Kevin J Kelley
6 November 2008
New York — Ms Susan Rice, formerly the State Department's top Africa official, is expected to be named soon to a senior foreign-policy post in the Obama administration.
Ms Rice, an African-American, served as a leading advisor to Senator Obama during the presidential campaign.
She wrote the preface to a report last year setting forth a new vision of US relations with the rest of the world, urging greater reliance on "soft power" - development aid and democracy-building initiatives - rather than military might. That document, known as The Phoenix Initiative, may help guide US global strategy over the next four years.
Ms Rice, 44, is considered a leading candidate for the post of National Security Advisor. She worked on the National Security Council as an Africa specialist early in the Clinton administration and was later given the State Department job currently held by Jendayi Fraser.
Despite her Clinton pedigree, Ms Rice became an early supporter of Senator Obama - a move known to have irked the campaign of Senator Hillary Clinton.
Ms Rice's standing as an experienced foreign policy specialist no longer closely identified with the Clintons could position her perfectly as President-elect Obama moves to assemble his White House team.
Because he is still relatively new on the scene, Mr Obama will look to Washington veterans, both for the wisdom of their counsel and to send a signal of continuity. But because he was elected on the promise of bringing change, Mr Obama must also introduce some fresh faces and not be seen as carrying out Bill Clinton's third term in office.
"We don't just want this to be sort of Clinton redux," an unnamed Obama advisor said in The New York Times' Thursday edition. "There are plenty of good names out there, strong names that could say 'change.'"
Four other figures under consideration for top foreign-policy positions, including secretary of state, are John Kerry, Richard Lugar, Bill Richardson and Richard Holbrooke.
Senator Kerry ran unsuccessfully for president in 2004 and is seen as one of the senators most familiar with foreign policy issues.
Senator Lugar, a 76-year-old Republican, has chaired the Foreign Relations Committee where he has worked closely with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.
Mr Richardson held cabinet-level positions in the Clinton administration but broke with his benefactors by endorsing Mr Obama at a key stage of the Democratic primary campaign.
Mr Holbrooke, a former UN ambassador and a Hillary Clinton supporter, is widely respected for his leading role in negotiating a peace settlement in Bosnia.
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