Kochis: Unclear where the Board of Peace fits into the architecture of multilateral institutions

Daniel Kochis, senior fellow at the Center for Europe and Eurasia at the Hudson Institute in Washington, believes it is somewhat unclear where the Board of Peace initiated by US President Donald Trump would fit into the global architecture of multilateral institutions, adding that this will likely be an area that Western European powers will not take advantage of and that, as a result, it will be short-lived.

“You have seen the reluctance of many European countries, especially Western European ones, to join the Board of Peace, because there is a certain hesitation over whether this duplicates the United Nations, something even the US administration has hinted at. So it is somewhat unclear where this would fit into the overall global architecture of multilateral institutions,” Kochis told Kosovo Online.

Asked whether the Board of Peace could diminish the role or importance of the United Nations at a critical moment for global diplomacy, he said that there is probably fairly broad consensus, at least in conservative circles in the US, that the UN has for some time been unable to truly make significant changes on the global stage.

He is convinced that this is why the US administration is promoting this alternative, which, as he says, will receive a certain level of support as long as President Trump remains in office.

“But there is obviously no agreement in terms of who will join the initiative and what the level of engagement will be. So this will probably lead to greater duplication in relation to the UN,” Kochis noted.

Asked what the selective invitation process signals for the Western Balkans, and whether it risks strengthening existing divisions or could lead to new political alignments, he responded that it is somewhat unclear how the “list” was agreed upon in the White House.

“That is why I think this could be an area that creates more tensions in the region, but it is an opportunity for those countries that have agreed to participate to have greater engagement on a bilateral basis with the United States in the context of peace at the border,” Kochis said.

When it comes to the risk that the initiative could deepen global or European divisions instead of contributing to unity, Kochis notes that the concern of many Western European powers about duplicating the UN has led them to be somewhat less inclined to participate, seeing it as a kind of Trump initiative that may not outlast his term.

“So this will likely be an area that Western European powers will largely not take advantage of. And I think it will be something that will probably be short-lived,” Kochis concluded.