The Trump Regime’s “Peace Board” Is Another Brick in His Personal Occidental Empire

His Gaza proposal reveals a far larger and world-threatening project. It’s a bid to replace the UN — and this MAGAlomania must be stopped now. See my warning at the end.

Jan Oberg, TFF director

January 18, 2026

There are moments in political life when the surface events are so loud, so chaotic, so distracting that they obscure the deeper shift taking place beneath them. We focus on the headlines, the personalities, the daily provocations — and miss the architecture being built in the background.

But every once in a while, a document appears, a proposal emerges, or a pattern becomes visible enough that it forces us to stop, step back, and look at the larger design.

Trump’s so‑called Gaza “Board of Peace” is one of those moments.

It is not the outburst of an impulsive leader. It is not a one‑off improvisation. It is a window into a political project that has been unfolding for years — a project that treats institutions as disposable, alliances as leverage, and entire regions as assets in a personal geopolitical domain.

A project that is no longer hiding its contours. A project that now speaks openly in the language of authority, hierarchy, and replacement.

The charter of Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace,” revealed by Haaretz on January 17, 2026, is not a Gaza policy. It is not even a Middle East policy. It is the latest — and clearest — expression of a long‑running project that has defined Trump’s political style for years: the construction of what I describe as a Personal Occidental Empire, a sphere of influence built not on institutions or alliances but on personal (narcissist) authority, loyalty networks, and transactional dependency.

The Gaza initiative is simply the newest brick in that architecture.

According to Haaretz, the charter was quietly sent to around 60 heads of state. Yet the document itself does not mention Gaza at all. Instead, it claims a sweeping mandate to “restore dependable and lawful governance and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” and — in a phrase that should alarm every democratic government — to do so “in place of other organizations.”

This is not a reconstruction committee. It is a claim to global jurisdiction, but only over the parts of the world Trump considers within his reach.

This logic is not new. It is the same logic that drove his attempts to buy Greenland, pressure Canada, threaten Mexico with military action, make himself a Viceroy in Venezuela, and reshape NATO into a loyalty‑based protection racket.

These were not random provocations. They were early signals of a worldview in which Western states and territories are not partners but assets — components of a personal geopolitical domain.

Trump’s charter makes the architecture explicit. It opens with a denunciation of existing international structures, calling for “a more nimble and effective international peace‑building body” and urging the world to abandon “institutions that have too often failed.” This is not the language of reform. It is the language of replacement — a hallmark of Trump’s broader governing style, in which established institutions are treated as obstacles to be bypassed, hollowed out, or supplanted by leader‑controlled alternatives.

But the most revealing feature of the charter is its structure of authority.

As Haaretz reports, the chairmanship is not tied to the U.S. presidency, not subject to elections, and not limited by term. It simply states: “Donald J. Trump shall serve as inaugural Chairman of the Board of Peace.” From that point on, the document reads like the constitution of a personal dominion.

Trump alone would invite or expel member states, appoint or dismiss the executive board, veto decisions at will, create or dissolve subsidiary bodies, interpret the charter, and even dissolve the entire organisation. He would also designate his own successor.

This is not multilateralism. It is not even unilateralism. It is personal rule — the defining feature of Trump’s broader political project.

Membership rules reinforce the pattern. While most states would serve three‑year terms, Haaretz notes that countries contributing more than $1 billion in the first year would be exempt from term limits. In other words: pay enough, and you can stay indefinitely — as long as the chairman approves. This is not sovereign equal cooperation; it is a transactional hierarchy, entirely consistent with Trump’s long‑standing preference for loyalty networks and personal dependency.

And crucially: this empire is selective. Trump is not trying to build a universal body. He is not trying to include Russia, China, Iran, or any state that would resist personal subordination. His empire is Western, Atlantic, and strategically convenient — a sphere of influence composed of states he believes he can bend, pressure, or purchase. And regions where he can build his United States of Autarchy if and when the world has turned its back on him and the US

Seen through this lens, the Gaza “peace” board is not an aberration. It is a continuation. It reflects the same logic that shaped his approach to Greenland, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, NATO, and Europe. The charter simply makes the architecture visible: a system in which institutions are not independent actors but instruments of his personal authority, exercised in 100% defiance of laws, norms and normal respect for others.

What the Gaza “peace” board exposes is not a sudden improvisation but the underlying architecture of a political project that has been unfolding for years.

The pattern is unmistakable: a leader who treats institutions as disposable, alliances as leverage, and entire regions as assets in a personal geopolitical domain. It is the logic of a Personal Occidental Empire — a sphere of influence defined not by shared values or collective security but by proximity to one man’s authority.

