Main article: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration
President Obama stands at a podium delivering a speech on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009
Obama speaking on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009

In February and March 2009, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made separate overseas trips to announce a "new era" in U.S. foreign relations with Russia and Europe, using the terms "break" and "reset" to signal major changes from the policies of the preceding administration.[243] Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab cable TV network, Al Arabiya.[244]

On March 19, Obama continued his outreach to the Muslim world, releasing a New Year's video message to the people and government of Iran.[245][246] In April, Obama gave a speech in Ankara, Turkey, which was well received by many Arab governments.[247] On June 4, 2009, Obama delivered a speech at Cairo University in Egypt calling for "A New Beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States and promoting Middle East peace.[248]

On June 26, 2009, in response to the Iranian government's actions towards protesters following Iran's 2009 presidential election, Obama said: "The violence perpetrated against them is outrageous. We see it and we condemn it."[249] On July 7, while in Moscow, he responded to a Vice President Biden comment on a possible Israeli military strike on Iran by saying: "We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East."[250]

On September 24, 2009, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to preside over a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.[251]

In March 2010, Obama took a public stance against plans by the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue building Jewish housing projects in predominantly Arab neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.[252][253] During the same month, an agreement was reached with the administration of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new pact reducing the number of long-range nuclear weapons in the arsenals of both countries by about one-third.[254] Obama and Medvedev signed the New START treaty in April 2010, and the U.S. Senate ratified it in December 2010.[255]

In December 2011, Obama instructed agencies to consider LGBT rights when issuing financial aid to foreign countries.[256] He criticized Russia's law discriminating against gays in August 2013,[257] stopping short of advocating a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia.[258]

In December 2014, Obama announced that he intended to normalize relationships between Cuba and the United States.[259]