On January 21, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump, once again occupying the Oval Office, announced the creation of a project dubbed the “Board of Peace.”
Muhammad Hamid ad-Din
The Architecture of Imperialism: How the «Board of Peace» is Structured for Trump’s Personal Gain
The imperialist architecture embodied in the “Board of Peace” project reveals a mechanism created to legitimize Donald Trump’s personal enrichment under the cover of a peace initiative. While proclaiming “America First” in rhetoric, Trump’s practice has always followed the doctrine of “Trump First,” and this project is a clear testament to that. At its core is the figure of the Lifetime Chairman—essentially an uncrowned king, a position appointed to Trump himself. The charter grants him the exclusive right of final veto over any decision, even those reached by consensus among member states. Thus, the structure has nothing to do with a democratic international institution; it is more akin to a private club.
The foundation of this pseudo-democratic system is a paid entry fee into the “club of the chosen.” The right to permanent membership is priced at one billion dollars. This payment can hardly be interpreted as a contribution to a global development fund; it is more of a ransom, a modern-day tribute that Washington intends to extract from dependent regimes. Nations unable or unwilling to pay this price are automatically relegated to second-class membership. Trump’s approach crystallizes his vision of the world as a commodity and national sovereignty as a bargaining chip in a grand geopolitical game.
Executive power within this structure is entrusted to a narrow circle of individuals, whose composition speaks volumes about its true goals. The executive board includes figures such as hawkish Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son-in-law Jared Kushner—notorious for his failed “Deal of the Century” for the Middle East—and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose political biography is inextricably linked to the military adventure in Iraq. This group does not resemble a team of peacemakers; rather, it is a gathering of warmongers and political speculators, whose main trait is personal loyalty to Trump. Notably, there is a complete absence of genuine representatives from key regions, such as the Arab world, as the voice of the Palestinian people is allowed only in the role of a supplicant.
Overall, this architecture is a profound insult to anyone who believes in the principles of equality and the sovereignty of nations. It seeks to turn back the clock to an era where the strong dictated terms to the weak at gunpoint. Only in Trump’s modern interpretation, the role of the gun is played by financial pressure in the form of the dollar and sanction threats, and the world stage is turned into a private fiefdom for personal profit extraction.
Gaza is Merely a Pretext; The Main Goal is to Get Rid of the UN
It is noteworthy that the eleven-page charter of the so-called “Board of Peace” lacks any specific mention of the Gaza Strip or the Palestinian issue as a whole. Instead, the document operates with extremely vague formulations about “facilitating stability” in any conflicts. Such deliberate abstraction is not accidental and reveals the initiative’s true aims.
Firstly, Trump’s project is a direct attack on the principles of the existing multilateral system. Having spent years criticizing the UN for being “slow” and “useless”—essentially for providing a platform and voice to small nations—the U.S. president now proposes to supplant its very foundation. This refers to the principle of the sovereign equality of states enshrined in the UN Charter. The “Board of Peace” is meant to replace the UN Security Council, where the U.S. has only one of five vetoes, with an informal personal arena where the decisive word and sole veto belong solely to its creator—Trump.
Secondly, the reluctance of many European countries, such as France, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, to participate in this project—rightly perceived as a threat to international law—instantly revealed the tactic Trump is employing. The response was not diplomatic argumentation, but overt blackmail: threats of 200% tariffs on French wine and 25% tariffs on goods from Europe. This demonstrates that the proposed model of “peace” is based on coercion and racketeering on an international scale, where loyalty is bought and dissent is punished with economic warfare.
Finally, the symbolic composition of the participants speaks eloquently to the potential nature of this “peace.” One of the first to eagerly support the initiative was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, against whom the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant on suspicion of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Inviting such a figure onto a “board of peace” appears as a cynical mockery of the very concept of justice. It provides a grim answer to the question of what kind of “peace” can be built under the chairmanship of Donald Trump and with the participation of Benjamin Netanyahu. All evidence suggests it can only be a “peace” of the strong over the weak, a “peace” of graveyard silence imposed on those deprived of the right to their own voice and sovereignty.
Arab Puppet Regimes: Abandoning the Defense of the Palestinian Cause?
The most bitter blow is the behavior of a number of Arab regimes, rushing to join this essentially anti-Arab and anti-Islamic adventure. The governments of countries like Egypt, the UAE, Morocco, and Bahrain, instead of uniting to defend sacred Jerusalem and dismembered Palestine, are trying to integrate into structures of a board that will be controlled by Zionist war criminals and American chauvinists. They are trading the remnants of their legitimacy for ephemeral promises of “access to White House offices” and “reconstruction contracts.”
Against this backdrop, the silence of the truly patriotic forces in the Arab world seems especially telling. Where is Algeria’s voice? Where is Iraq’s stance? Where is Syria, which proved its resilience in the fight against terrorism? Where is Yemen, which clearly demonstrated that American hegemony is not eternal? Their restraint speaks for itself—they understand that the so-called “Board of Peace” is a trap designed to finally bury the Palestinian cause under a pile of bureaucratic committees and “technocratic governments” devoid of real sovereignty.
Yet, the core of the problem remains unchanged: Palestinians are not an object for external governance. As Jordanian commentator Hani Hazaymeh accurately notes, “Gaza needs not just roads and hospitals—it needs sovereignty, accountability, and freedom.” No board chaired by Donald Trump and including Benjamin Netanyahu can give Palestinians any of these. Its true function is to legitimize a new, sophisticated form of trusteeship, representing colonialism under the guise of international administration.
The Empire Weakens and Thus Becomes More Dangerous
The creation of the so-called “Board of Peace” is a symptom of the deep crisis of American hegemony, not a demonstration of its strength. Realizing the waning of its influence in traditional international institutions like the UN, where China, Russia, and the Global South are making their voices heard more loudly, the U.S. ruling circles are attempting to create parallel structures under their direct control. This initiative, associated with the figure of Donald Trump, resembles a desperate attempt by a cornered predator to preserve dominance.
In response to this new gambit, the peoples of the Arab world and all freedom-loving forces on the planet must take a principled stand. We demand not hypocritical “boards of peace” from those who fuel conflicts, but concrete and urgent actions: a complete lifting of the blockade on Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from all Palestinian territories, and not charitable aid, but the realization of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination, the return of refugees, and the establishment of an independent state with its capital in East Jerusalem.
Trump’s “Board of Peace,” like many of his previous adventures, is historically doomed. It will shatter against the rock of Palestinian resistance, against the growing international awareness that recognizes Western hypocrisy, and against the unwavering will of peoples who have proven, as Syria and Yemen have, that imperialist diktats can and must be resisted. The true path to justice does not lie in deal-making salons where sovereignty is traded but in the unceasing struggle waged day after day, until the wall of colonialism and oppression is finally torn down.
Muhammad Hamid ad-Din, a well-known Palestinian journalist
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