This could never become a new United Nations. It is not even an alternative multilateralism. It is an empire without a fixed territory but with all the familiar features: hierarchy, dependency, loyalty, and the steady erosion of institutional constraints.

The Gaza charter simply strips away the last remaining ambiguity. It shows, in black and white, a system in which global authority is concentrated in the hands of a single individual, insulated from elections, oversight, or constitutional limits. It reveals a worldview in which international governance is not a shared responsibility but a personal prerogative. And it demonstrates how easily the language of “peace” can be repurposed to legitimise structures of power that have nothing to do with peace at all.

And here is where most geo-political commentators have understood so little:

The old disciplines can no longer explain what we are living through; only psychology/psychiatry, theology, philosophy — and perhaps the inspiration from (science) fiction and the Theatre of the Absurd — may be able to help.

•

My warning

We are not reliving the 1930s, and I thoroughly disagree with all the geopolitical experts who predict World War 3. They have no theory behind that claim, but merely vent their own frustrations, deprive people of hope and the will to act, and make it impossible to discuss solutions and visions of a better future for humanity.

If this is the direction of the coming years, then the international system is not facing a policy disagreement or a diplomatic rupture. It is facing the emergence of a personalised, extra‑state authority structure that seeks to reorder Western politics around the will of a single leader and tendentially confront everybody else, friends and foes.

That said, some of the structural pressures that once led to global conflict are re‑emerging in new forms – and, no, Trump does not appear yet in military uniform, albeit now with a golden fighter aircraft as a lapel pin. Western militarism is as rampant as it is destructive for the West itself.

The lesson of history is to act before such pressures become irreversible. Or we shall again conclude that the only thing we can learn from history is that we learn nothing from it.

The question is no longer whether this project exists. The question is whether anyone will recognise it in time — and whether the world is prepared to confront the dangers it poses.

In the next few weeks, TFF will publish four Idea Portfolios with many ideas for diplomatic and other nonviolent actions to stop the Trump Regime’s Personal Occidental Empire-building. Remain seized of the matter.

Recommended info

The full text of Trump’s Board of Peace Charter

TFF Board member Pascal Lottaz guides you through Trump’s plan on his Neutrality Studies Channel.

Wikipedia

The White House

Thalif Deen
Is the US Board of Peace Aimed at Undermining the UN?

Alfred de Zayas and others on Rumble
Trump’s Board of Peace: Can one man reshape global order? 

PhD, Peace & future researcher + ‌Art Photographer, Professor Emeritus and media commentator

Related Posts

Jan Oberg TFF director October 13, 2026 According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded: ”to the person who has done the most or best to advance fellowship among nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and the establishment and promotion of peace congresses.” Further down, he also expresses how the prize for the “champions of peace” shall be decided: “that for champions of peace by a committee of five persons to be selected by the Norwegian Storting. Alfred Nobel’s will is remarkably short and clear. But few seem to have read it. Nobel did not say that the committee itself should consist of members of parliament. He entrusted the Storting with appointing five persons. In principle, it could have selected diplomats, mediators, peace researchers, conflict-resolution specialists, or other individuals with recognised expertise in matters of peace from around the world. Instead, the Storting gradually...
Small and different + among the 10% most active + 9,000 texts + 150 Associates + 60 000 a day — and a stubborn belief that peace is smarter and must be secured by peaceful means. In 2026, the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research (TFF) turns 40. On Monday, October 5, 2026, a new TFF homepage will go live — a new gateway to more than 9,000 articles, analyses, research papers and other contributions produced over four decades of independent peace research. But this is not simply a new website. For four decades, TFF has worked from a simple conviction: peace is smarter than militarism and can be brought about by peaceful means. This is not merely an aspiration. It is the principle expressed in the UN Charter and the Gandhian tradition that has guided our work from the beginning. TFF is a research-based, independent and people-financed foundation....
It’s a matter of principles, courage, vision and pulling together – while the militarist world is falling apart… Peter Langille October 3, 2026 “Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce war?”The Bertrand Russell—Albert Einstein Manifesto, July 9, 1955 ⁕ The forecast for what’s ahead is worrisome. The sharp rise in armed conflicts over the past three years is adding to what was already the highest level in over seventy years. Genocides, which should be prevented are supported. A shared climate emergency that jeopardises survival is ignored. Diverse polls now suggest that people are war-weary, worried and interested in a more effective United Nations. And, there are viable policy options for a more secure world! Yet governments are doubling-down, betting on more war and investing heavily. If current trends persist,...

