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Personal Illinois State Senator and U.S. Senator from Illinois 44th President of the United States Tenure
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For purposes of U.S. foreign policy,Europe consists of theEuropean Union and non-EU states in Europe.
PresidentBarack Obama plans to increase American troops in Europe to their highest levels since 2003, and station more special operations aircraft andAegis Ballistic Missile Defense System ships there to provide quick access to Africa and the Middle East.[1]
In February and March 2009, Vice President Joe Biden andSecretary of State Hillary 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.[2] Obama attempted to reach out to Arab leaders by granting his first interview to an Arab satellite TV network,Al Arabiya.[3]
Estonia is and remains a small but important ally of the United States inAfghanistan.[citation needed] On June 16, 2009, President Obama and hisNational Security AdvisorJames Jones met the Estonian Head of StateToomas Hendrik Ilves, who was on a working visit to the United States of America, in Washington.[citation needed] The main issues that were discussed at the meeting in the White House included the global economic recession, trans-Atlantic relations, the transparency and credibility ofNATO as an organization established to protect its allies, and the current situation in Afghanistan, the most important foreign mission of the alliance.[citation needed] President Ilves affirmed that while Estonia, like its allies, had suffered severe losses, they would go all the way and will not desert the mission in Afghanistan.[4][citation needed]
The United States continued its policy ofrecognition of theRepublic of Kosovo under the Obama administration.[5] According toThe Sofia Echo, in late February 2009, thePristina daily newspaperKoha Ditore reported that KosovanPresidentFatmir Sejdiu,Prime MinisterHashim Thaci, andForeign MinisterSkender Hyseni were personally assured byUnited States Secretary of StateHillary Clinton that the Obama administration would lobby internationally to expand diplomatic recognition of Kosovo, whichdeclared independence fromSerbia in 2008 and has been recognized by 56 countries as of March 2009.[6]
After World War II, Italy became a strong and active transatlantic partner of the United States. Under the Obama administration, the two countries developed a friendly and pragmatic relationship. However, the Obama administration's shift in priorities and approach altered the context in which Italian foreign policy was carried out. Italy faced new constraints as Obama's approach mixed US leadership with coordination, requiring European partners to communicate with Washington on national and transatlantic issues. President Barack Obama hosted the President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian RepublicEnrico Letta at the White House on October 17, 2013. The visit highlighted the well built alliance between the United States and Italy.[7][8]
"In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonizing other countries."
— Barack Obama, during his visit to Russia (July 2009).[9]
In a speech on February 7, 2009,Vice President of the United StatesJoe Biden discussed a shift in U.S. policy towardsRussia towards "co-operation and consultation" whileNational Security AdvisorJames L. Jones stated that U.S. foreign policy is undergoing "major policy reviews" and that "plans to put parts of the Pentagon's missile shield inPoland and theCzech Republic – a project thatMoscow says could trigger a new arms race – were being put on ice and that talks on the shield would be broadened." Biden also stated that the "last few years have seen a dangerous drift in relations between Russia and our [NATO] alliance. It's time to press the reset button and to revisit the many areas where we can and should work together.".[10]
Prior to this meeting the Russian government suspended its plan to place missiles on the Polish border nearKaliningrad in response toWhite House assurances that the Obama administration was reviewing the Bush administration's plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.[11]
Biden rejected the idea of a Russian "sphere of influence" during his speech, stating, "We will not agree with Russia on everything," and said, "For example, the United States will not recognizeAbkhazia andSouth Ossetia as independent states" nor will we "recognize a sphere of influence. It will remain our view that sovereign states have the right to make their own decisions and choose their own alliances."[12]
During his election campaign, Obama had stated that he intended to "work with Russia to take U.S. and Russianballistic missiles off hair trigger alert [and] seek dramatic reductions in U.S. and Russian stockpiles ofnuclear weapons and material."[13] In February 2009,The Daily Telegraph reported that former Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger had been in negotiation withRussian PresidentDmitry Medvedev on behalf of the Obama administration.[14] Kissinger had reportedly been discussing reducing nuclear inventories to 1,000 warheads on each side, as part of a deal to replace the expiringSTART I arms limitation treaty.[14]
