Trump-Led "Board of Peace" Officially Launched with 19 Countries Signing

"Chairman for Life" Trump Holds Authority Over Agenda Approval, Dissolution, and Successor Appointment
Controversy Over Attempt to Replace the UN
Mission Overlaps With "Maintaining Global Peace and Security"

The "Board of Peace," led by U.S. President Donald Trump, has been officially launched.

Donald Trump, President of the United States. Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to AP and other sources on the 22nd (local time), President Trump held a signing ceremony for the Board of Peace charter at the Davos Forum venue in Switzerland, inviting world leaders and officials. White House spokesperson Caroline Leavitt stated that the charter took effect with the signing ceremony, officially establishing the Board as an international organization.

TASS reported that 19 countries signed the charter: Armenia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Morocco, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Uzbekistan, and Kosovo.

Most of the United States' traditional allies, such as the United Kingdom and France, either declined to participate or did not clearly express their intention to join. In particular, European countries are hesitant because Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his intention to participate. President Putin proposed to pay the membership fee using 1 billion dollars in Russian state assets frozen in the United States since the war in Ukraine. President Trump limited the term for member countries to three years, but offered permanent membership to any country that pays more than 1 billion dollars in the first year.

The Board of Peace was originally envisioned as an organization for the reconstruction of the Palestinian Gaza Strip and for peace policy. However, some observers speculate that President Trump, who has assumed the role of "chairman for life," intends to use the Board of Peace as a replacement for the United Nations. At the signing ceremony, President Trump stated that he would cooperate with the United Nations, but also said, "If we succeed in Gaza, we can expand to other issues."

The New York Times (NYT), a U.S. daily, analyzed the launch of the Board of Peace as "a recent example of dismantling the international order established after World War II and building a new system." The NYT pointed out that the charter sent by the United States to various countries includes a provision that "one person has the authority to exercise veto power, approve agendas, invite members, dissolve the committee, and appoint a successor as chairman," and that, according to Article 3, Section 2 of the charter, the "one person" is President Trump, who serves as the inaugural chairman. The NYT also noted that, while the Board defines the Gaza Strip as only one of its areas of work, "the committee's authority is not clearly defined, but its mission could overlap with the United Nations' goal of maintaining global peace and security."

Mark Weller, professor of international law at Cambridge University, said, "This is a direct attack on the United Nations," adding, "This plan could be seen as an attempt by one individual to dominate the world order around himself." He continued, "World peace requires broad international consensus. It is difficult to achieve such consensus through a new organization that is entirely dependent on the will of a single person."