US President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace on 22 January in the Swiss Alps, during the World Economic Forum’s annual Davos jamboree. After its initial soft launch in October, Mr Trump gathered world leaders for speeches, a PowerPoint presentation, and signing ceremony for the new international organization.
Beyond its start-up rhetoric and corporate structure, the newly formed Board of Peace represents a major shift in the framework for diplomacy and peace in the Middle East. Since 1993, relations between Israel and Palestine were supposed to be governed by the Oslo Accords that set out mutual obligations under a treaty that, within five years, would lead to final negotiations and a settlement to the decades-old conflict (MEES, 13 September 1993). The basis for the agreement and its implementation largely rested on the UN and its work. (CONTINUED - 937 WORDS)
