Trump's model UN
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What is the Board of Peace and its purpose?
Well, this is a very exciting day. Long in the making. And many countries have just received their notice and everybody wants to be a part of it.
In the announcement at Davos of who's joining the president's new initiative.
The Board of Peace.
It was clear that everybody did not want to be a part of it. No France, no UK, but Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, El Salvador. Trump talked a lot about conflict.
But they have to give up their weapons, and if they don't do that, it's going to be the end of them. And in Nigeria, we're annihilating terrorists who are killing Christians.
Though he had some nice moments.
I think it's going to happen. To end decades of suffering, stop generations of hatred and bloodshed, and forge a beautiful, everlasting, and glorious peace.
So what is Trump's Board of Peace? Timu Yuen? A money grab? Something that he's going to ditch when he gets embarrassed by the takers? I'm so sorry, Azerbaijan. Or is it part of a bold plan to remake a troubled world? That's ahead on Today Explained.
You're listening to Today Explained.
Paul Beckett, senior editor at The Atlantic.
What is the Board of Peace?
It's easiest to think of it as a United Nations mixed with a high-end golf club. This is Donald Trump's effort to have a body that will first, and this is its original rationale, oversee the reconstruction of Gaza. That's the context that brought about this.
The 10,046th meeting of the Security Council is called to order. The Board of Peace, which will be led by President Trump, remains the cornerstone of our effort. The board will coordinate the delivery of humanitarian assistance, facilitate Gaza's development, and support a technocratic committee of Palestinians responsible for day-to-day operations.
It is backed by the United Nations in that context. How it has been constituted and the way that he is pitching it... Everybody wants to be a part of it. ...is that this will effectively make an alternate to the UN that can go around the world intervening wherever it likes. Today the world is richer, safer and much more peaceful than it was just one year ago. We put out all those fires. A lot of people didn't know, including me, that... Some of those wars were going on. He is the chairman, he is the owner of the club, and it is by invitation only.
And what is it supposed to do in his telling?
In Gaza, it is to oversee new institutions designed to try and get Gaza back on its feet. And you may have seen in Davos, Jared Kushner presented very elaborate architectural renderings of what Gaza might look like in the future. It could be a hope, it could be a destination, have a lot of industry, and really be a place that the people there can thrive, have great employment. That's what the UN actually does. gave it permission for it. The weird thing about it is its charter says nothing about Gaza and really says it will be there to bounce around as it sees fit. And the digs at the UN are pretty obvious. The preamble says that... The reason for the board is because, quote, durable peace requires pragmatic judgment, common sense solutions, and the courage to depart from approaches and institutions that have too often failed.
That's the end of that quote. But you go down a couple more graphs, paragraphs, and it says it is trying to be, quote, a more nimble and effective international peace building body. The UN is the only other institution of its type in the world.
Yeah, yeah. Okay, so how do countries join the Board of Peace? How do you get on?
You get asked. You get asked by Donald J. Trump. So it's by his invitation. It's to heads of government. If he invites you and you say yes, there's no membership fee to join. However, if you go that route, you will just be on for a three-year term, and he can decide whether you stay on or not. If you want a permanent seat—
The three-year membership shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1 billion in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year.
You or your country pays a billion dollars. That way you get what would, I suppose, be akin to a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the Board of Peace and its purpose?
0:00–4:58
2
How do countries join Trump's Board of Peace?
4:58–8:37
3
What are the financial implications of joining the Board of Peace?
8:37–15:37
4
Who has been invited to join the Board of Peace?
15:37–22:52
5
What criticisms are being raised about the Board of Peace?
22:52–25:57
6
How does the Board of Peace relate to the United Nations?
25:57–26:59