Good morning. The specter of war looms over a dream for peace: The U.S. military now has enough forces in the Middle East to take action against Iran. This map shows where troops are. And the British police just arrested the former Prince Andrew over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the BBC reports. He has denied wrongdoing. We have more news below. I’m going to start, though, in Washington, with the Board of Peace.
The new diplomacyToday, President Trump greets his creation. The Board of Peace will hold its first gathering since more than 20 nations signed the board’s founding charter last month. Delegates will talk about how to rebuild Gaza. But the board, a kind of Trump-aligned alternative to the United Nations, is aiming much higher. It wants to “secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” according to the charter. That’s a lot of places beyond Gaza. It also promises to be a nimble peacekeeping body, presumably unlike the diplomats at the United Nations. It sounds like something off a pitch deck: a start-up meant to disrupt international statecraft. Trump has offered many out-of-the-box ideas, and some of them have succeeded. Will this one? How the board worksMember nations must cough up $1 billion to secure a permanent board seat. If they don’t pay, they lose their spot after three years. The recruits are an odd assortment — not all America’s traditional friends. They include Argentina, Hungary, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Seven European nations, including France and Britain, have declined the offer. Trump rescinded Canada’s invitation after the prime minister criticized U.S. foreign policy. Russia said it would pony up if the United States thawed its bank accounts. Trump is the chairman — not just while he’s president, but for life! He can invite new countries to join or expel others. He decides who is on the executive committee. Among them are Jared Kushner, his son-in-law; and Tony Blair, a former British prime minister. Trump is the “final authority” on all matters related to the board and its operations. There are not a lot of checks and balances. He makes the calls. What is the board doing?The original idea was to execute Trump’s blueprint for postwar Gaza, which he outlined in a 20-point peace plan in September. Trump says member nations have already pledged $5 billion toward rebuilding the territory. (The United Nations has estimated the cost at more than $50 billion.) The Trump administration concedes that the challenges in Gaza are enormous. For 60 million tons of rubble to be cleared, the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas must hold. Israel has killed more than 600 Palestinians since the ostensible peace began, and Hamas has yet to agree to disarm, as Trump envisions. American officials hope both sides will agree to the board’s proposal for this, but they caution not to expect any overnight miracles. “There are big chunks of this plan where the rubber just hasn’t hit the road yet,” Aaron Boxerman, who covers Israel and Gaza, told me yesterday afternoon. So, we’ll see. The U.N. Security Council approved Trump’s 20-point plan and blessed the creation of the Board of Peace last November. But now some nations feel buyer’s remorse, Farnaz Fassihi, who covers the U.N., told me. Some, like France and Britain, won’t join it. “Very awkward,” Farnaz said. What’s next?Many experts in international affairs worry about what they see as a worst-case scenario: The Trump administration could weaken the multilateral diplomatic system that the United States helped build after World War II — and replace it with something more rapacious and less stable, led by Trump. Scholars point to a country trying to flex its global power in a new and unilateral way. They cite threats against Iran, the saber rattling with Denmark over Greenland and the U.S. attack on Venezuela earlier this year. Not to mention tariffs that rise and fall on short notice. “Peace in the world requires a broad, international consensus,” an international law professor who specializes in peace negotiations told The Times. “That can hardly be created through a new institution that is entirely dependent on the will of one man.” Now, let’s see what else is happening in the world.
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Detention, deportation and family separation don’t just cause social and legal harm; they also create profound medical stress, Elizabeth Whidden, Robin Canada and D. Daphne Owen write. In The Conversation, Frank Bruni and Bret Stephens discuss sports and taxes. Morning readers: Save on the complete Times experience. Experience all of The Times, all in one subscription — all with this introductory offer. You’ll gain unlimited access to news and analysis, plus games, recipes, product reviews and more.
“The scary house”: See inside a once-majestic mansion that has divided its neighbors in Brooklyn. Land of the bots: What do A.I. chatbots say to one another? We sent one into an A.I.-only social network to find out. Your pick: The most-clicked link in The Morning yesterday was a recommendation for the best nonstick pan.
340— That is the weight, in tons, of a granite rock the artist Michael Heizer installed at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for his sculpture “Levitated Mass.” Visitors can walk through a 456-foot-long concrete trench beneath it. See more dramatic photos of Heizer’s work.
Men’s hockey: Quinn Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime to lift the U.S. to a 2-1 win over Sweden and to the semifinals. The Americans will play Slovakia on Friday. Women’s hockey: The U.S. will play Canada for the gold medal today. In Cleveland Heights, Ohio, they’ll be cheering for Laila Edwards, a barrier-breaking star of the American team. |
