Obama charts path far from Bush unilateralism

By Arshad Mohammed - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama on Monday emphasized diplomacy, internationalism and alliances as he laid out a national security outlook far from President George W. Bush's more unilateral approach, analysts said.

"Our destiny is shared with the world's," Obama said before naming his former rival Sen. Hillary Clinton as his choice for secretary of state

"To succeed, we must pursue a new strategy that skilfully uses, balances, and integrates all elements of American power -- our military and diplomacy, our intelligence and law enforcement, our economy and the power of our moral example."

Obama rounded out his foreign policy team by asking Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, to stay on at the Pentagon and naming Gen. Jim Jones to be White House national security adviser.

Carlos Pascual, director of foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank, said Obama's comments were an implicit rebuke to Bush and set the tone for a foreign policy that may be more inclusive of allies and partners.

Beyond the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States faces traditional foreign policy problems such as reining in the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea, promoting Arab-Israeli peace and grappling with a newly assertive Russia as well as wider challenges like global warming and AIDS.

"No one country can handle this agenda alone," Pascual said, saying Obama was making clear that his foreign policy "can't be a unilateral one."

FEW DETAILS ON IRAN, NORTH KOREA, MIDEAST PEACE