticized White House personnel in a magazine article.<ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/24/mcchrystal.gates.support/ |title = Gates says he agrees with Obama decision on McChrystal |publisher=[[CNN]] |date = June 24, 2010 |access-date = September 18, 2010 }}</ref>

[[File:Afghanistan and Pakistan map (UN).png|thumb|Afghanistan and Pakistan were considered a single theater of operations.]]
On June 22, 2011,  Obama announced, "we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer, fully recovering the surge I announced at West Point.  After this initial reduction, our troops will continue coming home at a steady pace as Afghan security forces move into the lead.  Our mission will change from combat to support.  By 2014, this process of transition will be complete, and the Afghan people will be responsible for their own security".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/06/22/president-obama-way-forward-afghanistan|title=President Obama on the Way Forward in Afghanistan|date=June 22, 2011|via=[[NARA|National Archives]]|work=[[whitehouse.gov]]|access-date=July 21, 2020}}</ref>

In 2012, the U.S. and Afghanistan signed a [[U.S.–Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement|strategic partnership agreement]] in which the U.S. agreed to hand over major combat operation to Afghan forces.<ref name="landler1">{{cite news |last=Landler|first=Mark|title=Obama Signs Pact in Kabul, Turning Page in Afghan War|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/world/asia/obama-lands-in-kabul-on-unannounced-visit.html?_r=2&ref=barackobama|access-date=May 4, 2012|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 1, 2012}}</ref> That same year, the Obama administration designated Afghanistan as a [[major non-NATO ally]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Hillary Clinton says Afghanistan 'major non-Nato ally'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18750732|access-date=July 7, 2012|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date=July 7, 2012}}</ref>

In February 2013, Obama said the U.S. military would reduce the troop level in Afghanistan from 68,000 to 34,000 U.S. troops by February 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last = Chandrasekaran |first = Rajiv |title = Obama wants to cut troop level in Afghanistan in half over next year |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/official-obama-to-cut-troop-level-in-afghanistan-in-half-by-next-year/2013/02/12/63a044c8-7536-11e2-8f84-3e4b513b1a13_story.html |access-date = February 14, 2013 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date = February 12, 2013 }}</ref>

In 2014, Obama announced that most troops would [[Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016)|leave Afghanistan]] by late 2016, with a small force remaining at the [[Embassy of the United States, Kabul|US embassy]].<ref name=landler2>{{cite news|last1=Landler|first1=Mark|title=U.S. Troops to Leave Afghanistan by End of 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/28/world/asia/us-to-complete-afghan-pullout-by-end-of-2016-obama-to-say.html|access-date=November 13, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=May 27, 2014}}</ref> In September 2014, [[Mohammad Ashraf Ghani|Ashraf Ghani]] succeeded [[Hamid Karzai]] as the [[President of Afghanistan]] after the U.S. helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement between Ghani and [[Abdullah Abdullah]].<ref name=rnordland>{{cite news|last1=Nordland|first1=Rod|title=President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan Is Sworn In, Even as He Shares the Stage |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/30/international-home/ashraf-ghani-sworn-in-as-afghan-president.html|access-date=November 19, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 29, 2014}}</ref>

On January 1, 2015, the U.S. military ended [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] and began [[Resolute Support Mission]], in which the U.S. shifted to more of a training role, although some combat operations continued.<ref name=tbowman>{{cite news|last1=Bowman|first1=Tom|title=After Years Of Conflict, U.S. Mission Shifts In Afghanistan |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/12/31/374216408/after-years-of-conflict-u-s-mission-shifts-in-afghanistan |access-date=November 19, 2015|publisher=[[NPR]]|date=January 1, 2015}}</ref>

In January 2015, United States Forces began conducting [[List of drone strikes in Afghanistan|drone strikes in Afghanistan]] under the direction of the administration of the [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[Barack Obama]] against [[Taliban]] militants, [[Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan|Pakistani Taliban]] (TTP) militants, [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province|ISIL branch in Afghanistan]] militants and [[Al-Qaeda]] militants.<ref name="thebureauinvestigates.com1">{{cite web|url=https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/get-the-data-a-list-of-us-air-and-drone-strikes-afghanistan-2015|title=Afghanistan: Reported US air and drone strikes 2015|access-date=2022-01-16|archive-date=2022-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116155641/https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/get-the-data-a-list-of-us-air-and-drone-strikes-afghanistan-2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In October 2015, Obama announced that U.S. soldiers would remain in Afghanistan indefinitely in order support the Afghan government in the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|civil war]] against the [[Taliban]], al-Qaeda, and [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province|ISIL]].<ref name=rosenberg>{{cite news |last1=Rosenberg|first1=Matthew|title=In Reversal, Obama Says U.S. Soldiers Will Stay in Afghanistan to 2017|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/world/asia/obama-troop-withdrawal-afghanistan.html|access-date=November 13, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 15, 2015}}</ref> Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair [[Martin Dempsey]] framed the decision to keep soldiers in Afghanistan as part of a long-term [[counter-terrorism]] operation stretching across [[Central Asia]].<ref name="landlerafghanwar1">{{cite news |last1=Landler |first1=Mark|title=The Afghan War and the Evolution of Obama|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/01/world/asia/obama-afghanistan-war.html|access-date=January 2, 2017|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=January 1, 2017}}</ref> Obama left office with roughly 8,400 U.S. soldiers remaining in Afghanistan.<ref name="atilghman1"/> President Joe Biden suddenly removed them all in August 2021.<ref>See Council on Foreign Relations, [https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-war-afghanistan "The U.S. War in Afghanistan 1999 – 2021" ] (2021)</ref>

===Bahrain===
Some in the media questioned Obama's decision to welcome Bahrain in Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa in June 2011 because of the fierce crackdown on protesters in the country. The collaboration of Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states with Bahrains royalty, had carried out mass repression since the middle of March. This included detaining, beating and torture of thousands.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2011/06/bahr-j10.html |title=Amid savage crackdown on protest, Obama welcomes Bahrain prince - World Socialist Web Site |publisher=Wsws.org |date=June 2011 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> In June 2013, Obama urged meaningful reform in Bahrain.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/06/20136611456263506.html |title=Obama urges 'meaningful reform' in Bahrain |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=2013-06-06 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> Bahraini officials rejected Obama's claims about sectarianism between Sunnis and Shias.<ref name="reuters.com"/> Nevertheless, the Obama administration resumed arms sales and maintenance to the government while the pro-democracy protests and crackdown were ongoing, including ammunition, combat vehicle parts, communications equipment, Blackhawk helicopters, and an unidentified missile system.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0514/US-resumes-arms-sales-to-Bahrain.-Activists-feel-abandoned |title=US resumes arms sales to Bahrain. Activists feel abandoned |work=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=2012-05-14 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.propublica.org/article/americas-arms-sales-bahrain-crackdown |title=Revealed: America's Arms Sales To Bahrain Amid Bloody Crackdown |publisher=ProPublica |date=2013-01-15 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> In Bahrain, the administration's policy was to urge protesters to work with existing rulers toward what officials called "regime alteration."<ref>{{cite web|last=Entous |first=Adam |url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748703580004576180522653787198?mod=googlenews_wsj&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052748703580004576180522653787198.html%3Fmod%3Dgooglenews_wsj |title=U.S. Wavers on 'Regime Change' in Middle East|work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=2011-03-05 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

===Egypt===
{{See also|Egypt–United States relations}}
[[File:Barack Obama at Cairo University cropped.jpg|thumb|upright|Obama speaking on "[[A New Beginning (speech)|A New Beginning]]" at [[Cairo University]] on June 4, 2009|alt=President Obama stands at a podium delivering a speech on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009]]
After escalating demonstrations challenged the long-standing strong-man rule of Egyptian President [[Hosni Mubarak]], Obama and many European leaders called for him to step down and he did so in 2011. The Egyptians elected a new government based on the [[Muslim Brotherhood]]. However, the new President [[Mohamed Morsi]] was [[2013 Egyptian coup d'état|overthrown in 2013 by the military]]. President Obama strongly criticized the military takeover and the situations at the end of 2013 remained very tense.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/15/remarks-president-situation-egypt|title=Remarks by the President on the Situation in Egypt|date=August 15, 2013|access-date=August 27, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-zogby/tragedy-and-nonsense_b_3772988.html |title=Tragedy and Nonsense |work=[[HuffPost]] |date=17 August 2013 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=August 2021|reason=This article is from October 2013}}
In 2015, the Obama administration lifted the freeze of weapons to Egypt, allowing the $1.3 billion annual shipment of arms to resume.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/01/world/middleeast/obama-lifts-arms-freeze-against-egypt.html|title=Obama Removes Weapons Freeze Against Egypt|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=31 March 2015 |last1=Baker |first1=Peter }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us-politics/obama-ends-freeze-on-us-military-aid-to-egypt-idUSKBN0MR2GQ/|title=Obama ends freeze on U.S. military aid to Egypt|website=[[Reuters]]|date=March 31, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/3766224/united-states-weapons-ban-lifted-egypt/|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=U.S. Resumes Weapons Flow to Egypt|date=31 March 2015 }}</ref>

===Iran===
{{Main|Iran–United States relations during the Obama administration}}
Iran–United States relations during the Obama administration (2009–2017) shifted from confrontation to cautious engagement, culminating in the 2015 nuclear deal. Early overtures gave way to tension after [[Ahmadinejad]]'s disputed 2009 re-election<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/13/official-obama-administration-skeptical-irans-election-results/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616120332/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/06/13/official-obama-administration-skeptical-irans-election-results/ |archive-date=16 June 2009 |title=Official: Obama Administration Skeptical of Iran's Election Results |publisher=[[Fox News]] |date=13 June 2009 |access-date=13 June 2009 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> and Iran's threats to [[2011–2012 Strait of Hormuz dispute|close the Strait of Hormuz]] in 2011–2012,<ref>{{cite news|title=Iran threatens to block Strait of Hormuz oil route|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16344102|work=BBC News|date=28 December 2011|access-date=25 January 2012}}</ref> which the U.S. condemned and responded to by reinforcing its military presence in the region.<ref>{{citation |first=Anthony H. |last=Cordesman |title=Iran, Oil, and Strait of Hormuz |publisher=The Center for Strategic and International Studies |date=March 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first=Caitlin |last=Talmadge |title=Closing Time: Assessing the Iranian Threat to the Strait of Hormuz |journal=International Security |volume=33 |issue=Summer 2008 |pages=82–117|doi=10.1162/isec.2008.33.1.82 |year=2008|s2cid=57559337 }}</ref> Rouhani's 2013 election led to renewed diplomacy, including a [[Phone conversation between Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani|Obama's phone call with Rounani]] and progress toward a deal.<ref name=call>[http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/27/20722870-obama-speaks-with-iranian-president-rouhani?lite Obama speaks with Iranian President Rouhani] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927201011/http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/27/20722870-obama-speaks-with-iranian-president-rouhani?lite |date=2013-09-27 }} ''NBC News'' 27 September 2013</ref> The [[Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action]] (JCPOA) in 2015 limited Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal |title=The Historic Deal that Will Prevent Iran from Acquiring a Nuclear Weapon |author= |via=[[NARA|National Archives]] |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |access-date=16 July 2015 |archive-date=4 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240904223832/https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/issues/foreign-policy/iran-deal |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this, disputes over missiles, sanctions, and political criticism persisted.<ref>{{cite web | last=Robinson | first=Kali | title=What Is the Iran Nuclear Deal? | website=Council on Foreign Relations | date=2023-10-27 | url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-iran-nuclear-deal | access-date=2025-05-06}}</ref>

