Who’s in it, what it will do in Gaza, and whether it could become a global alternative to UN peacekeeping

For more than 80 years, the United Nations (UN) has been the center of global diplomacy and peacekeeping. Now there’s a new sheriff – or rather, peacekeeper – in town.

The “Board of Peace” is holding its first formal meeting on Thursday, February 19th in Washington, D.C.  – at a building currently called the “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.”

The meeting marks the launch of an organization designed to handle the part of war most peace agreements struggle with: what happens after the fighting stops. Here’s everything you need to know about the Board of Peace.

What Is the Board of Peace?

Right now, the Board of Peace is a coalition of governments focused on rebuilding and maintaining peace in Gaza after Israel’s war with Hamas.

The Board is not intended to permanently govern Gaza. Instead, it’s supposed to temporarily organize security within the territory, set up a civilian administration, coordinate humanitarian aid, and raise funding for reconstruction.

Each member country has pledged $5 billion toward humanitarian aid and reconstruction in Gaza.

But Gaza is just the Board’s first mission. It’s set up to respond to other crises in the future.

Who Started the Board of Peace?

President Trump first announced the Board of Peace in September 2025, as part of a broader plan to end the Israel-Hamas war.

In November 2025, the UN Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the Board of Peace and allowing them to establish an “International Stabilization Force,” a peacekeeping military force temporarily overseeing Gaza.

A couple of months later, at the World Economic Forum in January 2026, several world leaders joined President Trump in signing the charter officially establishing the Board of Peace.

Board of Peace Members

President Trump is the Chairman of the Board.

60 different countries were invited to participate on the Board, but not everyone has accepted. These are the 27 countries who have accepted the invitation:

  • Albania
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahrain
  • Belarus
  • Bulgaria
  • Cambodia
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Hungary
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kosovo
  • Kuwait
  • Mongolia
  • Morocco
  • Pakistan
  • Paraguay
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Turkey
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vietnam

These 7 have not fully committed to serving on the Board of Peace, but they will be attending the first meeting to observe:

  • Cyprus
  • Czechia
  • Greece
  • Italy
  • Mexico
  • Romania
  • The European Union

And these 14 countries explicitly rejected President Trump’s invitation:

  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • The UK
  • Vatican City

The rest have not yet responded.

A First of Its Kind?

The Board of Peace would not be the first non-United Nations international body to oversee peacekeeping after a war.

In the Sinai Peninsula, the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty established a standing multinational monitoring force outside of the United Nations. Nearly 20 different countries, including the U.S., provide funding and troops to the “Multinational Force & Observers” that patrol the peninsula’s demilitarized zones and ensure compliance with the treaty.

After the Bosnian War, the 1995 Dayton Accords established a multinational Peace Implementation Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Council is made up of 55 different countries, but is primarily led by a Steering Board of Canada, the EU, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the UK, and the U.S. The PIC ensures the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina properly implements the peace treaty, and the Council is authorized to deploy troops to enforce the treaty if the government fails to do so.

After Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a coalition of western states created the International Steering Group (ISG) to supervise the new government. Led by the U.S. and our NATO allies, the ISG appointed a civilian representative who could veto laws and sanction public officials to ensure the constitutional settlement – including minority protections – was implemented until the agreement expired in 2012.

But each of these organizations focused on only one region recovering from one specific conflict. If the Board of Peace does move beyond Gaza, it would be the first non-UN body to do so.

That would raise the question:

Is the Board of Peace Replacing the UN?

Probably not. The UN and the Board of Peace are designed for different jobs.

The UN’s role is legitimacy. Its Security Council gives international recognition to a ceasefire, authorizes missions, and establishes the legal framework countries agree to follow. But because it represents the entire world – including rival powers – it moves slowly and often stops moving altogether when those powers disagree.

The Board of Peace is meant to handle execution. Rather than negotiating terms, it’s intended to “mobilize global resources, enforce accountability, and guide the implementation of the next critical phases of demilitarization, governance reform, and large-scale rebuilding.’

But when President Trump was asked if he wants the Board of Peace to replace the UN, he said “it might,” and that “the UN just hasn’t been very helpful. I’m a big fan of the UN’s potential, but it has never lived up to its potential.”

Ultimately, President Trump concluded that “you got to let the UN continue” its work. But given his history of criticizing the UN (often for good reason), President Trump probably wouldn’t object to the Board of Peace replacing it altogether.