Overview: Obama's Foreign Policy, 2012-2016
As Obama entered his second term in office, problems continued overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. In May 2014, President Obama announced that, for the most part, U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan were over. Although a residual force of 9,800 soldiers were to remain to continue training the Afghan army, it was planned that, by 2016, all U.S. troops would have left the country, except for a small number to defend U.S. diplomatic posts. In addition to the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, Obama's second term has been marked by the Iran Deal, the Syrian Civil War, support of Israeli occupation of Palestine, and the easing of tensions with Cuba.
The Iran Deal
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known commonly as the Iran Deal, is an international agreement on the nuclear program of Iran reached in Vienna on July 14, 2015 between Iran, the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States—plus Germany), and the European Union. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. For the next 15 years, Iran will only enrich uranium up to 3.67%. Iran also agreed not to build any new heavy-water facilities for the same period of time. Uranium-enrichment activities will be limited to a single facility using first-generation centrifuges for 10 years and other facilities will be converted to avoid proliferation risks.
To monitor and verify Iran's compliance with the agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will have regular access to all Iranian nuclear facilities. The agreement provides that in return for verifiably abiding by its commitments, Iran will receive relief from U.S., European Union, and United Nations Security Council nuclear-related sanctions.
The Syrian Civil War
The Syrian Civil War is an ongoing multi-sided armed conflict in Syria in which with international interventions have taken place. The unrest grew out of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, escalating to armed conflict after President Bashar al-Assad's government violently repressed protests calling for his removal. The war is being fought by the Syrian Government, a loose alliance of Syrian Arab rebel groups, the Syrian Democratic Forces, Salafi jihaidst groups (including al-Nusra Front), and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, sometimes referred to as ISIS). All sides receive substantial support from foreign players, leading many to label the conflict a proxy war waged by the regional and world major powers.
A demonstration in Homs, Syria against the al-Assad regime (April 18, 2011)
On October 18, 2011, during the early stages of the Syrian Civil War, Obama said that President "Assad must go" for the sake of the Syrian people. He reaffirmed that belief on November 19, 2015. To that end, Obama authorized an effort to train anti-Assad rebels. The program achieved minimal results, and the Obama Administration abandoned it in 2015. In the wake of a chemical weapons attack in Syria in 2013 widely blamed on the Assad regime, Obama insisted that Assad must give up his chemical weapons. This led to an agreement which resulted in Assad giving up many such weapons, but attacks with chlorine gas continued. In 2014, Obama authorized an air campaign aimed primarily at ISIL, but repeatedly promised that the U.S. would put "no boots on the ground" in Syria.
Israel
In 2011, the United States was the only nation to veto a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in Palestine, with the United States being the only nation to do so. Obama supports the two-state solution to the Arab–Israeli conflict based on the 1967 borders with land swaps. In June of 2012, Obama said that the bond between the United States and Israel is "unbreakable." During the initial years of the Obama administration, the U.S. increased military cooperation with Israel, including increased military aid, re-establishment of the U.S.-Israeli Joint Political Military Group and the Defense Policy Advisory Group, and an increase in visits among high-level military officials of both countries.
In 2014, President Obama likened the Zionist movement to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. He said that both movements seek to bring justice and equal rights to historically persecuted peoples. He explained, "To me, being pro-Israel and pro-Jewish is part and parcel with the values that I've been fighting for since I was politically conscious and started getting involved in politics."
Cuba
Beginning in the spring of 2013, secret meetings were conducted between the United States and Cuba in the neutral locations of Canada and Vatican City. The Vatican first became involved in 2013 when Pope Francis advised the U.S. and Cuba to exchange prisoners as a gesture of goodwill. On December 10, 2013, Cuban President Raúl Castro, in a significant public moment, greeted and shook hands with Obama at the Nelson Mandela memorial service in Johannesburg.
U.S. President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro
President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro shake hands during a meeting in Panama in April 2015
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, after nearly 60 years of strained relations. The easing of tensions between the countries popularly came to be called the "Cuban Thaw." 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. The countries' respective "interests sections" in one another's capitals were upgraded to embassies on July 20 and August 13, 2015, respectively. Obama visited Havana, Cuba for two days in March 2016, becoming the first sitting U.S. President to visit since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.