Recent Articles

Photo above: Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s Non-Violence outside UN Headquarters in New York. Kirill Levin, CC BY-NC-SA 2. Jan Oberg November 3, 2026 I am happy to be published in Horizons which is produced by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, CIRSD, in Belgrade. My contribution brings out a radical re-thinking of what concepts such as defence, security, deterrence – and peace – may mean if we want to create a more peaceful world. It also summarises a few things I have been working with the last few decades. Please read it here Og her er den på dansk, takket være Johnny Baltzersens lynhurtige oversættelse
UNITE-tillid, DREAM-velstand og andre konstruktive komponenter Normally we publish articles in English here. But this is a translation of a very important TFF document that should reach as many as possible in Denmark since this country’s government has been one of the most hardline in Europe and, up till now at least, has refused to use diplomacy and, instead, spent tremendous sums on arming Ukraine with the express goal of defeating Russia. Thus this – unique – article is in Danish. Vi er Johnny Baltzersen og hans Fælles Sikkerhed – Fælles Fremtid på Substack overmåde taknemmelige for at have oversat og publiceret TFF’s 2025-portfølje for fredsidéer med henblik på Ukraines fremtid. Vi håber den nu kan nå mange flere danskere – som også vil sprede den og skabe debat – nu den danske regerings og folketingspartiernes politik på dette område siden 2022 står nu – forudsigeligt – ved vejs ende....
Jan Oberg TFF director October 28, 2026 Exactly one month has now passed since I published my criticism of the introduction to the special issue on Johan Galtung published by the Journal of Global Security Studies, JoGSS, and of Tor Egil Førland’s chapter about Galtung which serves as a preview to his forthcoming biography of Galtung to be published by PRIO. See the original on The Transnational here and the same article on TFF Substack with many general and critical comments and, in particular, the people who decided to withdraw from the biography project in protest. The special issue itself was extraordinary. It was devoted to the intellectual legacy of one of the founders of peace research and contained a number of strong assessments of his personality, scholarship, intellectual trajectory, and public role. Such assessments are, of course, entirely legitimate. No scholar is beyond criticism, and neither was Johan Galtung....

