United Nations

The global body that has served as the primary venue for international conflict resolution since 1945. - Potential competitor to Board of Peace for conflict resolution

The United Nations has served as the primary venue for international conflict resolution since 1945. On January 22, 2026, President Trump launched an alternative: the Board of Peace, a body he chairs for life, where permanent membership costs $1 billion and he alone holds veto power over all decisions. Nearly a month ago on February 19, member states pledged $5 billion toward Gaza reconstruction and thousands of personnel for security forces at the inaugural meeting held at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington.

Updated Feb 19

The international body promoting disarmament and nonproliferation through the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons framework. - Urging negotiations for successor framework

For fifty-three years, binding agreements constrained the world's two largest nuclear arsenals. That era ended on February 5, 2026, when the New START treaty expired at midnight without a successor, as confirmed by President Trump who rejected a Russian extension offer and directed work on a new pact including China. The United States and Russia now face no legal limits on their combined stockpile of roughly 10,700 nuclear warheads.

Updated Feb 5

Coordinates global poverty reduction efforts through the Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals. - Sets global development goals including SDG 1 (No Poverty)

In 1820, more than 80% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty. By 2019, that figure had fallen to 8.9% at the then-$2.15/day line—a decline of roughly 0.35 percentage points per year sustained across two centuries. In June 2025, the World Bank adopted 2021 purchasing power parities (PPPs), raising the extreme poverty line to $3.00/day; this revised the 2022 rate upward to 10.5% (838 million people) but projects a decline to 9.9% (808 million) by 2025, continuing the historic trend through post-pandemic recovery.

Updated Feb 5

The United Nations is the primary multilateral forum for international peace, security, development, and humanitarian coordination, funded by a mix of assessed contributions and voluntary donations. - Facing structural financial strain and arrears while coordinating global humanitarian response

In December 2025, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) cut its 2026 humanitarian appeal to roughly $33 billion, down from $47 billion requested for 2025, after governments provided only about $15 billion in 2025 – the lowest level of support in a decade. Just three weeks later, however, the United States pledged a landmark $2 billion to OCHA-managed funds, providing roughly two-thirds of the funding needed to reach 87 million people in the most catastrophic need. The new plan concentrates resources on the worst emergencies, including over $4.1 billion for Palestinian areas, $2.9 billion for Sudan, and $2.8 billion for the regional Syria response. In early February 2026, the World Health Organization launched a separate $1 billion appeal for 36 health emergencies – down one-third from the prior year – after reaching only one-third of its 2025 targets due to collapsed funding.

Updated Feb 4