Trump’s Board of Peace: a hostile takeover of global governance

1) Trump will personally serve as the inaugural chairman of the Board. He is mentioned by name several times in the founding charter. 

2) According to a draft version of the Board’s charter, the chairman has extensive powers, including the authority to invite and dismiss member states, determine the frequency of meetings, introduce resolutions, veto votes, and restructure the organisation at will. 

3) The Board would be funded through contributions from its members. While each country would normally serve a term of no more than three years, the draft specifies that any state contributing $1 billion would secure a permanent seat.

4) Private interests are also linked to the board’s operations, with businessmen such as Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, Steve Witkoff, and Marc Rowan serving in advisory roles on the Board of Peace, raising questions about the influence of personal networks on global decision-making.

The Board of Peace embodies the purely transactional worldview of Trump, the real estate tycoon. Power is concentrated in the hands of a single individual, and global decision-making is reduced to a privilege for those with the deepest pockets.  In this model, influence is not derived from democratic legitimacy, but from money, personal connections, and military might.
 

Not the reform we need

“Procedures at the United Nations, for all of their flaws, have built-in checks and balances to ensure that no single country - let alone a single person - can make decisions of global importance,” said Caroline Vernaillen, Lead Global Policy and Advocacy at Democracy International, “Crisis after crisis has made one truth unmistakably clear: global decision-making requires urgent reform. But it should move us toward greater fairness, accountability, and representation.”  

In past years, discussions on reforming the veto power that the five Permanent Members of the UN Security Council hold have ramped up and would prove a historic shift towards more inclusion. Establishing a rival body where one member holds all the power and private business interests have a cemented position means a huge setback.

Over many years, momentum has grown behind serious proposals to democratise global governance.  Democracy International has advanced three concrete instruments: a UN World Citizens’ Initiative, which allows ordinary people to add items to the agenda of the UN General Assembly and Security Council, a UN Parliamentary Assembly, which ensures direct political representation, and a UN Civil Society Envoy, who guarantees streamlined access to the UN for civil society. These proposals strengthen legitimacy and restore trust in international cooperation.
 

Only democracy can deliver sustainable peace

“The Board of Peace is a cynical and shameless power grab, with the potential to irreversibly worsen the lives of the nine billion people on this planet. Will this model deliver us impartial negotiations between warring parties? Will it deliver neutral peace-keeping troops and meaningful reconstruction for civilians?” asked Vernaillen, “Or will it deliver public beratings of democratically elected leaders, militias to enforce the will of the highest bidder and shiny rivieras that leave millions displaced?”

“The reality of global governance is that there is no substitute for dialogue, cooperation and compromise. Can decision-making be faster or more efficient? Yes. But history shows that when speed replaces legitimacy, decisions serve the few rather than the many.” 

“Our planet is not a private equity fund or a reality TV show. Peace and prosperity can not be delivered from a corporate boardroom. We can’t allow billionaires and the richest nations to buy international law and leave the rest of us to disorder and violence. When it comes to peace, we're all shareholders.”

What is the Board of Peace? 

Among the first member states that joined Trump on stage were leaders and representatives of the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Hungary. 

In his speech, Trump claimed that “everyone wants to be a part” of his Board of Peace. In reality, countries considered U.S allies, such as Britain and France, have turned down the offer. 

Originally pitched as a small oversight body for the Gaza ceasefire plan, the Board of Peace has rapidly evolved into something far more ambitious: a potential rival to the United Nations and its Security Council.

During his speech in Davos, Trump described the Board of Peace as “one of the most consequential bodies ever created in the history of the world” and said the Board will work with the United Nations as well. However, earlier this week, when asked whether this new body should replace the UN, he replied, “It might,” adding that the United Nations “has never lived up to its potential.” This comes on the heels of an executive order suspending U.S. participation in 66 UN agencies and international organisations.

Who is Democracy International?

Democracy International stands for the right, the capacity and the responsibility of every citizen to shape the society they live in. Driven by this conviction, we work to ensure that people hold final political power by strengthening direct democracy and citizen participation at the local, national and transnational levels. Because democracy must grow from the bottom up, we champion decision-making by the people affected, at the level where those decisions matter most.