===Iraq===
{{See also|Iraq–United States relations}}
[[File:Barack Obama speaks to US troops at Camp Victory 4-7-09 1.JPG|thumb|President Obama speaks with US troops at [[Camp Victory]], Iraq, April 2009.]]
During his campaign for the presidency, Obama advocated a phased redeployment of troops out of [[Iraq–United States relations|Iraq]] within 16 months of being sworn in as president.<ref name='WaPo-Kessler-2008-11-08'>{{cite news |first=Glenn |last=Kessler |title=Obama to Face Big Policy Decisions on Iran, N. Korea and Mideast |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110703522.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=November 8, 2008 |access-date=2008-11-08}}</ref> In order to accomplish this Obama stated that he would, based on the conditions on the ground, redeploy between one and two [[battalion]]s a month.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/08/27/biden-fumbles-military-terms/ |title=The Hill's Blog Briefing Room » Biden Fumbles Military Terms |access-date=2009-06-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511010714/http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/08/27/biden-fumbles-military-terms/ |archive-date=2009-05-11 }}</ref> Some of the forces returned to the U.S., while others were redeployed as part of a focus on the broader region including [[Islamic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghanistan]] and [[Pakistan]] to confront terrorism.<ref>{{cite news|author=Fred Pleitgen |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/04/23/troops.iraq.afghanistan/index.html |title=Soldiers pulled from Iraq duty, sent straight to Afghanistan |work=[[CNN]]|date=April 23, 2009 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

Obama was in office for 3 years of the Iraq war. The U.S. gradually completed its withdrawal of military personnel in December 2011. In late February 2009, newly elected U.S. President Barack Obama announced an 18-month withdrawal window for combat forces, with approximately 50,000 soldiers remaining in the country. In November 2013 Obama met with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki. He vowed a continuing partnership but said there would be no public aid, and urged to prime minister to be more inclusive, especially with regards to the Sunni population. Obama also encouraged wider political participation and passing an election law. They discussed how to curb a resurgent al-Qaeda and how to more thoroughly incorporate democracy in the country.<ref>Combat brigades in Iraq under different name — Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq". ''Army Times''. 19 August 2010.</ref> President Obama changed the timeline of withdrawing troops from Iraq within 16 months of his taking office as outlined in the election to 19 months after taking office.
Obama appointed a Special Envoy for Middle East peace ([[George J. Mitchell|George Mitchell]]) and a Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan ([[Richard Holbrooke|Richard C. Holbrooke]]). In 2013, Obama urged the leaders of the Middle East to do more to stem or address the multiple locations where Sunni-Shia strife is occurring in the middle east, including in Bahrain, Syria and Iraq.<ref name="reuters.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-bahrain-usa-idUSBRE98P0G620130926 |publisher=[[Reuters]]|title=Bahrain stung by Obama comment on sectarian tensions |date=September 26, 2013}}</ref>

====2014 intervention====
{{Main|US-led intervention in Iraq (2014–2021)}}
After [[Islamic State|ISIS]] emerged with a [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|2014 Northern Iraq offensive]] and shattered the [[Iraqi Armed Forces|Iraqi military]], Obama deployed thousands of American Marines, Special Forces troops and military advisers to shore up the remaining Iraqi forces.<ref name="businessinsider.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-iraq-statement-plan-isis-2014-6|title=OBAMA: 'THE FATE OF IRAQ HANGS IN THE BALANCE'|newspaper=[[Business Insider]]|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref><ref name="edition.cnn.com">{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/politics/obama-military-options-iraq/index.html|title=The good and the bad: President Obama's military options in Iraq |date=June 19, 2014 |work=[[CNN]]|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/300-more-u-s-troops-going-iraq-protect-americans-n144821|title=300 More U.S. Troops Going to Iraq to Protect Americans |work=[[NBC News]]|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/07/06/3456225/iraq-american-troops/|title=How Nearly 800 U.S. Troops Spent Their Fourth Of July In Iraq |last=Brown |first=Hayes |date=2014-07-06 |publisher=ThinkProgress|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref> These troops were also tasked with securing the area around the American Embassy in Baghdad as well as taking control of the International Airport. Obama said that the actions of these men would be "targeted and precise".<ref name="businessinsider.com" />

The administration also moved a carrier battle group in to the Persian Gulf. Americans have been flying extensive reconnaissance flights, both manned and unmanned.<ref name="edition.cnn.com" /> American [[F-18]] attack aircraft have also been spotted in the skies over Iraq since mid-summer.<ref name="businessinsider.com" />

In early August the Administration announced a wide-ranging air campaign in northern Iraq aimed at Sunni militants, while undertaking a significant humanitarian efforts aimed at Iraq's imperiled minorities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2014/08/07/statement-president |title=Statement by the President |date=2014-08-07 |publisher=obamawhitehouse.archives.gov|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref>

===Israel===
[[File:Barack Obama welcomes Shimon Peres in the Oval Office.jpg|thumb|right|President Obama and Israeli President [[Shimon Peres]], May 2009|alt=President Barack Obama, at left, shakes hands with Israeli President Shimon Peres, at right, in the Oval Office on Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Standing at right looking on is U.S. Vice President [[Joe Biden]].]]
[[File:President Barack Obama talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office - 18 May 2009 - P051809PS-0069 (3544160604).jpg|thumb|right|President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], May 2009]]
{{see also|Israel–United States relations#Obama administration (2009–2017)}}
Israel announced it was pushing ahead with building 1,600 new homes in a Jewish area in [[East Jerusalem]] in March 2010, as Vice-president [[Joe Biden]] was visiting. It was described as "one of the most serious rows between the two allies in recent decades".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8585239.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=US-Israel row: Israeli views |date=March 24, 2010}}</ref> Secretary of State Clinton said Israel's move was "deeply negative" for US-Israeli relations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8565455.stm |work=[[BBC News]] |title=Clinton rebukes Israel over homes |date=March 12, 2010}}</ref> However Obama was the first United States president to supply Israel with modern bunker buster bombs.<ref>{{cite news|author=Thom Shankersept |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/world/us-quietly-supplies-israel-with-bunker-busting-bombs.html |title=U.S. Quietly Supplies Israel With Bunker-Busting Bombs |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2011-09-23 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> And under Obama, [[United States Foreign Military Financing]] for Israel increased to $3 billion for the first time in history.<ref>{{cite web|author=John Pike |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2012/07/mil-120727-whitehouse03.htm |title=Fact Sheet: Advancing Israel's Security and Supporting Peace |publisher=Globalsecurity.org |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> Obama pledged support for Israeli military superiority in the region and described his allegiance with Israel as being "sacrosanct".<ref>{{cite web|author=Gabe Kahn |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/153367#.UzPqgDCqUgs |title=Obama: US Support for Israel 'Sacrosanct' |publisher=Israelnationalnews.com |date=2011-08-26 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> Under President Obama, the United States increased aid for Israel's [[Iron Dome]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Balandat |first=Felix |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/obama-approves-225-million-in-iron-dome-funding/ |title=Obama approves $225 million in Iron Dome funding |work=The Times of Israel |date=2014-08-05 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

In February 2011, the administration vetoed a U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.<ref>{{cite news|author=Richard Roth |url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/18/un.israel.settlements/index.html?_s=PM:WORLD |title=U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal |work=[[CNN]]|date=February 18, 2011 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> On September 20, 2011, President Obama declared that the U.S. would veto a Palestinian application for statehood at the United Nations, asserting that "there can be no shortcut to peace".<ref>{{cite web|author=Julie Pace |url=https://news.yahoo.com/obama-no-shortcut-peace-middle-east-144733239.html |title=Obama: No shortcut to peace in Middle East |publisher=[[Yahoo! News]] |date=2011-09-21 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

In 2014 Obama said that only a [[two-state solution]] could ensure Israel's future as a Jewish-majority democracy.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-02/obama-to-israel-time-is-running-out |title=Obama to Israel -- Time Is Running Out |last1=Goldberg |first1=Jeffrey |newspaper=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]] |date=2 March 2014 |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=3 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303010408/http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-03-02/obama-to-israel-time-is-running-out |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ehud Barak described Obama's support for Israel as being unparalleled and the most supportive in history, stating that Obama had done "more than anything that I can remember in the past" and that Obama's support is "extremely deep and profound".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/30/ehud-barak-sings-praises-of-obama-administration/ |work=[[CNN]]|title=Ehud Barak sings praises of Obama administration |date=July 30, 2012 |access-date=March 31, 2014 |archive-date=February 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201180434/https://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/30/ehud-barak-sings-praises-of-obama-administration/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ovadia |first=TOmerl |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/07/ehud-barak-praises-obama-079162 |title=Ehud Barak praises Obama |work=[[Politico]]|date=July 30, 2012 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

On December 23, 2016, the United States, under the Obama administration, abstained from [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334]], effectively allowing it to pass.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Collinson |first1=Stephen |last2=Wright |first2=David |last3=Labott |first3=Elise |title=US Abstains as UN Demands End to Israeli Settlements |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/23/politics/israel-official-rips-obama-un-settlements/ |date=December 24, 2016 |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> On December 28, U.S. Secretary of State [[John Kerry]] strongly criticized Israel and its [[Israeli settlement|settlement policies]] in a speech.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sanger |first1=David E. |title=Kerry Rebukes Israel, Calling Settlements a Threat to Peace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/28/us/politics/john-kerry-israel-palestine-peace.html?_r=0 |date=December 28, 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] strongly criticized the administration's actions,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barak |first1=Ravid |title=Netanyahu on UN Settlement Vote: Israel Will Not Turn the Other Cheek |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.761470 |date=December 26, 2016 |work=[[Haaretz]] |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Israel-Palestinians: Netanyahu Condemns John Kerry Speech |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38455753 |date=December 29, 2016 |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> and the Israeli government withdrew its annual dues from the organization, which totaled $6 million in [[United States dollar]]s, on January 6, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Israel Halts $6 million to UN to Protest UN Settlements Vote |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/israel-halts-6-million-to-un-to-protest-un-settlements-vote |date=January 6, 2017 |publisher=[[Fox News]] (from the [[Associated Press]]) |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref> On January 5, 2017, the [[United States House of Representatives]] voted 342–80 to condemn the UN Resolution.<ref>{{cite web |title=House Overwhelmingly Votes to Condemn UN Resolution on Israel Settlements |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-overwhelmingly-votes-to-condemn-un-resolution-on-israel-settlements |date=January 5, 2017 |publisher=[[Fox News]] |access-date=January 7, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Cortellessa |first1=Eric |title=US House Passes Motion Repudiating UN Resolution on Israel |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-house-passes-repudiation-of-un-security-council-resolution-on-israel/ |date=January 6, 2017 |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=January 17, 2017}}</ref>

===Saudi Arabia===
{{See also|Saudi Arabia–United States relations}}
The United States and Saudi Arabia continued their post-war alliance during the Obama presidency, and the Obama administration supported the [[Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen]] during the [[Yemeni Civil War (2014–present)|Yemeni Civil War]].<ref name="mmazz">{{cite news|last1=Mazzetti|first1=Mark|title=Quiet Support for Saudis Entangles U.S. in Yemen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/14/world/middleeast/yemen-saudi-us.html|access-date=24 April 2016|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=13 March 2016}}</ref> However, tensions between the Saudis and the United States arose following the Iranian nuclear deal, as Saudi Arabia and Iran have [[Iran–Saudi Arabia relations|strained relations]] and have [[Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict|competed for influence]] in the Middle East.<ref name="mmazz" /> The Obama administration attempted to defuse tensions between the two countries, as it hoped for cooperation with both countries in regards to the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian Civil War]] and military operations against ISIS.<ref name="elabott1">{{cite news |last1=Labott |first1=Elise |title=U.S. fears of Iran-Saudi Arabia tensions prompt outreach by John Kerry|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/04/politics/saudi-arabia-iran-isis-syria/index.html|access-date=24 April 2016|work=[[CNN]]|date=5 January 2016}}</ref> Obama also criticized the human rights record of Saudi Arabia, particularly in regards to the imprisonment of [[Raif Badawi]].<ref name="black1">{{cite news |last1=Black |first1=Ian|title=Obama's chilly reception in Saudi Arabia hints at mutual distrust |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/20/barack-obama-saudi-arabia-visit-king-salman-relationship|access-date=24 April 2016|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=20 April 2016}}</ref> When once asked whether Saudi Arabia was America's friend, Obama replied with "It's complicated."<ref>{{cite news|author1=Peter Mitchell|title=Obama to Turnbull on Indonesia, Islam and the Saudis: 'It's complicated'|url=https://www.smh.com.au/world/obama-to-turnbull-on-indonesia-islam-and-the-saudis-its-complicated-20160311-gnh8m9.html|access-date=28 May 2016|work=[[Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=12 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author1=Anton La Guardia|title=America is tired of policing the Arab world, and vice versa. But pulling out could be just as bad|url=https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21698441-america-tired-policing-arab-world-and-vice-versa-pulling-out-could-be-just|access-date=23 May 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=14 May 2016}}</ref> According to ''[[The Economist]]'', opining in April 2016, thanks in large part to Obama, America's relationship with Saudi Arabia had become "deeply strained" under his tenure.<ref>{{cite news|title=Welcome and goodbye: Barack Obama makes a swift trip to Riyadh|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21697326-barack-obama-leaves-saudi-arabia-having-failed-do-much-reassure-americas-gulf|access-date=26 April 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=21 April 2016}}</ref>