On April 1, 2009, Obama and Medvedev met inLondon to discuss bilateral relations. In a joint statement, the two leaders said, "We ... are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries."[15] They stated a mutual goal of a "nuclear-free" world and committed to renegotiating their treaties on intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear armaments.[16]
On July 6, 2009,President Barack Obama andPresidentDmitry Medvedev held a three-hour meeting in theKremlin inRussia. They agreed in principle to cutting theirnuclear stockpiles to below 1,700 deployed warheads within seven years after a new treaty is created. TheSTART I treaty, which is the current nuclear weapons agreement between the two countries, expires in December 2009.[17] Russia additionally allowed U.S.arms shipments to thebattlefront in Afghanistan through Russia.[18]
During a three-day trip (started July 20, 2009[19]) toUkraine andGeorgiaVice PresidentJoe Biden again stated that the United States will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, and urged "the world" not to recognize them as independent states.[20]
On March 24, 2010, the United States and Russia reached an agreement to reduce their stockpiles ofnuclear weapons. President Obama and President Medvedev are set sign a treaty inPrague, the week of April 4, 2010. The agreement is expected to cut the number of long-range nuclear weapons held by each side to about 1,500, down from the current 1,700 to 2,200 set by theMoscow Treaty of 2002. The new agreement would replace the1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired in December 2009.[21]
Obama's pragmatic policy towards Russia has drawn criticism from his opponents, especially from hawks andneoconservatives, though also from many liberals. In aftermath of theUS-Russia spy scandal, Republicans denounced Obama as the "12th Russian spy", and right-wing radio show hostRush Limbaugh said: "Why do [the Russians] have to spy on us? Obama will tell them anything they want to know."[22] While conservatives try to use it to emphasize his (in their view) lack of patriotism, liberal criticism of Obama's relations with Russia focus on Russia's dismal human rights record.[citation needed]
The Obama administration's foreign policy towardSwitzerland was characterized in a March 2009editorial forThe Guardian as "increasingly hostile".[23] Indeed, shortly after Obama's election in November 2008, the then-president-elect reportedly developed plans with key economic advisers to push for a crackdown ontax havens in early 2009,[24] and as a senator, Obama co-sponsored the Stop Tax Havens Act of 2007, which identified Switzerland as among 34 "Offshore Secrecy Jurisdictions" warranting strengthened powers of investigation and summons for theIRS,[25] which Obama reportedly wants reintroduced and passed by the111th United States Congress.[26][27][28]
On February 19, 2009, the United States government filed a lawsuit againstUBS AG, a majorSwiss bank, demanding it release the names of almost 52,000 Americans who allegedly used its secret accounts to avoid payingtaxes on their income. In the matter ofU.S. v. UBS AG (2009), the Switzerland-based bank stands accused by U.S. authorities of "conspiring to defraud the U.S. by helping Americans hide accounts from theIRS".[29] In response to the U.S. suit, theconservativeSwiss People's Party proposed a number of punitive measures forBern to inflict on the United States, including rejection ofGuantánamo Baydetainees and repatriation of Swissgold from the U.S.[30]
On February 28, 2009,Swiss PresidentHans-Rudolf Merz suggested that Switzerland might need to "make a few concessions" on matters of bank secrecy in light of theGreat Recession in order to avoid being sanctioned as "an uncooperative tax haven".[31]
United States Attorney GeneralEric Holder, who as a former attorney for UBS AG has recused himself from the bank's investigation, met with his Swiss counterpart,Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, on March 2, 2009. Widmer-Schlumpf earlier met with ActingDeputy Attorney General David Margolis to discuss "international finance issues", according to theUnited States Department of Justice.[32] Writing ahead of the meetings, formerUnited States Ambassador to SwitzerlandFaith Whittlesey cautioned the Obama administration against taking too aggressive an approach with a government she characterized as "stable, responsible...[and] reliable", warning that a deterioration of relations with Switzerland could lead to deeper economic turmoil.[33] Widmer-Schlumpf later said that Margolis and Holder "expressed their willingness to negotiate with Switzerland, to discuss with us, and especially in the UBS case, Mr. Margolis said that he was not interested in having an escalation".[34]
The Obama administration scored a diplomatic victory when Merz announced that Switzerland would adapt its policy to OECD standards and henceforth cooperate with foreign bodies on matters of internationaltax evasion.[35] On September 26, 2009, Swiss police authorities arrested thefugitiveRoman Polanski, who fled the United States in 1977. Swiss police claimed it was a routine arrest, although some politicians claimed it was motivated by Swiss worries over new US policy ontax evasion in Switzerland may have prompted them to act over-energetically. An extradition request was filed by the US government on October 23.[36]
