The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos drew unusual attention this season to US President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” earlier this week. The announcement made by the US President at a sideline event on Thursday raised eyebrows across the world. Supporters described the move as bold, while critics viewed it as arrogant, unnecessary and even dangerous. The absence of several major Western democracies from the initiative only added to the suspicion surrounding it. So, what is really going on in Trump’s mind? Is this an honest attempt to bring peace to Gaza, where the United Nations has failed so far? Or is it an effort to build a parallel global body, tightly controlled by the United States and by Trump himself?

Political commentators say to understand the Board of Peace, one must first understand what Trump has been speaking about the United Nations. Trump has long believed that the United Nations is ineffective, biased against the US, and dominated by empty talk. He has repeatedly mocked it as a place for speeches rather than solutions. In his eyes, global institutions created after World War II no longer serve American interests. America’s new National Security Strategy openly questions the so‑called “rules‑based international order,” as reported by the international media. Trump believes that the United Nations restricts America’s freedom to act. Perhaps he is uncomfortable with veto powers that block US objectives, legal limits on the use of military force, and human rights mechanisms that question the actions of US allies. Political analysts suggest that the idea of a Board of Peace fits well into this thinking. It means fewer rules, fewer voices, and greater control in the hands of the US.

Unlike the UN, where countries are represented through established institutions, the Board of Peace is centred on heads of state. Trump plans to chair it personally and, according to leaked details of its charter, as reported by the........

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