The following op-ed is based on an address delivered on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, by Joe Sims at the conclusion of the CPUSA’s Peace Conference 2.0: “Driven by Justice—United for Peace.” It has been edited for style, clarity, and length. Previous People’s World coverage of the conference can be read here.
We’re in an electoral season now, beginning with the local and state elections held earlier this month. It will last until the midterms next year. During this season, bringing pressure to bear on elected officials—delegations to meet members of Congress, letters, petitions, campaigns, sit-ins, etc.—is extremely important. It’s imperative to keep the pressure on.
The main thing we’re grappling with right now when it comes to building the peace movement is the fact that the fascists in the administration—because that’s what we have—are actively preparing for war. They changed the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War. They’ve hired that Christian nationalist talking head Peter Hegseth as its secretary.
And when you hear the phrase “Christian nationalist,” think fascist, because these are not Evangelical Christians of the old type. They’re not typical conservatives; it’s a new breed. If you look closely at what they’re talking about, they’re putting forward ideas based in a fascist ideology.
In a 2023 Fox News broadcast, Hegseth is reported to have said, “We are not preparing for a period of peace. Instead, we are shifting the Pentagon and the military industrial base into an actual state of war. The moment feels like 1939 or, I hope, 1981. Enemies are gathering and threats are mounting. You feel it, and I feel it.”
Since he got elected, Trump, over the last several months, has been tightening his hold on the military. They’re purging the military’s general staff of anyone who might not want to follow an order, whether it’s legal or illegal. Of course, they don’t care about the legality of their orders; they’re just doing whatever they think they can get away with—and that’s just about everything.
This is the context in which you have to put the recent U.S. bombing—along with Israel—of Iran. That’s the context for the attacks on the boats off the shores of Venezuela and in the Caribbean, allegedly to stop drug trafficking. That’s the context for them talking now about sending ground troops into Mexico. Can you imagine?
And now they’re threatening to invade Nigeria under the pretext of defending Black Christians. These people care as much about Black Christians in Lagos as they do about Black Christians in Lexington or Louisville, Ky., or Black and brown Christians in Detroit, Chicago, D.C., Houston, or L.A.
What they’re really concerned about is that “black gold” underneath the soil of Nigeria, that is, Nigeria’s huge supply of black crude oil. And speaking of oil, it’s what brings U.S. imperialism to Venezuela. This is what’s at stake in the campaign against the Maduro government. And of course, if they’re going after Maduro in Venezuela, you know that Cuba is also at the top of the list.
Then there’s the incident in South Korea, when Trump met with China’s President Xi Jinping. During that conversation, he stepped out of the meeting—I don’t think he had the courage to do it in the meeting—and announced a resumption of nuclear testing. That’s an extremely dangerous development, because it portends a new arms race.
And what makes it even more dangerous is that the ruling class, Republican and Democrat alike, are united in their desire to overthrow the Communist Party of China. Indeed, it’s been that way for a few decades.
Consider that the Doomsday Clock is set today at 89 seconds to midnight—midnight being nuclear Armageddon. This is the closest it has ever been. And in these circumstances, sadly there’s not a broad public awareness of the extent of the threat of nuclear war. Therefore, it is extremely important that we begin to raise awareness.
This has to be raised in connection, too, with the new Cold War against China. Our fight for peace takes place within what is the beginning of a new nuclear arms race with that great country. And it’s very much connected to the issue of the environment.
Back when Biden was still president, the State Department was split over the launching of this new Cold War. The war hawks were in ascendance, but it wasn’t completely decided. At that time, around 50 environmental organizations wrote a letter, joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, calling on Biden to step away from this aggressive posture. Then, Putin invaded Ukraine, and that discussion went completely off the table. You never heard another word about it. So, the threat of global warming, the possibility of a worldwide catastrophe, are very much present.
Here at home, we have the troop deployments in L.A., D.C., Memphis, Charlotte, and the threats against Baltimore and New Orleans. These are some very dangerous times. Thus, the fight for peace takes place within the context of this administration’s attempt to consolidate its power; and they’re prepared to do it by any means necessary.
Therefore, the struggles the democratic and people’s movements undertake now to defeat this fascist policy leading up to the midterms are extremely important.
It is so important that Communist Party members and clubs think through how to take initiative on these issues. We must give leadership to the peace and mass democratic movement and not leave the initiative in the hands of the narrow sectarian left on issues like Cuba and Venezuela, on just transition, of the threat against Mexico and now Nigeria.
We must take initiative to bring forward the peace sentiment in the African American community, and we could add the Latino community, the Asian American community, and LGBTQ communities. Given the threats aimed at both Mexico and Nigeria, why not approach the Black church, the Latino church, those who go to the mosque? Nigeria has huge Muslim and Christian populations.
Let’s talk to our mayors and our members of Congress. Let’s take initiative to say, “Hell no, we’re not going to support this kind of adventurism by this administration.” Now is the time to do it, and I think we are more prepared than ever to do that in a broad way—bringing the trade unions, the working class, and the religious community into the fight.
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