Trump’s Board of Peace poses latest in a series of US challenges to the United Nations
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump’s ambition for “Peace Board” Playing a role in global conflicts beyond Gaza appears to be the latest attempt by the United States to evade the UN Security Council; This raises new questions about the importance of the 80-year-old world institution and uncertainty about its future as the primary force for maintaining worldwide peace.
As the UN embarks on major reforms aimed at modernizing an organization built on the ashes of World War II and making it a more relevant global player in the 21st century, Trump is establishing a panel that will consist largely of invited heads of state.
Decades of reform effort gained new momentum This comes after the Trump administration attempted to eliminate billions of dollars in funding to international organizations and humanitarian aid last year.
Cutting life-saving humanitarian efforts, consolidating major agencies and moving staff from its New York headquarters are just some of the changes the UN is making as it awaits continued support from the United States, traditionally its biggest donor.
Trump and his allies criticize the organization for failing to reach its full potential and accuse it of having “bloated” and unnecessary institutions that push “woke” ideology. Last year, the United States refused to pay its mandatory dues to the UN.
The Security Council, the UN’s most powerful body with the power to authorize military action, has failed to end wars in recent years, including in Gaza and Ukraine. It’s a point Trump has made since the beginning of his second term, and he’s repeated it several times this week.
“The UN hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the potential of the UN, but it’s never lived up to its potential,” Trump told reporters at a White House press conference. “The UN should have solved all the wars I solved. I never went to them. In fact, I never thought of going.”
Despite his complaints, he added: “I believe you should let the UN continue because the potential is huge.”
In November, the Security Council authorized the Peace Board to serve as an interim body to oversee the US-brokered ceasefire. Israel-Hamas war In Gaza, as Trump suggested. But in creating the board, he defined its role as a mediator in other global conflicts and a potential rival to the UN Security Council.
Retired U.S. Ambassador Robert Wood, who served in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations under Republican and Democratic leaders, said “I don’t think there would be much interest” if Trump tried to replace the Security Council with a Peace Board that deals with issues outside Gaza.
“What I would say to U.N. member states, including the United States, is: Let’s try to work together to make the United Nations a better tool. With all its warts, it really is the best tool we have,” Wood told The Associated Press. “But when you’re trying to recreate something new in this kind of era, where there are all the existing divisions and most of the developing world is putting so much emphasis on the United Nations and the conflict resolution mechanism, I don’t see how that’s going to work.”
U.N. officials dismissed the concerns on Wednesday and said decades of multilateral peacebuilding involving more than 190 member states were unlikely to be replaced.
“There are numerous organizations (regional organizations, defense alliances and others) that have co-existed with the UN over the 80 years that the UN has existed,” deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Wednesday.
“It is too early to say what the Peace Board will look like,” he added.
Who will join Trump’s board of directors?
It was not immediately clear how many countries He will accept Trump’s invitation to join the board.
Eight Muslim countries, including Qatar, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, accepted the invitation on Wednesday but in a joint statement reiterated their commitment to supporting the body’s original mission, which aims to advance peace, reconstruction and Palestinian statehood in Gaza.
While France, the member of the Security Council with veto power, said that it would not accept Trump’s invitation, the other three members with veto power (Russia, China and the UK) are still considering the invitation.
As of Wednesday, there was also a decrease in Norway, Sweden and Slovenia. Slovenia’s main concern was that the board’s remit was too broad and that this could seriously undermine the international order based on the UN Charter.
A European diplomat told The Associated Press that EU countries “feel a little awkward” about the effort and would prefer to have discussions on the Peace Board’s plan for Gaza before embarking on this broader initiative.
In a stern speech in Davos on Tuesday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that the rules-based order was weakening.
“The multilateral institutions that middle powers rely on…the collective problem-solving architecture are under threat,” he said, singling out the United Nations among others. “And as a result, many countries are coming to the same conclusion: they need to develop greater strategic autonomy in energy, food, critical minerals, finance and supply chains.”
Asked by the BBC on Monday whether he could continue Trump’s presidency of the United Nations, Guterres replied: “I have no doubt about it.”
“I have great confidence in the future of humanity and I am fighting as much as I can to ensure that the UN is part of this renewal that I believe will be inevitable,” he said.
