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Trump’s Board of Peace: Should we take it literally or seriously?
As it prepares to hold its inaugural meeting this week, plenty of questions remain about the design and larger ambitions of this neo-royalist organisation.
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The Board of Peace was touted as a new “international organisation” with a global mandate to promote stability and restore governance in “areas affected or threatened by conflict".
PHOTO: AFP
When the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2803 in late 2025, it welcomed the proposed Board of Peace as a transitional mechanism to help implement a plan to end the horrific Gaza conflict. At the time, it appeared to be another pragmatic, time-limited device in the long tradition of ad hoc arrangements endorsed by the council to implement a mandate.
Then, at Davos in January, US President Donald Trump unveiled something far more ambitious and ambiguous. The Board of Peace was touted as a new “international organisation” with a global mandate to promote stability and restore governance in “areas affected or threatened by conflict”. On Feb 19, it meets for the first time in Washingto