Despite fierce opposition on the part of the Saudi government,<ref name="Indep-3">{{cite news|last1=Sinclair|first1=Harriet|title=Why this woman wants to sue Saudi Arabia|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/this-woman-wants-to-sue-saudi-arabia-for-daughters-death-on-911-a7041026.html|access-date=May 22, 2016|work=[[The Independent]]|date=May 21, 2016|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="Mazzettsaudi">Mark Mazzetti, [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/16/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-warns-ofeconomic-fallout-if-congress-passes-9-11-bill.html Saudi Arabia Warns of Economic Fallout if Congress Passes 9/11 Bill], ''New York Times'' (April 15, 2016).</ref> the U.S. Congress passed and then overrode Obama's veto of the [[Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act]].

===Syria===
{{see also|Syria–United States relations#Obama administration (2009–2017)|Foreign involvement in the Syrian civil war#United States|US intervention in the Syrian civil war}}
[[File:Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama (2015-09-29) 04.jpg|thumb|left|President Obama meets with Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]] to discuss Syria and ISIL, September 29, 2015.]]
In 2012, Obama, who had previously demanded the resignation of Syria's president [[Bashar al-Assad]], said that the use of chemical weapons by the Assad government would be crossing a red line and would entail U.S. military action.<ref name=goldberg>{{cite web |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/04/the-obama-doctrine/471525/|title=The Obama Doctrine |last=Goldberg |first=Jeffrey|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=10 March 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref> After reports on 21 August 2013 [[Ghouta chemical attack|about the usage of chemical weapons]] in Syria, the Obama administration [[U.S. Government Assessment of the Syrian Government's Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013|formally blamed]] the incident on the Syrian government and sought congressional approval for military action in Syria. Besides, Obama sought support from Britain and France for an attack in Syria.<ref>{{cite web|author=Mark Mardell |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23916752 |title=Obama to seek Congress vote on Syria military action |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2013-09-01 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> The Defense Secretary [[Chuck Hagel]] approved plans for a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missile strikes to have those called off by Obama in September.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/ |title=Hagel: The White House Tried to 'Destroy' Me |work=Foreign Policy |date=2015-12-18 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> On 11 September 2013, Obama put a military strike or combat operations on hold and achieved an agreement with Russia and the Syrian government to [[Destruction of Syria's chemical weapons|destroy all chemical weapons in Syria]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24043751|title=Syria crisis: Barack Obama puts military strike on hold|work=[[BBC News]]|date=11 September 2013|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref>

Obama's decision to allow the violation of a red line he himself had drawn to go unpunished was widely criticized by the U.S. political establishment and some U.S. allies<ref name="obexit"/> as being detrimental to America's international credibility.<ref name=goldberg/> However, in early 2016, Obama said he was "proud" of his decision, which repudiated what he referred to as the "Washington playbook" and avoided entangling the US in yet another "unfixable" situation in the Middle East.<ref name=goldberg/><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/03/10/469897727/examining-obamas-foreign-policy|title='The Obama Doctrine': Examining White House Foreign Policy|work=Morning Edition|publisher=[[NPR]]|access-date=2016-03-10}}</ref> More broadly, regarding Obama's lack of meaningful support to the Syrian anti-government rebels, in 2015, ''[[The Economist]]'' opined, "Rarely has an American president so abjectly abandoned his global responsibility",<ref>{{cite news|title=The war in Syria: The cost of inaction|url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21666612-americas-failure-intervene-earlier-leaves-no-good-options-helping-syria-doing-nothing|access-date=1 October 2015|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=26 Sep 2015}}</ref> adding in 2016, "The agony of Syria is the biggest moral stain on Barack Obama's presidency. And the chaos rippling from Syria—where many now turn to al-Qaeda, not the West, for salvation—is his greatest geopolitical failure."<ref>{{cite news|title=The war in Syria: Grozny rules in Aleppo|url=https://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21707929-why-west-must-protect-people-syria-and-stand-up-vladimir-putin-grozny-rules|access-date=9 October 2016|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=1 October 2016}}</ref> In 2016, [[Nicholas Kristof]] described inaction in Syria as "Obama's worst mistake",<ref>{{cite news|author1=Nicholas Kristof|title=Syria inaction is Obama's worst mistake|url=http://lasvegassun.com/news/2016/aug/20/syria-inaction-is-obamas-worst-mistake/|access-date=20 August 2016|work=Las Vegas Sun|date=20 August 2016}}</ref> while [[Jonathan Schanzer]] said "the White House Syria policy has been an unmitigated dumpster fire."<ref>{{cite news|author1=Jonathan Schanzer|title=Team Obama's appalling smugness on Syrian refugees|url=https://nypost.com/2016/08/30/team-obamas-appalling-smugness-on-syrian-refugees/|access-date=31 August 2016|work=New York Post|date=30 August 2016}}</ref> [[Michael Mullen]], former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, described the conflict in Syria as "Obama's [[Rwandan genocide|Rwanda]]".<ref>{{cite news|title=A reflection on Barack Obama's presidency|url=https://www.economist.com/news/christmas-specials/21712062-barack-obamas-presidency-lurched-between-idealism-and-acrimony-some-his|access-date=25 December 2016 |newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=24 December 2016}}</ref> This is in lieu of the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]]-backed operation [[Timber Sycamore]], which provide weapons and trainings to anti-government rebels, but proved to be ineffective by the end of the Obama presidency.

In comments published on 1 December 2016 about the U.S. becoming increasingly sidelined by Moscow and Ankara, Emile Hokayem of the [[International Institute for Strategic Studies]] blamed the marginalisation of the U.S. in the [[Syrian civil war|Syrian Civil War]] and the region at large on Barack Obama, "The American approach to this conflict guaranteed the US less and less relevance, not just in the Syrian conflict but also the broader regional dynamics. There has been a loss of face and a loss of leverage. The politics of the region are being transformed and this happened under Obama, whether by design or by failure."<ref>{{cite news|author1=Geoff Dyer|title=Syria Rebels in Secret Talks With Moscow to End Aleppo Fight|url=https://www.ft.com/content/bc167c3a-b71d-11e6-961e-a1acd97f622d|access-date=1 December 2016|newspaper=FT|date=1 December 2016}}</ref>

In 2017, as Russia on the back of its successful [[Russian intervention in the Syrian civil war|military campaign in Syria]] forged closer ties with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, analysts and politicians in the Middle East concurred that Russia's clout in the region had grown “because Obama allowed it to’’ by failing to intervene robustly in Syria.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-03/putin-is-now-mr-middle-east-a-job-no-one-ever-succeeds-at Putin Is Filling the Middle East Power Vacuum] Bloomberg, 3 October 2017.</ref>

====The "Red Line" ultimatum====
The Obama "Red Line" remark was intended as an ultimatum to the Syrian president and the Syrian army to cease the use of chemical weapons. It appeared in a presidential statement on 20 August 2012. Obama's red line was enforced by means of threat of massive military force in September 2013 and resulted in the substantial destruction of the Syrian stockpile of chemical weapons by June 2014.

Obama stated, "We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/20/remarks-president-white-house-press-corps|title=Remarks by the President to the White House Press Corps|date=2012-08-20|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2017-04-08|language=en}}</ref>

One year later, in the early hours of 21 August 2013, two opposition-controlled areas in the suburbs around [[Damascus]], Syria were struck by rockets containing the chemical agent [[sarin]]. The attack was the deadliest use of chemical weapons since the Iran–Iraq War.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/middleeast/syria-gas-attack.html|title=Worst Chemical Attack in Years in Syria; U.S. Blames Assad|last1=Barnard|first1=Anne|date=2017-04-04|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2017-04-08|last2=Gordon|first2=Michael R.|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

A U.S.-led military attack to punish Syria for using chemical weapons was anticipated by the end of August 2013 in which American forces and their allies launched more than 100 missiles into Syria.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://nationalpost.com/news/how-the-wests-military-attack-on-syria-could-unfold|title=How the West's military attack on Syria could unfold|work=[[National Post]]|access-date=2017-04-08}}</ref>

The U.S. Navy brought four destroyers into position in the eastern [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] to reach targets inside Syria. The [[USS Nimitz]] carrier group was rerouted to Syria in early September 2013.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-crisis-carrier-idUSBRE9800IT20130901|title=Exclusive: USS Nimitz carrier group rerouted for possible help with Syria|date=2017-09-01|work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=2017-04-08}}</ref>

Russia and Great Britain among other nations began evacuating their citizens in anticipation of the bombardment.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10268547/Syria-Russia-evacuates-citizens-ahead-of-military-strikes-in-the-next-few-days.html|title=Syria: Russia evacuates citizens ahead of military strikes in the 'next few days'|work=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=2017-04-08|language=en}}</ref>

During the [[G20]] summit on 6 September, Vladimir Putin and Obama discussed the idea of putting Syria's chemical weapons under international control. On 9 September 2013, Kerry stated in response to a question from a journalist that the air strikes could be averted if Syria turned over "every single bit" of its chemical weapons stockpiles within a week, but Syria "isn't about to do it and it can't be done." State Department officials stressed that Kerry's statement and its one-week deadline were rhetorical in light of the unlikelihood of Syria turning over its chemical weapons. Hours after Kerry's statement, Russian foreign minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] announced that Russia had suggested to Syria that it relinquish its chemical weapons, and Syrian foreign minister [[Walid Muallem|Walid al-Moallem]] immediately welcomed the proposal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/10/world/middleeast/kerry-says-syria-should-hand-over-all-chemical-arms.html|title=Obama Calls Russia Offer on Syria Possible 'Breakthrough'|last1=Gordon|first1=Michael R.|date=2013-09-09|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=2017-04-08|last2=Myers|first2=Steven Lee|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

U.S.–Russian negotiations led to the 14 September 2013 "Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons," which called for the elimination of [[Syria]]'s [[chemical weapon]] stockpiles by mid-2014. Following the agreement, Syria acceded to the [[Chemical Weapons Convention]] and agreed to apply that convention provisionally until its entry into force on 14 October 2013. On 21 September, Syria ostensibly provided an inventory of its chemical weapons to the [[Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]] (OPCW), before the deadline set by the framework.

The destruction of Syria's chemical weapons began on the basis of international agreements with Syria that stipulated an initial destruction deadline of 30 June 2014. UN Security Council Resolution 2118 of 27 September 2013 required Syria to assume responsibility for and follow a timeline for the destruction of its chemical weapons and its chemical weapon production facilities. The Security Council resolution bound Syria to the implementation plan presented in a decision of the OPCW. On 23 June 2014, the last declared chemical weapons left Syria. The destruction of the most dangerous chemical weapons was performed at sea aboard the Cape Ray, a vessel of the [[United States Maritime Administration]]'s [[National Defense Reserve Fleet|Ready Reserve Force]], crewed with US civilian merchant mariners. The actual destruction operations, performed by a team of U.S. Army civilians and contractors, destroyed 600 metric tons of chemical agents in 42 days.

