Peter J. Quaranto is a visiting professor of the practice and global policy fellow at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, and served previously in senior roles at the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations. Ms. Chandrima Das is a Nonresident Fellow in the Protection of Civilians and Human Security Program at the Stimson Center, and served previously as director of multilateral affairs at the National Security Council.
President Trump has declared himself “the President of PEACE” and claims credit for de-escalating at least seven conflicts. His personal involvement has helped cement some important – if fragile – ceasefires. Yet with the deadly wars in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine raging on and escalations in the Caribbean, the broader outlook is bleak. The Peace Research Institute Oslo recently tallied 61 active conflicts across 36 countries – the highest number since 1946.
If leaders truly want to rein in global violence and lay the groundwork for peace, they must go beyond firefighting individual crises and confront the structural conditions fueling costlier, deadlier, and increasingly internationalized wars. What the world lacks are updated norms, stronger multilateral tools, and sharper incentives that can reinforce peace, anticipate and manage conflicts, limit human carnage, and raise the cost of belligerence.
Next week, when world leaders gather in New York for the UN Global Assembly, Trump will capture the spotlight on the global stage. Most will expect him to boast about his perceived achievements or defend his most controversial choices. What if, in addition, he used that platform to propose bold new initiatives that could spark international cooperation against the scourge of war? Here are five surprising moves Trump could announce that would advance the cause of future peace.
1) We will end the menace of nuclear weapons this century.
Few future scenarios are more frightening than wars involving nuclear weapons. And yet most experts agree: the risk is growing. In just five months, the U.S.-Russia New START agreement limiting strategic nuclear weapons production will expire. Several countries are moving to increase their stockpiles. This includes China, which is projected to reach over 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. Trump has been vocal about his concerns with nuclear war and expressed openness on arms control talks with Russia and China. Bold leadership is needed now to launch those talks and secure a new global framework to safeguard, limit, and ultimately reduce nuclear arsenals.
2) We will fund and help build the best peacekeeping forces ever.
Peacekeeping is on the decline. Compared to a decade ago, the number of peacekeepers deployed worldwide is down over 20% and the UN budget for such has dropped by half. Yet, arguably, the world needs effective peacekeeping more than ever. Two decades of research demonstrates that multilateral peacekeeping – when structured properly and with accountability – can successfully save lives and help secure ceasefires. If Trump and other leaders achieve their stated goals of brokering agreements to end costly wars, peacekeeping missions can make those agreements last. Peacekeeping is also cost-effective: studies have shown UN peacekeeping can be up to eight times cheaper than deploying U.S. troops to a conflict zone. And there are promising ongoing initiatives that reimagine more effective future peacekeeping missions.
3) We will stop more wars before they begin.
Copious research has reinforced the value of investing more in prevention. Early warning and quick action to de-escalate tensions before wars start and become entrenched can save billions of dollars over the long run. This is an area where the UN system can add substantially more value to its core mission of maintaining peace and security. And yet, the international community has not moved from admiring the need for prevention to operationalizing it. With more political and financial support, the UN could enhance its systems for identifying potential and emergent conflicts and strengthen its mechanisms for preventative diplomacy and mediation, including through the UN’s Mediation Unit.
4) We will rally the world to ban killer robots.
The use of lethal unmanned aerial vehicles is making wars deadlier and more difficult to stop. Data shows widening use of these drones by both state and non-state actors. Some 91 non-state actors reportedly launched drone strikes in 2023, a 1400 percent increase from five years before. Imagine these drones operating with less and less human control. And drones are likely a harbinger of more autonomous technologies that will become part of future wars. The “Stop Killer Robots” Campaign highlights the risks of weapon technologies that are able to operate without human control. The future of world peace depends on setting limits on how these new technologies are used, controlled, and transferred. It is a fallacy for global powers to just think they can manage these risks by seeking competitive advantages.
5) We will fix the broken UN Security Council.
The Security Council’s inability to marshal collective action toward the crises in Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine has exposed its fundamental brokenness as an institution. At last year’s Summit of the Future, world leaders pledged to reform the Council. Past U.S. Administrations have expressed support for expanding the Council’s membership, including to add permanent seats for African and small island developing states. However, needed reform goes beyond the Council’s membership to addressing how the Council operates. While formal amendments to the UN Charter are likely too difficult to contemplate, experts have identified creative “non-amendment reforms” that could make a difference. Some of these ideas build upon the model of the Uniting Peace Resolution of 1950, applied during the Council’s inaction amid emerging Cold War rivalry and during Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.
We would be as surprised as you if these announcements were made next week. Unfortunately, so far, the Trump administration seems more intent on limiting the UN than using it as a platform. Trump has called for the UN to go back to its core mission of maintaining international peace and security, but undermines the UN’s ability to respond to related ongoing crises. The recent rescissions package cut more than $1 billion across UN agencies and essentially zeroed out U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping. With the U.S. stepping back, other countries – especially China – are now gaining more influence over the UN’s workings.
Eighty years ago, in the wake of the last world war, U.S. leaders led the charge in sparking global cooperation to “save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.” The need for that cooperation is even greater today. In a future marked by more nuclear proliferation, killer robots, a changing planet, and regular shocks, our collective fates as humanity are intertwined. The sooner our leaders acknowledge that and get to work on building the future of peace, the better for all of us.
