HILLARY CLINTON,
Secretary of State
New York Senator Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama's former rival for the White House, has a global profile. She is both a political leader in her own right as well as the wife of former US president Bill Clinton. Policy analysts say the 61-year-old senator's selection could mean a more hawkish stance by the United States, noting that she was more reluctant than the President-elect to commit to a firm timetable for withdrawing US troops from Iraq.
ROBERT GATES,
Secretary of Defence
Incumbent Robert Gates, 65, is considered a moderate voice in the national security team.
Like Mr Obama, he wants to send more US troops to Afghanistan to fight insurgent violence and close the military prison at Guanta- namo Bay in Cuba.
In 2004 he co-authored a study that advocates reaching out to previous Iranian president Mohammad Khatami. But he sees progress in such efforts with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as slim.
JAMES JONES,
National Security Adviser
The 64-year-old retired Marine general, a former Nato commander, is respected widely by both Democrats and Republicans, but has avoided aligning himself with either party.
Known to have been a strong critic of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war, he holds views that coincide with Mr Obama's in two areas of prime concern: US energy security and the need to commit new resources to the conflict in Afghanistan.
SUSAN RICE,
UN Ambassador, a post elevated to Cabinet rank by President-elect Obama
At 44, she would be the second-youngest ambassador to the United Nations.
A Rhodes scholar who earned a doctorate in international relations at Oxford University, she was the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, being appointed a point person in responding to Al-Qaeda's 1998 bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. As Ambassador to the UN, she will have to coordinate with Mrs Clinton but will not be in the White House daily.
JANET NAPOLITANO,
Homeland Security Chief
A Democrat, the 51-year-old is the Governor of Arizona and is the state's first female Attorney-General, which gives her considerable experience in law enforcement.
As governor of a state that borders Mexico, she is also involved closely in immigration issues, which come under the purview of the Homeland Security Department. SOURCE: REUTERS