The bloody hands of the Board of Peace
George Orwell would find it all too familiar
In 1949, English novelist George Orwell published his final novel, 1984, set in a dystopian future in which the world is divided into three superstates engaged in a forever-war. The story is set in Oceania, where the ruling party, led by Big Brother, exercises total control over its citizens through constant surveillance and propaganda. Citizens are constantly monitored, creating a culture of fear and self-censorship, and the Party of Big Brother uses a language called Newspeak that is designed to limit the freedom of thought and eliminate rebellious ideas.
Orwell’s central character, Winston Smith, a low-ranking member of the Party, would find today’s world uncomfortably familiar, in particular the creation of Donald Trump’s Board of Peace.
Established and chaired by Trump, the Board of Peace is an international body that, according to its charter, “seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas threatened by conflict.” Initially proposed in September 2025 to oversee a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War in the Gaza Strip, its charter suggests a mission that extends to other areas of conflict around the globe. The UN Security Council endorsed its establishment and authorized it to operate in the Gaza Strip as a transitional administrative body. The formation of the board was announced in January 2026, before the start of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, and immediately led some countries to worry that it might try to compete with, or even undermine, the United Nations.
Beginning with the pre-WEF announcement, the similarity to 1984 becomes apparent. The Board of Peace was proposed by Trump’s Gaza ceasefire negotiating team, his son-in-law Jared Kushner, and real estate executive Steve Witkoff. Trump is the inaugural chair, whose term ends when he either voluntarily steps down or is incapacitated, at which time it passes to his designated successor. According to the Board’s charter, as chair, Trump has the final say on all things, including membership and finances. There are two tiers of membership: permanent, with a $1 billion contribution, or three years with no payment. Trump has promised that the US Government will give the Board $10 billion (US taxpayer money that goes into an account that he will personally control as chair)
Dozens of countries were invited to participate in the board, including NATO allies, as well as US adversaries China and Russia. No NATO allies have accepted the invitation, except Bulgaria, Hungary, and Turkey, all human rights violators. Nor have either China or Russia. Furthermore, the 28 members (27 plus the United States) constitute a panel of bloody hands, with each of them labeled as human rights abusers. All of the countries that accepted the invitation to join have at some point been cited in the US State Department’s two most recent human rights reports, including some of the most serious violations. It should also be pointed out that China and Russia are both consistent gross human rights abusers. The State Department’s 2025 human rights report soft-peddled abuses but still cited allegations that 23 of the 27 foreign Board of Peace member states for some of the worst abuses, such as unlawful or arbitrary killings or torture, making them some of the worst violators in the world, chief among them Belarus, Israel, and Saudi Arabia.
“War is peace,’ was part of the doublespeak in 1984, and the inclusion of some of the planet’s more aggressive nations on a Board of ‘Peace,’ including the United States, which has, since Trump took office in 2025, conducted military strikes in eight countries (nine if the 2026 air campaign against Iran and the June 2025 air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities are counted as separate operations). In addition, the Trump administration has threatened Colombia, Cuba, Greenland, Iceland, and Mexico.
The most 1984-like thing about the Board of Peace, though, was some of the things Trump said at the inauguration ceremony, including, “The Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly.”
With that chilling tidbit, I’ll close with what I believe to be the most appropriate quote from 1984, “War is peace, Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength,” or Humpty Dumpty’s speech to Alice in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Through the Looking-Glass,’ “when I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”