=== Yemen ===
{{Excerpt|United States support for Saudi Arabian–led operations in Yemen#Obama administration}}

==Oceania==
===New Zealand===
{{Further|New Zealand–United States relations}}
The Obama administration continued to develop closer relations with [[New Zealand]],  particularly in the area of defense and intelligence cooperation. Relations with the [[Fifth National Government of New Zealand|National government]] led by [[Prime Minister of New Zealand|Prime Minister]] [[John Key]] have been smooth and friendly. This process had already begun under the previous George W. Bush administration in 2007, which culminated in a state visit by the-then [[New Zealand Labour Party|Labour]] Prime Minister [[Helen Clark]] to the United States in July 2008. While the United States and New Zealand had been close allies since [[World War II]] and were members of the tripartite [[ANZUS]] security alliance with [[Australia]], US-NZ bilateral relations had deteriorated under the [[Presidency of Ronald Reagan|Ronald Reagan Administration]] in February 1985 due to New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy which banned visits by nuclear-capable or nuclear-powered warships.<ref name="CRS Report">{{cite web |last1=Vaughn|first1=Bruce |year=2011 |title=New Zealand: Background and Bilateral Relations with the United States |pages=1–17 |publisher=[[Congressional Research Service]] |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL32876.pdf |access-date=3 July 2013}}</ref> As a result, no bilateral military exercises had taken place until April 2012 and New Zealand warships were barred from visiting US ports and participating in joint naval exercises until May 2013.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10798003|title=Military combat exercise with US first for 27 years |work=[[New Zealand Herald]] |date=April 11, 2012 |access-date=2012-04-11}}</ref><ref name="TVNZ">{{cite web|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/nz-navy-ship-docks-us-base-in-guam-relations-thaw-5453119|title=NZ Navy ship docks at US base in Guam as relations thaw|publisher=One News |date=March 31, 2013 |access-date=2013-03-31}}</ref>

On 4 November 2010, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her New Zealand counterpart [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (New Zealand)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] [[Murray McCully]] signed the Wellington Declaration which committed the two countries to a closer bilateral relationship with an increased emphasis on strategic partnership. This strategic partnership had two fundamental elements: "a new focus on practical cooperation in the Pacific region; and enhanced political and subject-matter dialogue—including regular Foreign Ministers' meetings and political-military discussions."<ref name="stuff.co.nz">{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4309206/Full-text-of-the-Wellington-Declaration |title=Full text of the Wellington Declaration |date=4 November 2010 |agency=[[NZPA]] |work=[[Stuff.co.nz]] |access-date=30 October 2011}}</ref> The agreement also stressed the continued need for New Zealand and the United States to work together on global issues like nuclear proliferation, climate change and terrorism.<ref name="stuff.co.nz"/>

Following the [[2011 Christchurch earthquake]], President Obama expressed his condolences to Prime Minister Key. The US government also contributed $1 million in relief funds while the [[United States Agency for International Development]] (USAID) and the [[Los Angeles County Fire Department]] contributed rescue teams.<ref name="CRS Report" /> On 23 July 2011, Prime Minister John Key also visited President Obama at the White House.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/5330471/Key-wraps-up-US-visit|title=Key wraps up US visit|date=23 July 2013 |work=Stuff.co.nz|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref> The John Key National government also continued to contribute military forces to support the US-led [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]], including the elite [[New Zealand Special Air Service]]. The previous Labour government had also contributed military forces to [[Afghanistan]] since October 2001.<ref name="CRS Report" />  In April 2013, the last remaining NZ troops withdrew from Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10878663|title=Final group of Kiwi soldiers return home from Afghanistan |date=20 April 2013 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref>

On 19 June 2012, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his New Zealand counterpart [[Minister of Defence (New Zealand)|Minister of Defence]] [[Jonathan Coleman (politician)|Jonathan Coleman]] signed the Washington Declaration which committed the US and New Zealand to a closer defense cooperation arrangement.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=15388|title=United States, New Zealand Sign Defense Cooperation Arrangement|date=19 June 2012 |publisher=U.S. Department of Defense|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref> It sought to restore defense cooperation between the two countries which had been curtailed by the ANZUS Split. Two key areas of this Declaration included the resumption of regular senior-level dialogues between the US Department of Defense and the [[Ministry of Defence (New Zealand)|New Zealand Ministry of Defence]] and the [[New Zealand Defence Force]]; and security cooperation.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/document/pdf/201225/WASHINGTON%20DECLARATION%20ON%20DEFENSE%20COOPERATION.pdf |title=Washington Declaration on Defense Cooperation between The Department of Defense of the United States and the New Zealand Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force|date=19 June 2012 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=4 July 2013}}</ref> As a result of the Washington Declaration, New Zealand warships were allowed to visit US ports even though New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy remained intact.<ref name="TVNZ" /> The Washington Declaration was also part of the Obama administration's pivot into the Asia-Pacific to counter the emerging influence of China.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ayson|first=Robert |author2=David Capie |title=Part of the Pivot? The Washington Declaration and US-NZ Relations |journal=Asia Pacific Bulletin |date=17 July 2012 |issue=172 |url=http://www.eastwestcenter.org/sites/default/files/private/apb172_1.pdf}}</ref>

==Sub-Saharan Africa==
[[File:Kikwete and Obama.jpg|thumb|[[Tanzania]]n President [[Jakaya Kikwete]] was the first African Head of State to meet Obama.]]
During the 2008 campaign, Obama outlined his priorities for developing an Africa policy including taking action to stop "what U.S. officials have termed genocide in Darfur, fighting poverty, and expanding prosperity."<ref name=CFR12222008>{{cite news |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/18006/imagining_obamas_africa_policy.html |title=Imagining Obama's Africa Policy |agency=Council on Foreign Relations |date=December 22, 2008 |access-date=September 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090302072900/http://www.cfr.org/publication/18006/imagining_obamas_africa_policy.html |archive-date=March 2, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Some analysts believed that Obama's appointment of [[Susan Rice]] who was a former [[Assistant Secretary of State|assistant secretary of state]] for [[Bureau of African Affairs|African affairs]], as [[U.S. ambassador to the United Nations]] was a sign that his administration would prioritize the continent.<ref name=CFR12222008/>

Then [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State-designate]] Hillary Clinton, in a January 13 hearing of the [[United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations|Senate Foreign Relations Committee]], said that the administration priorities would include "combating al-Qaida's efforts to seek safe havens in failed states in the Horn of Africa; helping African nations to conserve their natural resources and reap fair benefits from them; stopping war in Congo; [and] ending autocracy in Zimbabwe and human devastation in Darfur."<ref name=Corey>{{cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200901240009.html|title=Hillary Clinton Outlines Obama's Africa Policy|agency=allAfrica.com|date=January 24, 2009}}</ref>

[[Darfur]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Eastern Congo]], Ghana and [[Zimbabwe]] have all played a significant role in the United States Africa policy. Some foreign policy analysts believed that conflicts in "Sudan, Somalia, and eastern Congo" would "eclipse any other policy plans."<ref name=CFR12222008/>{{dead link|date=April 2014}}

President Obama visited [[Cairo]], Egypt, where he addressed the "Muslim world" on June 4<ref name=CairoSpeech>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/us/politics/04obama.text.html|title=Text: Obama's Speech in Cairo|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=June 4, 2009 |access-date=May 2, 2010}}</ref> and followed this trip with his first visit to [[sub-Saharan Africa]], as president, on July 11, 2009, where he addressed [[Parliament of Ghana|Ghana's Parliament]].<ref name=GhanaSpeech>{{cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/11/obama-ghana-speech-full-t_n_230009.html|title=Obama Ghana Speech: FULL TEXT|work=[[HuffPost]]|date=July 11, 2009|first=Nick|last=Sabloff}}</ref>

He was followed by [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] Hillary Clinton who took a seven nation trip to Africa in August including stops in [[Angola]], Cape Verde, [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], Kenya, [[Liberia]], Nigeria and South Africa. Some foreign policy analysts have made the claim that this is "the earliest in any U.S. administration that both the president and the secretary of state have visited Africa."

Obama spoke in front of the [[African Union]] in [[Addis Ababa]], Ethiopia, on July 29, 2015, the first sitting U.S. president to do so. He gave a speech encouraging the world to increase economic ties via investments and trade with the continent, and lauded the progress made in [[Education in Africa|education]], infrastructure, and [[Economy of Africa|economy]]. He also criticized the lack of democracy and leaders who refuse to step aside, discrimination against minorities ([[LGBT]] people, religious groups and ethnicities), and corruption. He suggested an intensified [[democratization]] and free trade, to significantly improve the quality of life for Africans.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Carol E. |date=July 28, 2015 |title=Obama Becomes First U.S. President to Address African Union |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-becomes-first-u-s-president-to-address-african-union-1438090849 |access-date=July 29, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=July 28, 2015 |title=Remarks by President Obama to the People of Africa |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/28/remarks-president-obama-people-africa |access-date=July 29, 2015 |work=[[whitehouse.gov]] |via=[[NARA|National Archives]]}}</ref>

=== Central Africa===
==== Democratic Republic of Congo ====
The Obama administration's foreign policy in Africa was conducted primarily through the bureaucratic apparatus of the State Department, with both Secretaries of State Clinton and Kerry playing notable and well-publicized roles in African affairs.<ref>Bangura, Abdul Karim, (editor.); ProQuest (Firm) (2015), ''Assessing Barack Obama's Africa policy : suggestions for him and African leaders'', University Press of America, Inc, {{ISBN|978-0-7618-6411-0}}</ref> In 2009, Secretary Clinton undertook a tour of seven African nations, including Angola, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, and South Africa. During her visit to the DRC, Secretary Clinton met with rape survivors and later announced a $17 million plan for addressing sexual violence in the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (DRC).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/12/world/africa/12diplo.html|title=Clinton Presents Plan to Fight Sexual Violence in Congo|last=Gettleman|first=Jeffrey|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=11 August 2009 |access-date=2018-11-14|language=en}}</ref> Throughout her tenure, Secretary Clinton has issued numerous statements{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} addressing gender-based violence and other human rights abuses in the DRC on in accordance with her goal of improving the status of women and girls around the world.

