page_title: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration
section_title: Egypt
hierarchical_section_title: Foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration / Africa / North Africa / Egypt
caption_attribution_description: President Barack Obama speaks at Cairo University in Cairo, Thursday, June 4, 2009. In his speech, President Obama called for a 'new beginning between the United States and Muslims', declaring that 'this cycle of suspicion and discord must end'. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
context_page_description: The foreign policy of the Barack Obama administration was the foreign policy of the United States from 2009 to 2017, during the Presidency of Barack Obama. The term Obama Doctrine is frequently used to describe the principles of the Obama administration's foreign policy.
  Obama inherited the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, and various aspects of the War on Terror, all of which began during the Bush administration. He presided over the gradual 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 withdrew all but approximately 8,400 soldiers from Afghanistan during his second term. In 2011, Obama presided over a mission that led to the 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, but, despite Obama's hopes to close the detention camp, 41 inmates remained at Guantanamo by the time that Obama left office.
context_section_description: 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 overthrown in 2013 by the military. President Obama noted that the crisis in Egypt is deplorable and tragic; the situations at the end of 2013 remained very tense.
caption: Obama speaking on "A New Beginning" at Cairo University on June 4, 2009
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