Foreign and Security Policy

The Obama Administration recognizes that the United States and the world face great perils and urgent foreign policy challenges including ongoing wars and regional conflicts, the global economic crisis, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, climate change, worldwide poverty, food insecurity, and pandemic disease. Military force may sometimes be necessary to protect our people and our interests. But diplomacy and development are equally important in creating conditions for a peaceful, stable and prosperous world. That is the essence of smart power – using all the tools at our disposal. Smart power requires reaching out to both friends and adversaries, bolstering old alliances and forging new ones. Even if we disagree with some governments, America shares a bond of common humanity with the people of every nation, and we work to invest in that common humanity.”
(Source: U.S. Department of State)

Documents and Speeches

• The United States and the Asia-Pacific in 2013. Remarks by the National Security Advisor to the President, Tom Donilon, at the Asia Society in New York. March 11, 2013.
• Remarks by Secretary of State John Kerry at the University of Virginia, February 20, 2013.
• U.S. and Europe: A Revitalized Partnership. Remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the Brookings Institution. November 29, 2012.
• President Obama's address at the 67th U.N. General Assembly. New York, September 25, 2012.
• U.S. - EU Cooperation Against Terrorism (pdf/243kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, July 18, 2011.
• National Strategy for Counterterrorism, The White House, June 2011.
• Remarks by Assistant Secretary Philip H. Gordon on U.S. Policy in the Balkans, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 14
• Remarks by the Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates on The Security and Defense Agenda (Future of NATO), Brussels, Belgium, June 10, 2011
• Remarks by the President to Parliament in London, United Kingdom, May 25, 2011
• Remarks by President Obama on the Middle East and North Africa, U.S. Department of State, May 19, 2011
• Administration Priorities for Europe in the 112th Congress, Testimony by Philip H. Gordon, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State, before the Subcommittee on European Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, May 18, 2011
• Assessing the Situation in Libya, Testimony by James B. Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, May 12, 2011
• Libya: Unrest and U.S. Policy (pdf/639kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, March 29, 2011
• Address to the Nation on Libya, Remarks by President Barack Obama, National Defense University, Washington, D.C., March 28, 2011 (video)
• Popular Uprisings in the Middle East: The Implications for U.S. Policy, Testimony by William J. Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the U.S.  Department of State, before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. March 17, 2011
• Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses (pdf/762kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, March 4, 2011
• Iraq: Politics, Elections, and Benchmarks (pdf/338kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, March 1, 2011
• Remarks by President Barack Obama on the Situation in Egypt, Grand Foyer, Washington, D.C. February 11, 2011 (video)
• The National Military Strategy of the United States of America 2011 - Redefining America's Military Leadership (pdf/5781kb), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, February 8, 2011
• The New START Treaty: Central Limits and Key Provisions (pdf/356kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, February 7, 2011
• Nuclear Arms Control: The Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (pdf/283kb), CRS Report for Congress, Congressional Research Service/Library of Congress, February 7, 2011
• New START Treaty Entry Into Force, Fact Sheet, U.S. Department of State, February 5, 2011
• In Sudan, an Election and a Beginning, Op-ed by President Barack Obama, The New York Times, January 8, 2011.
• State of the Union Address, Remarks by President Barack Obama, United States Capitol, Washington, D.C, January 25, 2011 (video)
• News Conference by President Obama on New START, The White House, December 22, 2010 (video)
• Remarks by Secretary Clinton on New START, State Department, December 22, 2010
• Press Conference of the President after NATO Summit, Feria Internacional de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal, November 20, 2010
• National Security Strategy, May 27, 2010
• Nuclear Posture Review Report, U.S. Department of Defense, April 2010