{"id":103195,"date":"2026-01-23T12:52:06","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=103195"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:52:06","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T10:52:06","slug":"middle-east-report-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/middle-east-report-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Middle East Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n23 January 2026 | 12:52 CAT
\n3-minute read<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Board of peace is Trump\u2019s thinly veiled attempt to launch new world order<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Thursday, Trump announced his new \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d in Davos, Switzerland. Trump has said the Board of Peace was established to oversee post-war reconstruction in Gaza, although there is widespread criticism for Trump\u2019s thinly-veiled attempt to launch a new world order.<\/p>\n

During this week\u2019s Middle East Report on Radio Islam International, analyst James M Dorsey discussed the framework, warning that it isn\u2019t off to a good start and raises more questions than it provides answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike US claims to Greenland, the just-formed board of peace is about much\u00a0more than Greenland or Gaza. It’s about crafting a new world order in Donald Trump’s mould,\u201d Dorsey explained.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Trump expressed frustration at failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, he launched the board to cast himself as a global peacemaker. The first point of order on the board\u2019s agenda is Gaza, with an announcement yesterday that the Rafah border crossing will open next week. Ali Shaath, head of the newly established National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG) made the announcement via videolink during an event at the World Economic Forum in Davos.<\/p>\n

While opening the Rafah crossing is essential, it is unlikely that Israel will surrender control to allow the free passage of goods and people in and out of the enclave. Trump\u2019s announcement also lacks the promise of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or a reference to Palestinian national aspirations, Dorsey explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, underlying the board’s projection of post-war Gaza as an investment opportunity\u00a0reflects a longstanding belief in the Trump camp and Israel that economic development will push\u00a0Palestinian national aspirations to the background,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Saudi-UAE rift reshapes regional alliances<\/strong><\/p>\n

Differences between Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reverberating across the greater Middle East since the kingdom forced the UAE to withdraw from Yemen. Analysts suggest that Saudi Arabia has been gearing up to rearrange the region\u2019s security architecture and has since strengthened ties with Somalia.<\/p>\n

Somalia has ended military cooperation with the UAE and Egypt and aligned itself with Riyadh, including backing the Sudanese armed forces in Sudan\u2019s civil war against the UAE-supported Rapid Support Forces. This Saudi-Somali cooperation follows a separate mutual defence agreement between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.<\/p>\n

The growing rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE has also complicated Israeli regional ambitions, especially after the UAE helped facilitate Israeli recognition of Somaliland, a breakaway Somali region, giving Israel a foothold in the Horn of Africa. At the same time, Saudi Arabia has adopted a more openly critical tone towards Israel, reflected in both media coverage and religious sermons.<\/p>\n

The discussion turned to an analysis of Trump\u2019s belief that he is a leader who can act freely, without being held back by democratic rules, coalition partners or parliamentary oversight \u2014 constrains that allegedly limit leaders such as Netanyahu and other European heads of government.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Trump\u2019s eyes, Israeli PM Netanyahu, like other European leaders, are weak because they are constrained by diplomatic niceties, parliamentary oversight and pesky coalition partners,\u201d Dorsey said.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s strongman view shapes Middle East diplomacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Trump\u2019s view, strong leaders who centralise power, such as Turkey\u2019s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syria\u2019s President Ahmad al-Shara, are effective because they can act decisively without being slowed by diplomatic conventions or international law.<\/p>\n

This outlook has helped Turkey emerge as a key beneficiary of Trump\u2019s proposed board of peace, with Ankara joining the signing of its charter despite Israeli objections over Turkey\u2019s ties to Hamas, as well as Israel\u2019s opposition to Qatar\u2019s inclusion.<\/p>\n

By contrast, Trump sees Netanyahu as politically weak, constrained by coalition politics, which left the Israeli leader little choice but to join the initiative, partly in the hope of delaying the next phase of Trump\u2019s ceasefire plan.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s admiration for strong leadership, however, does not extend to Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although protests in Iran have been suppressed, economic pressures and sanctions remain unresolved, making some form of engagement with the United States increasingly necessary.<\/p>\n

While Trump has said he is open to talks and keeps military options on the table, his demands – particularly limiting Iran\u2019s ballistic missile programme, which forms the backbone of its defence – place Tehran in a difficult position, leaving its next move uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps the most difficult condition is curbing Iran\u2019s ballistic missiles program. With no Air Force or Navy to speak of, ballistic missiles constitute the core of Iranian defence, all of which puts Iran in a catch-22,\u201d Dorsey said.<\/p>\n

Watch<\/a> <\/strong>or listen<\/a> <\/strong>to the Middle East Report with James Dorsey on Sabaahul Muslim, presented by Moulana Junaid Kharsany.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za 23 January 2026 | 12:52 CAT 3-minute read Board of peace is Trump\u2019s thinly veiled attempt to launch new world order On Thursday, Trump announced his new \u201cBoard of Peace\u201d in Davos, Switzerland. Trump has said the Board of Peace was established to oversee post-war reconstruction in Gaza, although there is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":98895,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4997],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/middle-east-20mb.png?fit=2268%2C2268&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qQr","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:46:07","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}