Kuala Lampur, Jan. 24 -- The language of peace is often comforting, even seductive.

When states announce a new "Board of Peace," complete with charters and handshakes, the message is clear: cooperation has won. Yet history warns us otherwise.

Peace boards often look like best friends forever - until interests diverge, power intrudes, and silence replaces solidarity.Peace is rarely neutral.

It is political.It reflects who is invited, who is excluded, and which conflicts are considered worthy of attention.

Many peace mechanisms exist less to resolve violence than to manage appearances.

They reassure elites and international audiences, not victims.

The problem begins with selective moral vision.

A board may call loudly for ceasefires ...