CONCERNS ABOUT SIDELINING MULTILATERAL INSTITUTIONS
The inclusion of a “charter” in the membership invitation letter stoked concerns that it could undermine the work of the United Nations.
According to a senior UN official, the United Nations was the only institution with the moral and legal ability to bring together every nation, big or small.
“And if we question that … we fall back and very, very, dark times,” Annalena Baerbock, president of the United Nations General Assembly, told Sky News, adding that it was up to individual states to decide what to do.
Paul Williams, professor of international affairs at George Washington University, told AFP that the offer of permanent membership for US$1 billion showed Trump is “trying to turn it into a pay-to-play alternative to the UN Security Council but where Trump alone exercises veto power”.
The board could be intended to replace existing multilateral institutions that the Trump administration is hostile to, said Khaled Elgindy, a senior research fellow at American think tank Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
“There is a sense coming mainly from the administration that they would like to broaden the reach of the board of peace and even talking about replacing the current UN system,” he said.
“It’s clear that Gaza might be the beginning, but it isn’t the end of the board of peace as far as the Trump administration is concerned,” he added.
“That secondary role of replacing existing multilateral institutions might even be more of a priority than its primary function in Gaza for this administration, since Gaza doesn’t really have any real strategic value for Donald Trump.”
Source: CNA
