US President Barack Obama will leave office in January having failed to end the conflicts he inherited in Iraq and Afghanistan, settling instead for greatly reducing US involvement in each. And he will pass on the woes of a raging civil war in Syria that he has been helpless to stop. Historians will grapple with whether Obama's forward-looking diplomatic achievements, like the Iran nuclear deal and rapprochement with Cuba, will outweigh his failings.

IBTimes UK looks back at the best photos taken during the outgoing president's final year in office.

Carlos Barria
5 January 2016: US President Barack Obama sheds a tear while delivering a statement on steps the administration is taking to reduce gun violence in the East Room of the White House in Washington Carlos Barria/Reuters