Trump's contradictory abandonment of multilateral organisations.
On 7 January 2026, President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the United States from 35 organisations not belonging to the UN system and 31 United Nations institutions (see Annexe 1). The justification is that these organisations are contrary to US interests. This statement partially aligns with President Trump's narrative on some issues, such as climate change, where his scepticism towards climate science makes the abandonment of these forums consistent. However, there is a strong inconsistency when looking at institutions linked to issues such as security, counter-terrorism, international justice and cyber security. This article analyses the transformation of US multilateralism into unilateralism, shifting from the political to the economic and military, culminating in the announcement of the "Peace Council" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on 22 January 2026.
Withdrawal from organisations
The US left the Global Counterterrorism Forum and the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats, which combat issues that Trump mentions in his speech on national security, while using terrorism as an argument against drug cartels and other organisations to justify sanctions, diplomatic pressure and even threats of intervention. Furthermore, it also withdrew from the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, UN peacebuilding mechanisms, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA), which requires countries to report their trade in major conventional weapons such as tanks. All this took place while, at the ASEAN summit in 2025, Trump presented himself as a mediator in the peace process between Malaysia and Cambodia, even being nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
He left the Global Forum on Cybersecurity Experience and the Coalition for Online Freedom in a context still marked by the conflict with TikTok in 2025, when its parent company ByteDance was forced to sell the platform or face a ban in 2024. This was due to suspicions that the application could be used to collect user data and influence them, which put national security at risk. President Trump negotiated a framework agreement with China for the app to continue operating under majority US ownership, even though the state apparatus had already classified it as a security risk.
Similarly, the administration withdrew from the UN Economic and Social Council and its regional commissions, such as ECLAC. These bodies work mainly on social and economic development issues. The US also exited some trade forums, including the International Cotton Advisory Committee, the International Tropical Timber Organisation, and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, as well as UN Women, the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality, and the Global Forum on Migration and Development.
"The US policy of advocating bilateralism is the result of its inability to lead the multilateral mechanisms it once promoted," leading to the transformation of multilateralism since 2025. This has spread to some mechanisms, such as the G20, whose absence is notable and affects their funding. The absence from the summit in South Africa occurred in the context of a tour of Asia under the pretext of an ASEAN visit, during which he signed various bilateral agreements.
Amid these departures, the Peace Council proposal has emerged. It is a multilateral body promoted by Trump to oversee and manage peace processes, starting with Gaza. There are two categories of membership: permanent membership, subject to a contribution of USD 1 billion, and temporary membership, subject to review by the council president every three years. The US president told the press that he expected some 50 countries to join, but there is no official list. However, according to The Associated Press, by February 2026, 20 of the 34 countries mentioned had agreed to join (see Table 1).
Table 1: List of countries that accepted or rejected the invitation to Trump's Peace Board in 2025 |
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Accepted |
Declined |
Invited |
|
Argentina |
France |
Great Britain |
|
Armenia |
Norway |
Cambodia |
|
Azerbaijan |
Slovenia |
China |
|
Bahrain |
Sweden |
Croatia |
|
Belarus |
Germany |
|
|
Egypt |
Italy |
|
|
Hungary |
The executive arm of the European Union |
|
|
Indonesia |
Paraguay |
|
|
Jordan |
Russia |
|
|
Kazakhstan |
Singapore |
|
|
Kosovo |
Ukraine |
|
|
Morocco |
||
|
Pakistan |
||
|
Qatar |
||
|
Saudi Arabia |
||
|
Turkey |
||
|
United Arab Emirates |
||
|
Uzbekistan |
||
|
Vietnam |
||
|
Source: Prepared internally using data from The Associated Press. |
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Bilateral agreements have not stopped. For example, President Milei offered Argentina the Port of Ushuaia, a strategic point in the South Atlantic that connects to Antarctica, in exchange for permanent access to the Peace Council. The creation of a multilateral space alternative to the UN, if realised, would have repercussions worldwide, as the world has until now been subject to dialogue in multilateral forums with rules for mutual benefit.
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Annex 1: Organisations abandoned by the United States in 2026, classified by subject and membership of the United Nations System |
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|
Organisation |
Belongs to the UN |
Topic |
|
Colombo Plan Council |
NO |
Economy, trade and development |
|
Global Forum on Migration and Development |
NO |
|
|
International Cotton Advisory Committee |
NO |
|
|
International Tropical Timber Organisation |
NO |
|
|
Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation |
NO |
|
|
Regional Cooperation Council |
NO |
|
|
UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs |
UN |
|
|
ECOSOC – Economic Commission for Africa |
UN |
|
|
ECOSOC – ECLAC |
UN |
|
|
ECOSOC – ESCAP |
UN |
|
|
ECOSOC – ESCWA |
UN |
|
|
International Trade Centre |
UN |
|
|
Office of the Special Adviser on Africa |
UN |
|
|
UN Conference on Trade and Development |
UN |
|
|
International Lead and Zinc Study Group |
NO |
|
|
Education Cannot Wait |
NO |
Education, Science and Culture |
|
Forum of European National Highway Research Laboratories |
NO |
|
|
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |
NO |
|
|
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property |
NO |
|
|
International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies |
NO |
|
|
Science and Technology Centre in Ukraine |
NO |
|
|
UN Alliance of Civilisations |
UN |
|
|
UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) |
UN |
|
|
UN System Staff College |
UN |
|
|
UN University |
UN |
|
|
24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact |
NO |
Environment, Energy and Resources |
|
Commission for Environmental Cooperation |
NO |
|
|
Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development |
NO |
|
|
International Energy Forum |
NO |
|
|
International Renewable Energy Agency |
NO |
|
|
International Solar Alliance |
NO |
|
|
Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century |
NO |
|
|
Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme |
NO |
|
|
UN REDD+ |
UN |
|
|
UN Energy |
UN |
|
|
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change |
UN |
|
|
UN Water |
UN |
|
|
UN Oceans |
UN |
|
|
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change |
NO |
|
|
International Union for Conservation of Nature |
NO |
|
|
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |
NO |
|
|
European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats |
NO |
Security and defence |
|
Global Forum on Cyber Expertise |
NO |
|
|
Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combatting Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia |
NO |
|
|
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict |
UN |
|
|
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict |
UN |
|
|
Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children |
UN |
|
|
UN Register of Conventional Arms |
UN |
|
|
Global Counterterrorism Forum |
NO |
Counterterrorism |
|
International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law |
NO |
|
|
Permanent Forum on People of African Descent |
UN |
Governance, international law and institutionality |
|
International Development Law Organisation |
NO |
|
|
Venice Commission of the Council of Europe |
NO |
|
|
International Law Commission |
United Nations |
|
|
International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals |
UN |
|
|
UN System Chief Executives Board |
UN |
|
|
Peacebuilding Commission |
UN |
Peacebuilding |
|
Peacebuilding Fund |
UN |
|
|
UN Democracy Fund |
UN |
Democracy |
|
International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance |
NO |
|
|
UN Women |
UN |
Gender |
|
UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) |
UN |
Cities |
|
UN Population Fund (UNFPA) |
UN |
Population/health |
|
Pan American Institute of Geography and History |
NO |
Geography / history |
|
Freedom Online Coalition |
NO |
Internet freedom / rights |
|
Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund |
NO |
Prevention of radicalisation |
|
Source: Prepared internally using the official list of organisations abandoned by the US, published on the White House's official website: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/01/withdrawing-the-... |
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