Key figures: Barack Obama, Hosni Mubarak, Mahmoud Abbas
Summary
On June 4, 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama delivered an address titled “A New Beginning” from the Major Reception Hall of Cairo University in Egypt, with Al-Azhar University co-hosting the event. Before the speech, Obama met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at Koubbeh Palace. The address, delivered roughly six months into Obama’s presidency, sought to reset relations between the United States and Muslims around the world following the George W. Bush administration’s Iraq War and “war on terror” framing, and opened with a quotation from the Quran: “Be conscious of God and always speak the truth.”
Obama structured the speech around seven areas of tension between the United States and Muslim-majority nations: violent extremism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nuclear weapons (with reference to Iran’s nuclear program), democracy, religious freedom, women’s rights, and economic development. He called for a two-state solution recognizing the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, stated that “violence is a dead end,” and argued that “America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition.” He also drew on his personal biography, including childhood years in Indonesia and Muslim relatives, to frame the address.
The speech drew a largely positive international reaction; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas described it as “clear and frank.” It was more critically received by Hezbollah and Iranian leaders, who dismissed it as rhetoric unaccompanied by policy change, while some American conservative commentators criticized Obama for not using the word “terrorism.”
Significance
The Cairo address was one of the most closely watched foreign-policy speeches of Obama’s first year in office, marking a deliberate attempt to recast the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world after years of strain tied to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. It was widely cited, including by commentators in the Arab press, as a factor in the Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize just months later, with the committee crediting his efforts to ease tensions with the Muslim world and promote diplomacy over unilateralism.
The speech’s lasting impact remained a subject of debate among analysts and commentators, who contrasted its conciliatory tone and specific commitments—such as support for Palestinian statehood and nuclear nonproliferation—with the pace of subsequent policy change in the region.
Sources
- A New Beginning (speech) – Wikipedia
- Remarks by the President at Cairo University, 6-04-09 – The White House (Obama Administration archives)