In 2013, then-Secretary of State John Kerry sought to draw greater attention to conflict and humanitarian crisis in DRC and surrounding countries, leading to the appointment of former Senator Russell Feingold to the position of Special Envoy to the Great Lakes Region.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/us/politics/ex-senator-feingold-chosen-as-special-envoy-to-african-region.html|title=Ex-Senator Feingold Chosen as Special Envoy to African Region|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=18 June 2013 |access-date=2018-11-14|language=en |last1=Myers |first1=Steven Lee }}</ref> Founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative Ben Affleck testified to Congress in 2014 that Feingold's collaboration with his U.N. counterpart and other international actors had begun to remedy a previously incoherent international response to humanitarian crisis in the DRC.<ref>''Peace Prospects in the African Great Lakes Region'', 113th Cong. (2014) (testimony of Ben Affleck).</ref> At Feingold's urging, the Obama administration invoked the Child Soldiers Prevention Act in order to place sanctions on Rwanda for their support of the [[March 23 Movement|March 23 militia]] (M23).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/oct/04/us-military-aid-rwanda-m23-child-soldiers|title=US blocks military aid to Rwanda over alleged backing of M23 child soldiers|last=Smith|first=David|date=2013-10-04|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en|access-date=2018-11-14}}</ref> These actions may have led to the end of the two-year [[M23 rebellion (2012–2013)|M23 insurgency]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/242020-a-waning-of-us-leadership-in-africas-great-lakes-region/|title=A 'waning of US leadership' in Africa's Great Lakes region|last=Abramowitz|first=David|date=2015-05-14|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=2018-11-14|language=en}}</ref>

While the Obama administration received positive feedback for the invocation of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act against Rwanda, it was criticized for ignoring evidence that the Congolese government also made wide use of child soldiers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/29/president-obama-fails-child-soldiers|title=President Obama Fails Child Soldiers|date=2016-09-29|work=Human Rights Watch|access-date=2018-11-14|language=en}}</ref>

===== The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act =====
The [[Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act|Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act]] was signed into law in 2010. Under Section 1502 of the Act, all corporations that use tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold are mandated to trace these potential “[[Conflict resource|conflict minerals]]” to their source and to publicly disclose if they originated in the DRC, with the objective being to discourage corporate activities that contribute to conflict in the DRC.<ref>United States. Congress. House. Committee on Financial Services. Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade. (2013). ''The costs and consequences of Dodd-Frank section 1502 : Impacts on America and the Congo : Hearing before the subcommittee on international monetary policy and trade of the committee on financial services, U.S. house of representatives, one hundred twelfth congress, second session, May 10, 2012''. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. (2013). Retrieved November 14, 2018, from ProQuest Congressional.</ref> Intended to promote human rights and divert resources from continued fighting, the law has widely been criticized by American companies who cite the cost and difficulty of tracking and certifying materials as barriers to implementation. Critics also argue that Section 1502 misunderstands and misrepresents the role that minerals play in conflict, resulting in legislation that has produced no notable change in levels of conflict. Instead, a “de facto” embargo has ensued which has propelled between 5 and 12 million Congolese miners into unemployment and deeper poverty.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/02/how-dodd-frank-is-failing-congo-mining-conflict-minerals/|title=How Dodd-Frank Is Failing Congo|last=Wolfe|first=Lauren|website=Foreign Policy|date=2 February 2015 |language=en|access-date=2018-11-14}}</ref>

=== East Africa ===
====Kenya and piracy====
One of the first actions of the Obama administration was to sign a memorandum of understanding with Kenya to allow pirates captured off of Kenya's coast to be tried in Kenyan courts.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-01/2009-01-27-voa16.cfm?CFID=293384034&CFTOKEN=30975558&jsessionid=de304116e062b53f031c12424331491a3f47 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918014031/http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2009-01/2009-01-27-voa16.cfm?CFID=293384034&CFTOKEN=30975558&jsessionid=de304116e062b53f031c12424331491a3f47 |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |title=Kenya, US Agree to Deal on Piracy |agency=VOA News |date=January 27, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/March/20090305170025sjhtrop0.3772089.html |title=Kenya Accepts Seven Alleged Pirates from U.S. Navy for Trial |date=March 5, 2009 |access-date=September 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090913032519/http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/March/20090305170025sjhtrop0.3772089.html |archive-date=September 13, 2009 }}</ref>

[[Somalis|Somali]] pirates took [[Richard Phillips (merchant mariner)|Richard Phillips]], a captain of an American cargo ship, hostage on April 8, 2009, during a failed attempt to take over the [[MV Tygra|Maersk Alabama]].<ref>{{cite news|date= April 9, 2009 |last= Sanders |first= Edmund |author2=Barnes, Julian E. |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-somali-pirates9-2009apr09,0,4104857.story |title= Somalia pirates hold U.S. captain |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |access-date= September 16, 2009
}}</ref> President Obama ordered the U.S. military to conduct a rescue mission to free Phillips who was held hostage by the pirates for five days. He was rescued on April 12, 2009, by [[United States Navy SEALs]] who killed three pirates and obtained the surrender of a fourth, [[Abduwali Muse]].<ref>{{cite news|date=April 12, 2009 |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSXyAok3YrJTZLKD31SAjC9pfvkgD97H4J581 |title=Official: US sea captain faced imminent danger |agency=[[Associated Press]]|access-date=September 16, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415084700/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSXyAok3YrJTZLKD31SAjC9pfvkgD97H4J581 |archive-date=April 15, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=April 12, 2009 |last=Mikkelsen |first=Randall |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN1233162120090412 |title=US acted after pirates aimed at ship captain |work=[[Reuters]]|access-date=September 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415084700/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gSXyAok3YrJTZLKD31SAjC9pfvkgD97H4J581 |archive-date=April 15, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 13, 2009 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7996087.stm |title=US captain rescued from pirates |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=September 16, 2009}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite news |date=April 12, 2009 |last=Verjee |first=Zain |author-link=Zain Verjee |author2=Starr, Barbara |url=http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/04/12/somalia.pirates/index.html |title=Captain jumps overboard, SEALs shoot pirates, official says |work=[[CNN]]|access-date=September 16, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news
|date=April 12, 2009 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7996087.stm |title=US captain held by pirates freed |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=September 16, 2009}}</ref>

The Obama administration's reaction and response to the kidnapping of Phillips had been commended as well as criticized, while others downplay his role in the rescue of Richard Phillips.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/194167 |title=Blood in the Water |agency=[[Newsweek]]|date=April 15, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_041409/content/01125110.guest.html |title=President Obama Ordered the Killing of Three Black Muslim Kids |agency=The Rush Limbaugh Show |date=April 14, 2009 |access-date=September 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091106091608/http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_041409/content/01125110.guest.html |archive-date=November 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/articles/news/obama/2009/04/23/why-obamas-action-against-the-somali-pirates-matters.html |title=Why Obama's Action Against the Somali Pirates Matters |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=April 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427103717/http://www.usnews.com/articles/news/obama/2009/04/23/why-obamas-action-against-the-somali-pirates-matters.html |archive-date=April 27, 2009 }}</ref> In 2014, Obama sought to increase operations in the Horn region in response to the Westgate mall attack in Kenya. A taskforce for the Horn peninsula had initiated drone strikes against pirates and al-Qaeda affiliates.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26078149 |work=[[BBC News]] |title=US military steps up operations in the Horn of Africa |date=February 7, 2014}}</ref>

During his July 2015 trip to Addis Ababa, Obama also was the first U.S. president ever to [[United States presidential visits to Sub-Saharan Africa|visit]] Kenya, which is the homeland of his father.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ferris |first1=Sarah |date=July 25, 2015 |title=Obama: Proud to be first U.S. president to visit Kenya |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/249189-obama-proud-to-be-first-us-president-to-visit-kenya/ |access-date=July 30, 2015}}</ref>

====Somalia====
{{Further|American military intervention in Somalia (2007–present)}}
The Administration had been interested in propping up the [[Transitional national government of Somalia|Transitional National Government]] in [[Mogadishu]]. To this end, as well as to help cut down on terrorist activities and piracy in the region, the United States had deployed special operations forces, drones, air strikes and some military advisers to influence the ongoing [[Somali Civil War|Somali civil war]] and neutralize prominent [[Al-Shabaab (militant group)|Al-Shabaab]] members.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-somalia-us-military-advisers-20140110,0,4273653.story#axzz2wtoX0veu |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=David S. |last=Cloud |title=U.S. military secretly sent small team of advisors to Somalia |date=January 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-has-deployed-military-advisers-to-somalia-officials-say/2014/01/10/b19429f2-7a20-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |first=Craig |last=Whitlock |title=National Security |date=January 11, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/10598527/US-forces-launch-missile-strike-against-Al-Shabaab-leader-in-Somalia.html |location=London |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |title=US forces launch missile strike against Al Shabaab leader in Somalia |date=January 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/01/10/22258125-us-deploys-small-military-team-to-somalia|title=US deploys small military team to Somalia|date=January 10, 2014|work=[[NBC News]]|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref>

====Zimbabwe====
{{Further|United States–Zimbabwe relations}}
[[File:Tsvangirai Obama.jpg|thumb|Tsvangirai meets with Obama in the White House in June 2009.]]
Obama was a strong critic of the [[Politics of Zimbabwe|government of Zimbabwe]] led by [[President of Zimbabwe|President]] [[Robert Mugabe]].{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} Although Obama congratulated longtime opposition leader [[Morgan Tsvangirai]] on becoming [[Prime Minister of Zimbabwe]] under a [[2008–2009 Zimbabwean political negotiations|power-sharing agreement]], [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]] spokesman Robert Wood warned, "We need to see evidence of good governance and particularly real, true power sharing on the part of Robert Mugabe before we are going to make any kind of commitment" to lifting [[economic sanctions]] on the impoverished [[Southern Africa]]n country, which was ruled by Mugabe from [[Lancaster House Agreement|independence]] in 1980 to 2017.<ref name="Obama congratulates Tsvangirai">{{cite news|url=http://www.newstoday.co.za/cgi-bin/newstoday/show.pl?1234511214 |title=Obama congratulates Tsvangirai |agency=NewsToday.co.za |date=February 13, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806005029/http://www.newstoday.co.za/cgi-bin/newstoday/show.pl?1234511214 |archive-date=August 6, 2009}}</ref> In early March 2009, Obama proclaimed that US sanctions would be provisionally extended for another year, because Zimbabwe's political crisis as yet unresolved.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20100302-obama-extends-sanctions-against-mugabe-regime-zimbabwe |title=Obama extends sanctions against Mugabe regime |publisher=AFP via France 24 |date=February 3, 2010 |access-date=February 13, 2012}}</ref>

After the death of Susan Tsvangirai, the prime minister's wife, in an [[Morgan Tsvangirai#March 2009 road collision|automobile collision]] in central [[Zimbabwe]] on March 6, 2009, the U.S. State Department expressed condolences to Tsvangirai, who also received minor injuries in the wreck.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7930126.stm|title=MDC to examine Tsvangirai crash |agency=[[BBC News]]|date=March 7, 2009}}</ref> Prime Minister Tsvangirai met with President Obama on June 12, 2009, at the White House.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-prime-minister-tsvangirai-zimbabwe-after-meeting-6-12-0 |title=Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe after meeting, 6-12-09 |publisher=obamawhitehouse.archives.gov |date=2009-06-12 |access-date=2017-02-05}}</ref>

=== West Africa ===
==== Mali ====
Under Obama, the U.S. government supported in Malian government in the [[Mali War|Northern Mali conflict]], aiding Mali in its fight against [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]] rebels and their Islamist extremist allies, including [[Ansar Dine]], which the U.S. designed as a [[United States Department of State list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations|foreign terrorist organization]] in 2013.<ref name="DeYoung">Karen DeYoung, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/united-states-designates-ansar-dine-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/2013/03/21/d7e21836-9253-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html United States designates Ansar Dine a foreign terrorist organization], ''Washington Post'' (March 21, 2013).</ref> The U.S. provided counterterrorism, intelligence-sharing and other aid to the French military, which led an effort "to drive out insurgents and protect a civilian Malian government."<ref name="DeYoung"/> The U.S. also provided logistical support,<ref name="DeYoung"/> specifically by providing [[aerial refueling]] to the [[French Air and Space Force|French Air Force]].<ref name="DeYoung"/>

The Obama administration had pledged not to put "boots on the ground" in Mali, but in April 2013, the [[United States Department of Defense|U.S. Department of Defense]] disclosed that it had deployed 22 U.S. military personnel to the country.<ref name="WhitlockMali">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-deploys-small-number-of-troops-to-war-torn-mali/2013/04/30/2b02c928-b1a0-11e2-bc39-65b0a67147df_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first=Craig |last=Whitlock |title= Pentagon deploys small number of troops to war-torn Mali|date=May 1, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Bernton |first=Hal |url=http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/03/19/us-steps-up-support-for-french-in-mali.html |title=U.S. Steps Up Support for French in Mali |publisher=Military.com |date=2013-03-19 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref> Of these, ten were liaison support staff to French and African forces, while the others were assigned to the U.S. Embassy in [[Bamako]]; the U.S. troops did not engage in combat operations in Mali.<ref name="WhitlockMali"/>

==Other issues==
===United Nations===

[[File:20081201 NatSec Presser-0895.jpg|thumb|Rice with [[Barack Obama]] and [[Joe Biden]], December 2008]]
On December 1, 2008, President-elect Obama announced that he would nominate Rice to be the [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|United States ambassador to the United Nations]]. Rice was the first black woman named to be US envoy to UN.