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During the2008 United States presidential election both (final) nominees for president, U.S. senatorBarack Obama and U.S. senatorJohn McCain, did offer backing to Ukraine's January 2008[37] membership proposal ofNATO.[38][39][40]
Two weeks after a visit by President Obama to Russia in July 2009 Vice PresidentJoe Biden visitedUkraine. During the visit Biden assured theUkrainian government that the United States would continue to supportUkraine's bid to join NATO despiteRussia's objections,[41] "the reset of relationship with Russia" (that the Obama administration wants to pursue) will not come at Ukraine's expense[42] and Biden (once again) rejected the idea of a Russian "sphere of influence": "We do not recognize anyone else's right to dictate to you or any other country what alliances you will seek to belong to or what relationships you -- bilateral relationships you have".[42] This echoed President Obama speech of July 7, 2009, at theNew Economic School during his (July 2009) visit to Russia: "We must apply state sovereignty to all nations -- and that includes nations likeGeorgia and Ukraine".[9]
In a joint statement on December 4, 2009, President Obama and thePresident of RussiaDmitry Medvedev confirmed the assurances of security to Ukraine,Kazakhstan andBelarus given on the heels of thesecountries’ consent in 1994 to give up their nuclear weapons.[43]
Secretary of StateHillary Clinton visited Ukraine on July 2, 2010, (on a tour withArmenia,Georgia andAzerbaijan). During the visit she stated "Ukraine is a sovereign and independent country that has the right to choose its own alliances and NATO's door remains open". Clinton expressed US support for Ukraine's efforts to strengthenits ties with Russia, as long as that did not come at the expense ofrelations with Europe and the US. At atown hall meeting atKyiv Polytechnic Institute Clinton addressed the challengesUkrainian PresidentViktor Yanukovych will face meeting his commitments to eradicate corruption and preservemedia freedoms "Rhetoric alone does not change behaviour". Clinton also met formerPrime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko.[44][45][46]
Under the administrations ofBill Clinton andGeorge W. Bush, theUnited States enjoyed a "special relationship" with theUnited Kingdom, particularly during the government ofPrime MinisterTony Blair.[47] Obama wassworn in asPresident of the United States in the midst of aglobal recession, which continues to deeply affect both countries.
Questions have arisen, especially inLondon, over Obama's intentions regarding the future of the "special relationship" between the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Comments made byWhite House Press SecretaryRobert Gibbs on February 21, 2009, attracted scrutiny due to Gibbs' use of the phrase "specialpartnership" in favor of the traditional "specialrelationship", which some analysts and officials took as an indication that Obama will approach relations with the UK in a more businesslike, less personal way.[48]
British Prime MinisterGordon Brown became the firstEuropean leader to meet with Obama on March 3, 2009, and he addressed a joint session ofCongress the following day.[49] During his visit to the Obama White House, he presented the president a gift of a pen holder carved from the timbers ofHMSGannet, which served anti-slavery missions off the coast ofAfrica. Obama's gift to the prime minister was a box of 25DVDs with movies includingStar Wars andE.T.[50]
On March 1, 2009, Brown addressed the topic of joint Anglo-American leadership to combat the recession in a column forThe Sunday Times. In the column, he said that he and Obama would discuss "a globalnew deal" that would encourage unified action by various national governments to fight off the effects of the economic crisis, including international cooperation to institute standard regulation and reform of problematic industries, such as financial corporations.[51]
The Obamas met personally withQueen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom on April 1, 2009. Such meetings are typically conducted in the process of astate visit, with this meeting being a rare exception.[52]
President Obama frustrated many in Britain by his refusal to enter into the sovereignty dispute in the Falklands on the British side[53]
In May 2011, as part of a broader visit to Europe, President and Mrs. Obama met with Her Majesty,Queen Elizabeth II andPrince Philip,Charles, Prince of Wales and his wifeCamilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and briefly withPrince William, Duke of Cambridge and his new wife,Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. The Queen gave astate dinner for President Obama, at which toasts recognizing each other's leadership were given (Obama paused during his toast of the Queen, and the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen" was begun, but he continued speaking during the music until he had finished his statement; the toast was done after it ended). President Obama also met with British Prime MinisterDavid Cameron and gave the only address of a sitting U.S. president to both houses of theBritish Parliament at Westminster.
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