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When nations decide to create international organizations, they usually take some time to work out the details. The United States and its allies spent four years gradually laying the groundwork for the United Nations during the Second World War. But President Donald Trump is not a fan of such drawn-out processes.

Last week, two months after the U.N. Security Council authorized the creation of a “Board of Peace” to oversee the U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Gaza, the White House sent invitations to about 60 governments to join the new “nimble and effective international peace-building body.” Washington also shared a draft charter for the board that expands its scope from Gaza to addressing conflicts everywhere. Recipients had a week at most to decide whether to sign on. By Jan. 22, when Trump held a signing ceremony to launch the board at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, more than 20 states ranging from to Albania to Vietnam had volunteered to participate.

When nations decide to create international organizations, they usually take some time to work out the details. The United States and its allies spent four years gradually laying the groundwork for the United Nations during the Second World War. But President Donald Trump is not a fan of such drawn-out processes.

Last week, two months after the U.N. Security Council authorized the creation of a “Board of Peace” to oversee the U.S.-brokered cease-fire in Gaza, the White House sent invitations to about 60 governments to join the new “nimble and effective international peace-building body.” Washington also shared a draft charter for the board that expands its scope from Gaza to addressing conflicts everywhere. Recipients had a week at most to decide whether to sign on. By Jan. 22, when Trump held a signing ceremony to launch the board at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, more than 20 states ranging from to Albania to Vietnam had volunteered to participate.

The speed with which the new organization emerged is not its only remarkable feature. It is also one of the most lopsided international political structures imaginable. The charter, which makes no reference to the Security Council resolution that gave the board its Gaza mandate, much less to the U.N.’s founding documents, contains many of the features common to such international agreements, such as details of its legal status and voting procedures. It even declares that board will have its own seal.

But it also stipulates Trump, appointed as the inaugural chairman of the board in his personal capacity, will have near-total........

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