[[File:Ambassador Rice Meets With Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (14126775661).jpg|thumb|Rice meets with Israeli Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], May 2014.]]
During her tenure at the UN, Rice championed a human rights and anti-poverty agenda, elevated climate change and women's rights as global priorities.<ref>Susan Rice, ''Tough Love'' (2019) pp. 385–465.</ref> She committed the U.S. to agreements such as the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons|Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]], [[Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities]], and the U.N. [[Millennium Development Goals]]. Rice led the fight to advance LGBT rights at the [[United Nations Human Rights Council|U.N. Human Rights Council]] and was recognized for her staunch defense of Israel at the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]]. Rice won praise for leading the Security Council to impose the toughest sanctions to date on [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929|Iran]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1874|North Korea]] over their nuclear programs, and for reaffirming U.S. commitment to the UN and multilateralism.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Louis|last1=Charbonneau|first2=Susan|last2=Cornwell|date=November 24, 2012|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-diplomat-rice-idUSBRE8AN02620121124?irpc=932|title=Backed by Obama, sharp-tongued Susan Rice battles critics|work=[[Reuters]]}}</ref>

Some human rights activists took issue with Rice and U.S. foreign policy generally in 2012 for working against UN statements that criticized Rwanda for supporting a [[March 23 Movement|rebel group in Congo]] known for committing atrocities.<ref>{{cite news | first=Helene | last=Cooper | date=December 9, 2012 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/world/un-envoy-rice-faulted-for-rwanda-tie-in-congo-conflict.html | title=U.N. Ambassador Questioned on U.S. Role in Congo Violence | work=[[The New York Times]] | access-date=February 18, 2017 | archive-date=August 12, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812181808/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/world/un-envoy-rice-faulted-for-rwanda-tie-in-congo-conflict.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

===Libyan Civil War===
As the [[Libyan civil war (2011)|2011 Libyan Civil War]] progressed, the United States and its allies offered a choice for Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]] and his aides: step down from power or face an international response. Rice offered some of the toughest rhetoric toward Gaddafi, criticizing his denials of atrocities against his own citizens as "frankly, delusional."<ref>{{cite web|last=Youngman|first=Sam|date=February 28, 2011|title=UN ambassador: Gadhafi 'delusional'|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/83949-un-ambassador-gadhafi-delusional/|access-date=November 14, 2012|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|archive-date=August 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816025558/http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/146541-un-ambassador-gadhafi-delusional|url-status=live}}</ref> In a closed-door Security Council meeting in April 2011, Rice reportedly stated that Gaddafi loyalists engaged in atrocities, including [[Wartime sexual violence|terrorizing the population with sexual violence]], and that Gaddafi's troops has been issued Viagra.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Charbonneau|first1=Louis|title=U.S. envoy: Gaddafi troops raping, issued Viagra|date=April 29, 2011|work=[[Reuters]]|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE73S74B20110429|access-date=December 11, 2020}}</ref> Investigations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Doctors Without Borders contradicted Rice and stated they did not find first-hand evidence that mass rapes had occurred as Rice had claimed.<ref>{{Cite news|last=MacAskill|first=Ewen|date=2011-04-29|title=Gaddafi 'supplies troops with Viagra to encourage mass rape', claims diplomat|language=en-GB|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/29/diplomat-gaddafi-troops-viagra-mass-rape|access-date=2021-02-04|issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-10-22|title=Amnesty questions claim that Gaddafi ordered rape as weapon of war|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/amnesty-questions-claim-gaddafi-ordered-rape-weapon-war-2302037.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/amnesty-questions-claim-gaddafi-ordered-rape-weapon-war-2302037.html |archive-date=May 25, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=2021-02-04|website=[[The Independent]]|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2011-07-06|title=Rape as Weapon of War Is UN Focus After Libya Woman's Plight|language=en|work=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-07-06/rape-as-weapon-of-war-is-un-focus-after-libyan-woman-s-plight|access-date=2021-02-04}}</ref> Together with National Security Council figure [[Samantha Power]], who already supported the [[2011 military intervention in Libya|U.S.-led military intervention in Libya]], and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who came to support it, the three overcame internal opposition from Defense Secretary [[Robert Gates]], security adviser [[Thomas E. Donilon]], and counterterrorism adviser [[John O. Brennan|John Brennan]], to have the administration advance a UN proposal to impose a [[Libyan no-fly zone|no-fly zone over Libya]] and authorize other military actions as necessary.<ref name="nyt-libya-change">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html |title=Obama Takes Hard Line With Libya After Shift by Clinton |last1=Cooper |first1=Helene |last2=Myers |first2=Steven Lee |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 18, 2011 |access-date=March 20, 2011 |archive-date=August 15, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815030426/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/africa/19policy.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="pol-no-2nd">{{cite news | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/03/no-fly-win-for-lame-duck-clinton-051515 | title=Day after saying no second term, a big win for Hillary Clinton | last=Thrush | first=Glenn | work=[[Politico]] | date=March 17, 2011 | access-date=March 17, 2011 | archive-date=March 19, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319084310/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51515.html | url-status=live }}</ref>

After initial skepticism of international involvement to prevent [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] from using violence to suppress [[First Libyan Civil War|popular demonstrations]] in his country,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/03/07/us_ambassador_to_nato_no_fly_zone_wouldn_t_help_much|work=Foreign Policy|date=March 7, 2011|access-date=March 18, 2011|title=U.S. Ambassador to NATO: No-fly zone wouldn't help much}}</ref> the Obama administration crucially backed [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973]] to create a [[2011 military intervention in Libya|Libyan no-fly zone]], with [[List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations|United States Ambassador to the United Nations]] [[Susan Rice]] successfully pushing to include language allowing the UN mandate free rein to launch air attacks on Libyan ground targets threatening civilians.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/us-plans-for-military-action-in-libya/story-fn7ycml4-1226023827019|work=The Australian|title=US plans for military action in Libya|date=March 18, 2011|access-date=March 18, 2011 |first1=Michael |last1=Evans |first2=Tom|last2=Coghlan}}</ref>

In March 2011, Obama authorized the firing of 110 [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk cruise missiles]] against targets in Libya, in response to regime actions against rebel forces, to enforce the UN no-fly zone.<ref>{{cite web|author=Ian Pannell |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12813757 |title=Libya: US 'to reduce role in military campaign' |work=[[BBC News]] |date=2011-03-21 |access-date=2016-11-09}}</ref>

On March 17, 2011, the UK, France and Lebanon joined the U.S. to vote for [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973]] while Brazil, Germany, and India joined permanent Security Council members China and Russia in abstaining. Rice and Clinton played major roles in gaining approval for the resolution.<ref name="nyt-libya-change" /><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/03/behind-obamas-turnaround-on-libya-051583 | title=Behind Barack Obama's turnaround on Libya | last1=Thrush | first1=Glenn | last2=Negrin | first2=Matt | work=[[Politico]] | date=March 19, 2011 | access-date=March 20, 2011 | archive-date=March 22, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110322023500/http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51583.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Rice said, "we are interested in a broad range of actions that will effectively protect civilians and increase the pressure on the Gaddafi regime to halt the killing and to allow the Libyan people to express themselves in their aspirations for the future freely and peacefully."<ref>{{cite web |last=Helguero |first=Gerald |url=http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/124009/20110317/libya-no-fly-zone-hillary-clinton-united-nations-susan-rice.htm |title=U.S. Supports Libya No-Fly Zone, Seeks Broader Action |work=International Business Times |date=March 17, 2011 |access-date=November 14, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120715063810/http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/124009/20110317/libya-no-fly-zone-hillary-clinton-united-nations-susan-rice.htm |archive-date=July 15, 2012  }}</ref>

===Syrian Civil War===
In January 2012, after the Russian and Chinese veto of a Security Council resolution calling on Syrian president [[Bashar al-Assad]] to step down, Rice strongly condemned both countries, saying, "They put a stake in the heart of efforts to resolve this conflict peacefully," and adding that "we the United States are standing with the people of Syria. Russia and China are obviously with Assad."<ref>{{cite web |last=Cohn |first=Alicia M. |url=https://thehill.com/video/administration/208773-susan-rice-condemns-russia-and-china-for-voting-with-syrias-assad/ |title=Amb. Rice says Russia, China will 'come to regret' vetoing UN Syria resolution |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |date=February 6, 2012 |access-date=November 14, 2012 |archive-date=August 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816025832/http://thehill.com/video/administration/208773-susan-rice-condemns-russia-and-china-for-voting-with-syrias-assad |url-status=live }}</ref> In her words, "the United States is disgusted that a couple of members of this Council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/02/04/world/meast/syria-un-remarks/index.html | website=[[CNN]] | title=U.N. rights council condemns Syrian abuses | date=February 4, 2012 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206162748/http://articles.cnn.com/2012-02-04/middleeast/world_meast_syria-un-remarks_1_syrian-arab-republic-syrian-authorities-syria-government?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST | archive-date=February 6, 2012 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

===2012 Benghazi attack===
{{main|2012 Benghazi attack}}
On September 11, 2012, a U.S. diplomatic facility and CIA annex in Benghazi, Libya, was [[2012 Benghazi attack|attacked]], resulting in the deaths of the [[United States Ambassador to Libya|United States ambassador to Libya]] [[J. Christopher Stevens]], U.S. Foreign Service information management officer [[Sean Smith (diplomat)|Sean Smith]], and two former Navy SEALS, [[Glen Doherty]] and [[Tyrone S. Woods]]. On September 16, Rice appeared on [[Full Ginsburg|five major interview shows]] to discuss the attacks. Prior to her appearance, Rice was provided with "talking points" from a CIA memo.<ref name="nyt22">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/explanation-for-benghazi-attack-under-scrutiny.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |title=Explanation for Benghazi Attack Under Scrutiny |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Eric |last=Schmitt |date=October 21, 2012 |url-access=subscription  |access-date=October 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026013341/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/politics/explanation-for-benghazi-attack-under-scrutiny.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |archive-date=October 26, 2012 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

Each of the 11 drafts of CIA talking points maintained that the attack was "spontaneously inspired" by a violent protest at the American embassy in [[Cairo, Egypt]], hours earlier, which had been [[Reactions to Innocence of Muslims|triggered by the release of an anti-Muslim video]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/benghazi-memo-drafts/315398/|title=The Benghazi Memo Drafts, as They Evolved|first=Philip|last=Bump|date=May 10, 2013|website=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=July 30, 2020|archive-date=April 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401212705/https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/benghazi-memo-drafts/315398/|url-status=live}}</ref> Protestors breached and entered the embassy compound.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/11/egypt-protest|title=Protests in Cairo and Benghazi over American film|agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=September 11, 2012|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> During the hours before the Benghazi attack, Egyptian satellite television networks popular in Benghazi had been covering the outrage over the video.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/benghazi/index.html#/?chapt=0|title=A Deadly Mix in Benghazi|date=December 28, 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 3, 2020|archive-date=July 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709010646/http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/benghazi/index.html#/?chapt=0|url-status=live}}</ref>

===NSA spying scandal===
{{See also|2010s global surveillance disclosures}}
In early 2013 [[Edward Snowden]] leaked to the media a trove of documents on the Obama administration's controversial [[mass surveillance]] campaign. These revelations have strained relationships between Obama and the foreign leaders that his administration is spying on.<ref>{{Citation|title=NSA leaks strain US-German relationship|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/53356873|access-date=2016-10-12}}</ref>  Fears of American spy software have also cost several American companies contracts for export work.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-brazil-insight-idUSBRE9BJ10P20131220 |publisher=[[Reuters]]|title=Insight: How U.S. spying cost Boeing multibillion-dollar jet contract |date=December 20, 2013}}</ref>

===Muslim relations===
{{See also|A New Beginning (speech)}}
On January 26, 2009, Obama gave his first formal interview as president to the [[Arabic|Arabic-language]] television news channel [[Al Arabiya]].<ref name="al-arabiya">{{cite news|url=http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/27/65087.html |title=Obama tells Al Arabiya peace talks should resume |publisher=[[Al Arabiya]] |date=January 27, 2009 |access-date=2009-02-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100210024257/http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/27/65087.html |archive-date=2010-02-10 }}</ref><ref name="time012809">{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|title=How Al-Arabiya Got the Obama Interview|author= MacLeod, Scott|date=January 28, 2009|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1874379,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130115648/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1874379,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 30, 2009}}</ref> Obama said that, "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."<ref name="al-arabiya"/> Obama mentioned that he had spent several years growing up in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia, and called for resumed negotiations between Israel and Palestinians.<ref name="al-arabiya"/> Obama's gesture in reaching out to the Muslim world was unprecedented for a U.S. president.<ref name="time012809"/>

President Obama's first trip to a [[Muslim world|Muslim majority country]] occurred on April 6–7, 2009 when he visited Turkey and spoke to the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Grand National Assembly]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7984762.stm|title=Obama reaches out to Muslim world|agency=BBC|date=April 6, 2009 | work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>

President Obama addressed the Muslim world in a speech in [[Cairo|Cairo, Egypt]] on June 4, 2009.<ref name=CairoSpeech/> In that speech President Obama issued a call for "a new beginning" in the relationship between the United States and Muslims around the world. He outlined his ideas about "engaging the Muslim world" and how to create "a new beginning."