TFF on Substack

Discover and subscribe to more peace materials on TFF Substack

Most Popular

Photo above: Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s Non-Violence outside UN Headquarters in New York. Kirill Levin, CC BY-NC-SA 2. Jan Oberg November 3, 2026 I am happy to be published in Horizons which is produced by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, CIRSD, in Belgrade. My contribution brings out a radical re-thinking of what concepts such as defence, security, deterrence – and peace – may mean if we want to create a more peaceful world. It also summarises a few things I have been working with the last few decades. Please read it here Og her er den på dansk, takket være Johnny Baltzersens lynhurtige oversættelse
UNITE-tillid, DREAM-velstand og andre konstruktive komponenter Normally we publish articles in English here. But this is a translation of a very important TFF document that should reach as many as possible in Denmark since this country’s government has been one of the most hardline in Europe and, up till now at least, has refused to use diplomacy and, instead, spent tremendous sums on arming Ukraine with the express goal of defeating Russia. Thus this – unique – article is in Danish. Vi er Johnny Baltzersen og hans Fælles Sikkerhed – Fælles Fremtid på Substack overmåde taknemmelige for at have oversat og publiceret TFF’s 2025-portfølje for fredsidéer med henblik på Ukraines fremtid. Vi håber den nu kan nå mange flere danskere – som også vil sprede den og skabe debat – nu den danske regerings og folketingspartiernes politik på dette område siden 2022 står nu – forudsigeligt – ved vejs ende....
Jan Oberg TFF director October 28, 2026 Exactly one month has now passed since I published my criticism of the introduction to the special issue on Johan Galtung published by the Journal of Global Security Studies, JoGSS, and of Tor Egil Førland’s chapter about Galtung which serves as a preview to his forthcoming biography of Galtung to be published by PRIO. See the original on The Transnational here and the same article on TFF Substack with many general and critical comments and, in particular, the people who decided to withdraw from the biography project in protest. The special issue itself was extraordinary. It was devoted to the intellectual legacy of one of the founders of peace research and contained a number of strong assessments of his personality, scholarship, intellectual trajectory, and public role. Such assessments are, of course, entirely legitimate. No scholar is beyond criticism, and neither was Johan Galtung....
Read More
knotted gun
Photo above: Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd’s Non-Violence outside UN Headquarters in New York. Kirill Levin, CC BY-NC-SA 2. Jan Oberg November 3, 2026 I am happy to be published in Horizons which is produced by the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, CIRSD, in Belgrade. My contribution brings out a radical re-thinking of what concepts such as defence, security, deterrence – and peace – may mean if we want to create a more peaceful world. It also summarises a few things I have been working with the last few decades. Please read it here Og her er den på dansk, takket være Johnny Baltzersens lynhurtige oversættelse
TFFPortfolioVign
UNITE-tillid, DREAM-velstand og andre konstruktive komponenter Normally we publish articles in English here. But this is a translation of a very important TFF document that should reach as many as possible in Denmark since this country’s government has been one of the most hardline in Europe and, up till now at least, has refused to use diplomacy and, instead, spent tremendous sums on arming Ukraine with the express goal of defeating Russia. Thus this – unique – article is in Danish. Vi er Johnny Baltzersen og hans Fælles Sikkerhed – Fælles Fremtid på Substack overmåde taknemmelige for at have oversat og publiceret TFF’s 2025-portfølje for fredsidéer med henblik på Ukraines fremtid. Vi håber den nu kan nå mange flere danskere – som også vil sprede den og skabe debat – nu den danske regerings og folketingspartiernes politik på dette område siden 2022 står nu – forudsigeligt – ved vejs ende....
JoGSS-Silent
Jan Oberg TFF director October 28, 2026 Exactly one month has now passed since I published my criticism of the introduction to the special issue on Johan Galtung published by the Journal of Global Security Studies, JoGSS, and of Tor Egil Førland’s chapter about Galtung which serves as a preview to his forthcoming biography of Galtung to be published by PRIO. See the original on The Transnational here and the same article on TFF Substack with many general and critical comments and, in particular, the people who decided to withdraw from the biography project in protest. The special issue itself was extraordinary. It was devoted to the intellectual legacy of one of the founders of peace research and contained a number of strong assessments of his personality, scholarship, intellectual trajectory, and public role. Such assessments are, of course, entirely legitimate. No scholar is beyond criticism, and neither was Johan Galtung....
Screenshot 2026-10-26 115647
An aspect of Iran’s culture and civilisation you’ve probably never heard about. Don’t be surprised if the US and Israel also try to bomb them. Jan ObergTFF director October 26, 2026 Today – under the “USraeli” threat of new “annihilating” bombings – opens the 7th International Conference on Peace and Conflict Resolution at Tehran’s University. As far as I can tell, this is the only permanent, advanced peace research institution in West Asia/the Middle East. Perhaps more countries in that region could be inspired? I mean, how many military “security” institutes and military academies do they have? Many peace research institutes and university departments have been established since the 1950s in the West. They are now all under attack; some have closed down, some have gone mainstream, yet others kept the name but do nothing to research peace and disseminate results or advice; instead, they cooperate with militarism’s platforms such...
Screenshot 2026-10-15 141837
Let’s discuss using AI to create peace – in contrast to boring geopolitics devoid of creative healing and visions. Jan Oberg TFF director October 15, 2026 I asked VEED to create a short video exemplifying how peace is preferable to war, then chose the lady as a template. Simple as that. In less than a minute, it produced this video, which any peace-loving person would appreciate. The only problem is that human intelligence (HI), at least the one that exists among Western decision-makers, isn’t half as moral or smart as AI. I have used AI to dialogue about peace and peace plans, creative conflict resolution and visions of a better future for humankind. It so happens that I am having more stimulating, intelligent, creative and moral discussions with AI than I could possibly have with any EU or NATO leader today. Yes, AI has very problematic and dangerous aspects; used...
girl-5894831_1280
Below are TFF-related media mentions, comments, videos and social media posts published elsewhere but not on this homepage. We happen to catch and list only a fraction. Regarding video comments and debates, we recommend that you go to the TFF Video Channel on Substack where many of them are reproduced. Jan Oberg is a contributor to China Daily – 52 million daily clicks – and Global Times, CGTN and CCTV (the national television), China Investment, Xinhua News Agency and several others. Articles and videos on these media very often multiply into countless Chinese (and Western media) that re-post them from these main media. Thanks to The China Academy, his analyses, interviews and comments are frequently posted on YouTube channels such as Thinkers Forum and Wave Media. These videos are often re-posted on Bilibili (China’s YouTube), the China Content Center on TikTok, and on the Chinese edition of TikTok, Douyin.com. This means reaching hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide over a year. While there are too many to catch on all these...