Board of Peace or ‘Bored of Peace’

​​Less than a month after the Board of Peace’s inaugural meeting, its efforts have been put on hold as its Chairman stokes a war with Iran. President Trump, a Nobel Peace Prize ‘holder,’ is the Board's creator and self-appointed Chairman, an obvious choice given his belief that he has resolved eight wars. 

The Board of Peace (BoP) was created by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803. The UN has the authority to establish new transnational bodies and has exercised this power before. In the past, the Security Council created ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, as well as interim administrations in East Timor and Kosovo.

The creation of the BoP is a key component of Mr. Trump’s 20-point plan to broker peace between Israel and Palestine. Yet this purpose is not evident in the Board’s Charter, which does not mention Palestine once. Nor is it clear from Mr. Trump’s own description of the Board. When a FOX journalist asked whether the BoP would replace the UN, he replied: “Well it might. The UN just hasn’t been very helpful.”

And he’s not wrong. 

For years—particularly since the escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict—the UN has been criticized for its lack of decisive action or enforcement. Part of the problem lies in the organization’s structure, which concentrates power in the Security Council. The five permanent members—the United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia—hold indefinite terms and veto power, and they rarely agree on major security questions.

Meanwhile, the rest of the UN system is comparatively limited. The General Assembly can only pass non-binding recommendations, and the International Court of Justice relies on states to consent to its jurisdiction and has little ability to enforce its rulings. The Secretariat, at most, can attempt to mediate disputes.

Under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, however, the Security Council has the authority to issue binding resolutions and take measures to “maintain international peace and security.” These measures can range from economic sanctions to the use of armed force, as well as the creation of transnational bodies tasked with resolving specific disputes. The only real limitation on this authority is that such actions must align with the principles and purposes of the UN Charter.

In recent years, dissatisfaction with this structure—and the imbalance of power it produces—has grown. But at a moment when meaningful UN action often feels rare, the creation of the Board of Peace is not necessarily a solution.

The UN’s structure stems directly from the United States’ efforts to preserve its influence in the post-World War II international order. This history complicates Mr. Trump’s narrative that the organization’s primary problem is a lack of American power. It also undermines his proposed solution: an alternative organization effectively run by the United States—and, by extension, himself.

Where the BoP Charter is silent on checks and balances, it is remarkably detailed about the powers of the Chairman, a word that appears 35 times in the document. These powers include the authority to invite and remove member states, create and dissolve subsidiary bodies, and interpret and apply the Charter itself. The Chairman’s term is indefinite and can only end through voluntary resignation or a unanimous vote declaring incapacity.

By creating an alternative to the UN, Mr. Trump strengthens his argument that the UN—and multinational organizations as a whole—have overstayed their welcome. Experts worry that, beyond casting doubt on the effectiveness of the UN, Mr. Trump’s BoP is also drawing away important funding. 

This development has placed liberal internationalists in an awkward position. Many commentators now find themselves defending the UN, urging more belief and investment in an institution that they have acknowledged to be flawed and often dysfunctional.

But two things can be true at once. The UN can be the subject of thoughtful criticism and meaningful reform, and the Board of Peace does not need to be the alternative. Trump can be the Chairman of the Board of Peace and also seemingly be “bored of peace,” as pointed out by the SNL writers.