[[Farah Pandith]] was appointed as the State Department's "first ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities" and was sworn in on September 15, 2009.<ref name=Maher>{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/US_Appoints_First_Special_Representative_To_Muslim_Communities/1823817.html|title=U.S. Confirms First Special Representative To Muslim Communities|agency=Radio Free Europe|date=September 16, 2009}}</ref>

She describes her responsibilities as including actively listening and responding to "the concerns of Muslims in Europe, Africa, and Asia."<ref name=Maher/>
{{clear}}

===Missile defense===
In 2012 Obama promised more flexibility on missile defense after his reelection,<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 13, 2013 |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-03-27/obama-russia-missile-defense-nuclear-flexibility/53811682/1|title=Obama explains 'flexibility' on missile defense|work=[[USA Today]]|date=March 27, 2012}}</ref> this flexibility was demonstrated the next year when Kerry offered to reduce American defenses against Chinese missiles.<ref>{{cite news|access-date=April 13, 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/world/asia/kerry-in-china-seeking-help-on-north-korea.html|title=Kerry Makes Arms Overture To Woo China|work=[[The New York Times]]|first=Michael R.|last=Gordon|date=April 13, 2013}}</ref>

===World Conference against racism===
[[Image:Durbanreviewboycott.svg|thumb|400px| {{legend|#ababab|No information}}
{{legend|#ec1b23|Switzerland (host country)}}
{{legend|#004000|Members of the conference's '''Bureau of the Preparatory Committee''' (who attended the conference)}}
{{legend|#22b14c|States (that are not part of the Preparatory Committee) that attended}}
{{legend|#2f3699|States that boycotted the Durban Review Conference}}]]
Barack Obama boycotted both [[World Conference against Racism]] during his term, the [[Durban Review Conference]] in 2009 and the [[Durban III]] Conference in 2011.

On 27 February 2009, the United States announced it would boycott the [[Durban Review Conference]].<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067506.html "The US to boycott Durban II summit"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422090721/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067506.html |date=2009-04-22 }}  ''[[Haaretz]]'', 27 February 2009.</ref> The American delegation in attendance at the conference's preparatory talks concluded that "the anti-Israel and anti-Western tendencies were too deeply entrenched to excise."<ref>Kampeas, Ron. [http://jta.org/news/article/2009/02/27/1003341/us-pulling-out-of-durban "U.S. pulling out of ‘Durban II’ conference"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228054908/http://jta.org/news/article/2009/02/27/1003341/us-pulling-out-of-durban |date=28 February 2009 }}. Retrieved 27 February 2009.</ref><ref>Kay, Jonathan. [http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/02/27/jonathan-kay-on-the-us-backing-out-of-durban-ii-so-much-for-the-idea-that-obama-is-soft-on-the-israeli-file.aspx "Jonathan Kay on the U.S. backing out of Durban II: So much for the idea that Obama is soft on the Israeli file"]{{dead link|date=October 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} ''[[National Post]]'', 27 February 2009.</ref> President [[Barack Obama]] said "I would love to be involved in a useful conference that addressed continuing issues of racism and discrimination around the globe," but stressed that the language of the U.N.'s draft declaration "raised a whole set of objectionable provisions" and risked a reprise Durban, "which became a session through which folks expressed antagonism toward Israel in ways that were oftentimes completely hypocritical and counterproductive."<ref name=Klapper>Bradley S. Klapper, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090422171950/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-NABlEjaGSsDBh_qdpdNmX7V6VwD97LM43O2 US boycotting, Iran starring, at UN racism meeting], Associated Press 19 April 2009</ref> The United States had withdrawn from the 2001 Durban Conference,<ref name=BBC1>{{cite news|title=US abandons racism summit|work=[[BBC News]]|date=3 September 2001|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1523600.stm}}</ref><ref name=BBC2>{{cite news|title=Racism summit turmoil: Reactions|work=[[BBC News]]|date=3 September 2001|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1523830.stm}}</ref> and did not attend the 1978 and 1985 World Conferences Against Racism.<ref>U.S. Participation in the United Nations, Report by the President to the Congress for the Year 1977, Department of State, p. 172</ref>

On 1 June 2011, the Obama administration confirmed that it would boycott the [[Durban III]] conference held in New York City. [[Joseph Macmanus|Joseph E. Macmanus]], acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, answered Senator Gillibrand's 17 December 2010 letter, saying the US would not participate because the Durban process "included ugly displays of intolerance and anti-Semitism."<ref>[https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPkwtAhC8--rZ36_Ca758d7u0jsA?docId=840f131abfe14a778a86887f64425c3f US to boycott world racism conference at UN]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, AP 1 June 2011</ref> Later that month, New Jersey Senator [[Frank Lautenberg]] applauded the decision of the administration.<ref>[http://www.jstandard.com/content/item/n.j._lawmakers_laud_decision_to_boycott_durban_iii/19008 "N.J. lawmakers laud decision to boycott ‘Durban III’"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604035833/http://www.jstandard.com/content/item/n.j._lawmakers_laud_decision_to_boycott_durban_iii/19008 |date=2013-06-04 }}, Heather Robinson. Jewish Standard. 10 June 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of international presidential trips made by Barack Obama]]
* [[List of international trips made by Hillary Clinton as United States Secretary of State]]
* [[List of international trips made by John Kerry as United States Secretary of State]]
* [[War on terror|Global war on terrorism]]
* [[Yemen model]]
* [[Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State]]
* [[International relations since 1989]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==

*Anderson, Jeffrey J. "Rancor and resilience in the Atlantic Political Order: the Obama years." ''Transatlantic Relations in Times of Uncertainty'' (Routledge, 2020). 114-129. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeffrey-Anderson-20/publication/342298322_Rancor_and_resilience_in_the_Atlantic_Political_Order_the_Obama_years/links/60268c79299bf1cc26bf9311/Rancor-and-resilience-in-the-Atlantic-Political-Order-the-Obama-years.pdf online]
* Barnett, Michael (2020). "[[doi:10.1017/S0892679420000313|A Problem from Washington: Samantha Power Enters the Foreign Policy Bureaucracy]]". ''Ethics & International Affairs'' (2020). 34#2: 241–254. [https://doi.org/10.1017/S0892679420000313 online]
* Bentley, Michelle, and Jack Holland, eds. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=bG3ADAAAQBAJ&q=%22The+Obama+Doctrine%3A+A+Legacy+of+Continuity+in+US+Foreign+Policy%3F%22 The Obama Doctrine: A Legacy of Continuity in US Foreign Policy?]'' (Routledge, 2016).
* Bose, Meena. "Appraising the foreign policy legacy of the Obama presidency." in  Wilbur C. Rich, ed., ''Looking Back on President Barack Obama's Legacy'' (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2019) pp.&nbsp;93–113.
* Clarke, Michael, and Anthony Ricketts. "Shielding the republic: Barack Obama and the Jeffersonian tradition of American foreign policy." ''Diplomacy & Statecraft'' 28.3 (2017): 494–517. [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael_Clarke42/publication/319856118_Shielding_the_Republic_Barack_Obama_and_the_Jeffersonian_Tradition_of_American_Foreign_Policy/links/5ba0260fa6fdccd3cb5eea16/Shielding-the-Republic-Barack-Obama-and-the-Jeffersonian-Tradition-of-American-Foreign-Policy.pdf online]
* Dolan, Chris J. ''Obama and the Emergence of a Multipolar World Order: Redefining U.S. Foreign Policy'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018).
* Dueck, Colin. ''The Obama doctrine: American grand strategy today'' (Oxford UP, 2015).
* Gilboa, Eytan. "Public opinion and Obama's foreign policy." in  Efraim Inbar and  Jonathan Rynhold, eds., ''US Foreign Policy and Global Standing in the 21st Century: Realities and Perceptions'' (2016): 63–88.
* Guerlain, Pierre. "Obama's foreign policy: 'smart power,' realism and cynicism." ''Society'' 51#5 (2014), p.&nbsp;482+. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A385656357/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=27c47be4 online], a view from Paris
* Hadley, Stephen J., et al. eds. ''Hand-Off: The Foreign Policy George W. Bush Passed to Barack Obama'' ( Rowman & Littlefield Publishers/Brookings Institution Press. 2023) {{ISBN|978-0-8157-3977-7}} [https://www.amazon.com/Hand-Off-Foreign-Policy-George-Passed/dp/081573977X/ excerpt]
* Inbar, Efraim, and Jonathan Rynhold, eds. ''US foreign policy and global standing in the 21st century: Realities and perceptions'' (Routledge, 2016).
* Indyk, Martin S., Kenneth G. Lieberthal and Michael E. O'Hanlon. ''Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy'' (Brookings FOCUS Book, 2012) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8NSgAwAAQBAJ&dq=Indyk+Bending+history&pg=PP1 online]
* {{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00918.x | volume=93 | title=Rhetoric and Reality? Unilateralism and the Obama Administration | year=2012 | journal=Social Science Quarterly | pages=1146–1160 | last1 = Kelley | first1 = Christopher S.| issue=5 }}
* Koffler, Keith ''Does Obama have any Foreign Policy successes?'' (2014), [http://www.whitehousedossier.com/2014/02/22/obama-foreign-policy-successes/] general assessment by country
* Laïdi, Zaki. ''Limited Achievements: Obama's Foreign Policy'' (2012), a view from Paris
* Lynch, Timothy J. "Obama, liberalism, and US foreign policy." in Parmar, ed. ''Obama and the World'' (Routledge, 2014) pp.&nbsp;41–52.
* Maass, Matthias ed. ''The World Views of the Obama Era: From Hope to Disillusionment'' (2017) [https://www.amazon.com/World-Views-Obama-Era-Disillusionment/dp/3319610759/ excerpt]
* Mann, James. ''The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power'' (2012)
* Moran, Andrew. "Barack Obama and the Return of ‘Declinism’: Rebalancing American Foreign Policy in an Era of Multipolarity." in ''The Obama Presidency and the Politics of Change'' (Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2017) pp. 265-287.
* Nau, Henry R. "Obama's foreign policy." ''Policy Review'', no. 160, 2010, p.&nbsp;27+. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A225252069/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=e1291494 online] from [[The Heritage Foundation]]
* O'Connor, Brendon, and Danny Cooper. "Ideology and the Foreign Policy of Barack Obama: A Liberal‐Realist Approach to International Affairs." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' 51.3 (2021): 635-666. [https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/psq.12730 online]
* O'Hanlon, Michael E., et al. ''Bending History: Barack Obama's Foreign Policy'' (Brookings FOCUS Book) (2012)
* Parmar, Inderjeet et al eds. ''Obama and the World: New Directions in US Foreign Policy'' (Routledge, 2014), analysis by scholars in Europe; [https://www.amazon.com/Obama-World-Directions-Foreign-Routledge-ebook/dp/B0B5FQP1Y6/ excerpt]
* Patman, Robert G., and Laura Southgate. "Globalization, the Obama administration and the refashioning of US exceptionalism." ''International Politics'' 53 (2016): 220-238. [https://publications.aston.ac.uk/id/eprint/37392/1/Obama_US_Exceptionalism_1_1_.pdf online]
* Pomante, Michael J., and Scot Schraufnagel. ''Historical Dictionary of the Barack Obama Administration'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018); 340pp; 200 short entries on people and policies
* Rasul-Ronning, Zubaida. ''Conflicted Power: Obama's US Foreign and Strategic Policy in a Shifting World Order'' (2012) [https://www.amazon.com/Conflicted-Power-Foreign-Strategic-Shifting/dp/1477271856/ excerpt and text search]
* Singh, Robert, ''Barack Obama's Post-American Foreign Policy: The Limits of Engagement'' (2012) [https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58711/9781780931128.pdf?sequence=1 online]
* Unger, David. "The foreign policy legacy of Barack Obama." ''International Spectator'' 51.4 (2016): 1–16. [https://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/unger.pdf online]
* Watson, Robert P., ed. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=dCnJk3QirFMC&q=%22foreign+policy%22 The Obama Presidency: A Preliminary Assessment]'' (State University of New York Press; 2012) 443 pages; essays by scholars
* Weiss, Thomas G. "Toward a Third Generation of International Institutions: Obama's UN Policy," ''Washington Quarterly'' 32#3 (2009): 141-162.

