American President Donald Trump is once again reshaping the global landscape—but not necessarily in the name of peace. His latest initiative, the so-called “Board of Peace,” aims to rival the United Nations, presenting itself as a nimble international body to resolve conflicts. Nearly 60 countries have reportedly been invited to join, with permanent seats available at the hefty price of $1 billion. Yet, beyond the rhetoric, the purpose and legitimacy of this new organisation remain deeply questionable.
Curiously absent from the Board of Peace’s charter is any direct mention of Gaza, the very region it was ostensibly designed to help. The UN Security Council had authorised a board to oversee Gaza’s post-war rehabilitation after years of Israel’s devastating military campaign. Instead, Trump has separately appointed an 11-member executive board for Gaza, dominated by American officials with well-known pro-Zionist leanings, and including figures like Jared Kushner and Tony Blair—whose record in Iraq raises serious moral questions. Palestinian voices are conspicuously missing from this arrangement.
According to reports, the charter gives Trump sweeping powers as chair, including the ability to appoint and remove member states and create or dissolve subsidiary bodies at will. In practice, this “Board of Peace” appears less a multilateral institution than an instrument of American hegemony, designed to assert US influence while undermining existing global structures.
Trump’s record makes the initiative deeply ironic. His administration has openly flouted international law—from threatening military force in South America, to bombing Iran, to supporting Israel’s war in Gaza that has claimed over 70,000 lives. Yet, the charter speaks of promoting “lawful governance” and “enduring peace.” The gap between rhetoric and action could not be wider.
Even the stated justification for the board exposes its contradictions. The charter claims that “durable peace requires pragmatic judgement” and a departure from failing institutions, failing to acknowledge that it is America’s own disregard for rules-based governance that has weakened the UN and other international mechanisms. Far from promoting peace, the Board of Peace seems designed to consolidate American dominance, while masking geopolitical ambition as humanitarian intervention.
Trump’s territorial ambitions in Greenland and the imposition of tariffs on European allies further underline his disregard for diplomacy. Reports that his pursuit of a Nobel Peace Prize—or rather, frustration at not receiving one—drives some of his decisions reveals a disturbing personalisation of global policy. With a leader who conflates ego with national interest, global stability is at grave risk.
The plan to raise an International Stabilisation Force under American command adds another layer of concern. Countries like Pakistan have been approached to join, but the force’s mandate is vague and may pit them against legitimate Palestinian resistance groups. Blind participation could entangle states in conflicts that serve US objectives rather than international justice.
In short, the Board of Peace is neither neutral nor inclusive. It is a unilateral vision of world order, chaired by a president who treats international institutions as tools for personal and national gain. For the global community, the stakes are enormous: when the world’s most powerful nation blurs the line between peacekeeping and power projection, it is not peace that is being built—it is hegemony disguised as diplomacy.
The question for nations like Pakistan is simple but urgent: do they align with genuine multilateral peace efforts, or lend legitimacy to a body that advances one nation’s dominance under the guise of international governance?