===Asia-Pacific===
* Bush, Richard C. "United States Policy towards Northeast Asia" ''SERI Quarterly'' (2013) 6#2  re China and Korea.
* Dosch, Jörn. "The United States in the Asia Pacific: still the hegemon?." in ''The New Global Politics of the Asia Pacific'' (Routledge, 2011) pp.&nbsp;32–46.
* Ganguly, Šumit. "Obama, Trump and Indian foreign policy under Modi." ''International Politics'' 59.1 (2022): 9-23. [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-021-00294-4 online]
* Graham, Euan. "Southeast Asia in the US rebalance: Perceptions from a divided region." ''Contemporary Southeast Asia'' (2013): 305-332. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43281262 online]
* Green, Michael J. ''By more than providence: grand strategy and American power in the Asia Pacific since 1783'' (2017) a major scholarly survey [https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Providence-American-East-Relations/dp/0231180438/ excerpt] pp 518–40.
* Gaurav, Govind. "Changing Dynamics of United States-China Relations (since 1989)." ''Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities'' 7.1 (2017): 1286-1298, by a scholar in India. [https://www.indianjournals.com/ijor.aspx?target=ijor:ajrssh&volume=7&issue=1&article=100 abstract]
* Ming-Te, Hung, and Tony Tai-Ting Liu. "US Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia under the Obama Administration: Explaining US Return to Asia and Its Strategic Implications." ''USAK Year Book'' 5 (2012): 195-225. Analysis by scholars in Taiwan [https://www.academia.edu/download/32023602/2012_USAK_Yearbook.pdf online]
*  Ming-Te, Hung, and Tony Tai-Ting Liu. "Sino-US Strategic Competition in Southeast Asia: China’s Rise and US Foreign Policy Transformation since 9/11." ''Political Perspectives'' 5.3 (2011): 96-119. Analysis by scholars in Taiwan.
* Nugraha, Nur Arif. "The Strategic Partners and Strategic Competitors between China and United States in the Period of Barack Obama Administration." ''Andalas Journal of International Studies'' 4.2 (2015): 147-160. From scholars in Indonesia. [http://ajis.fisip.unand.ac.id/index.php/ajis/article/download/44/39 online]
* Rahawestri, Mayang A. "Obama’s foreign policy in Asia: More continuity than change." ''Security Challenges'' 6.1 (2010): 109-120. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/26459473 online] From scholars in Australia.
* Sarker, Masud. ''US Pivot Toward India After 9/11: From a Dubious Relationship to a Strategic Partnership'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2023).
* Sutter, Robert. "The Obama administration and US policy in Asia." ''Contemporary Southeast Asia: A Journal of International and Strategic Affairs'' 31.2 (2009): 189-216. [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/70/article/316293/summary excerpt]
* Van Quyet, Luu, and Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet. "US-Vietnam maritime security cooperation in the South China Sea: From the Obama administration to the current Biden administration." ''Cogent Arts & Humanities'' 10.1 (2023): 2231697. [https://scholar.google.com/scholar?output=instlink&q=info:qbC13CPx5FEJ:scholar.google.com/&hl=en&as_sdt=0,27&as_ylo=2020&scillfp=12860789974203946445&oi=lle online]
* Wang, Chi. ''Obama's Challenge to China: The Pivot to Asia'' (Routledge, 2016).

===Middle East and terrorism===
* Al-Qahtani, Fawaz. "Continuity and change in United States’ foreign policy towards Gulf region after the events of September 11, 2001: A comparative vision between the Bush and Obama administrations." ''Review of Economics and Political Science'' 4.1 (2019): 2-19. [https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/REPS-10-2018-006/full/html online]
* Bentley, Michelle and Jack Holland, eds. ''Obama's Foreign Policy: Ending the War on Terror'' (Routledge, 2013) [https://www.amazon.com/Obamas-Foreign-Policy-Routledge-Studies-ebook/dp/B00FQGQIAY/  excerpt and text search]
* Calculli, Marina. "Mirage of Retrenchment: Obama and the Syrian Conflict." in  Marco Clementi et al. eds., ''US Foreign Policy in a Challenging World'' (Springer, 2017) pp 279–296.
* Dorani, Sharifullah. ''America in Afghanistan: Foreign Policy and Decision Making from Bush to Obama to Trump'' (Bloomsbury, 2019).
* Gerges, Fawaz A. ''Obama and the Middle East: the end of America's moment?'' (Macmillan, 2012).
* Ghazvinian, John. ''America and Iran: A history, 1720 to the present'' (Simon and Schuster, 2020) pp.&nbsp;471–533.
* Hurst, Steven. "Obama and Iran." ''International Politics'' 49 (2012): 545-567.
* Hurst, Steven. "Obama and Iran: Explaining Policy Change." in ''The Obama Presidency and the Politics of Change'' (2017) pp: 289-305. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-41033-3_13 abstract]
* Indurthy, Rathnam. "The Obama Administration's Strategy in Afghanistan," ''International Journal on World Peace'' (Sept 2011) 28#3 pp 7–52.
* Kenealy, Andrew. "Barack Obama and the Politics of Military Force, 2009–2012." ''Presidential Studies Quarterly'' (2022). [https://doi.org/10.1111/psq.12798 online]
* Krieg, Andreas. "Externalizing the burden of war: the Obama Doctrine and US foreign policy in the Middle East." ''International Affairs'' 92.1 (2016): 97–113. [https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/files/71666771/Externalizing_the_burden_of_war_KRIEG_Publishedonline8January2016_GREEN_AAM.pdf Online]
* Lofflman, Georg. "The Obama Doctrine and Military Intervention." ''Perceptions'' 25#1 (2019), p.&nbsp;59+. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A605910791/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=ae869c31 online]
* Parsi, Trita. ''Losing an enemy: Obama, Iran, and the triumph of diplomacy'' (Yale University Press, 2017).
* Rynhold, Jonathan. "Divide and Rule: Discursive Authority, Identity Dissonance, Ethnic Lobbies, and US Foreign Policy, or How President Obama Defeated AIPAC over the 2015 Iran Deal." ''Foreign Policy Analysis'' 17.2 (2021): [https://www.academia.edu/download/67580848/FINAL_OFFICAL_VERSION_PROOFED.pdf online]{{Dead link|date=July 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* Sanger, David E. ''Confront and Conceal: Obama's Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power'' (2012)
* Schulenburg, Rupert. "Obama and ‘Learning’ in Foreign Policy: Military Intervention in Libya and Syria." ''School of Oriental and African Studies'' (2019) [https://www.e-ir.info/2019/09/05/obama-and-learning-in-foreign-policy-military-intervention-in-libya-and-syria/ online].
* Stein, Jessica. "Obama and Terrorism," ''Foreign Affairs'' (2015) 94#1 pp 62+ [https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/fora94&div=115&id=&page= online]
* Tayyar, A. R. I. "Comparing the Bush, Obama and Trump Foreign Policies: Continuity and Change in American Middle East Policy." in ''Ultra-Nationalist Policies of Trump and Reflections in the World'' (Berlin, Peter Lang, 2020) pp: 45-72. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/zobtgxi43jgixeb62l3cgka6mq/access/wayback/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tayyar_Ari2/publication/338558545_Comparing_the_Bush_Obama_and_Trump_Foreign_Policies_Continuity_and_Change_in_American_Middle_East_Policy/links/5e68ef724585153fb3d65616/Comparing-the-Bush-Obama-and-Trump-Foreign-Policies-Continuity-and-Change-in-American-Middle-East-Policy.pdf online]
* Terry, Janice J. "Unrequited Hope: Obama and Palestine." ''Arab Studies Quarterly'' 39.3 (2017): 896-909. [https://www.scienceopen.com/document_file/35d740ef-57c4-4aa1-a371-ad8c5ded3771/ScienceOpen/arabstudquar.39.3.0896.pdf online]

===Primary sources===
* Clinton, Hillary Rodham. ''Hard Choices'' (2014) [https://www.amazon.com/Hard-Choices-Hillary-Rodham-Clinton/dp/1476751447/ excerpt]
* Davis, John, ed. ''Foreign Policy Speeches of Obama'' (2011)
* {{cite book |last=Gates |first=Robert M. |author-link=Robert M. Gates |isbn=978-0307959478 |title=Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War |location=New York |publisher=Alfred A. Knopf |year=2014 |title-link=Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kerry |first=John |year=2018 |title=Every Day Is Extra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8q2DwAAQBAJ |location=New York |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=9781501178955 |oclc=1028456250}} Memoir.
* Obama, Barack. ''A Promised Land'' (2020), covers first term [https://www.amazon.com/Promised-Land-Barack-Obama/dp/1524763160/ excerpt]
* Rhodes, Ben. ''The world as it is: A memoir of the Obama White House'' (Random House, 2019) [https://books.google.com/books?id=xb6NDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22susan+rice%22+obama&pg=PA3 online].
* Rice, Susan.'' Tough Love: My Story of the Things Worth Fighting For'' (Simon & Schuster, 2019) [https://books.google.com/books?id=G920DwAAQBAJ&dq=susan+rice+tough+love&pg=PA1 online].

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110304231435/http://www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/The_Obama_Moment__web_A4.pdf The Obama Moment: European and American Perspectives] [[European Union Institute for Security Studies]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100825135022/http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Travel/popup?id=7231050 Travels of the Obama Presidency] – slideshow by [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100828120544/http://www.life.com/image/first/in-gallery/41512/how-the-world-sees-barack-obama How the World Sees Barack Obama] – slideshow by ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''

{{Barack Obama}}
{{Hillary Rodham Clinton}}
{{John Kerry}}
{{United States policy}}
{{Foreign policy of U.S. presidents}}

[[Category:History of the foreign relations of the United States]]
[[Category:United States foreign policy|Obama, Barack administration]]
[[Category:Foreign policy by United States presidential administration|Obama, Barack]]
[[Category:Policies of Barack Obama]]
[[Category:Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration| ]]