For decades, Americans were told that the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the triumph of freedom and the end of totalitarianism. Yet communism is not a ghost of the 20th century. It is a living threat, creeping into our culture, our economy, and even our classrooms.
From Beijing to Caracas, the ideology that has impoverished nations and enslaved millions is once again on the march. Its most dangerous form is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which uses infiltration and propaganda as effectively as armies and missiles. It seeks to undermine America from within and bend the world to its will.
The question before us is simple: Will we fight back, or will we surrender?
That is why we are proud to announce the launch of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) Center for Defeating Communism, a bold new initiative dedicated to exposing the lies of communism, countering its propaganda, and rallying Americans to defend freedom.
This center will be a shield for the American people, educating citizens about how communism infiltrates our schools, our culture, and our institutions. It will remind Americans that liberty is not self-sustaining. It must be defended, renewed, and fought for in every generation.
Opposing communism has been the core of CPAC’s mission since its founding. CPAC emerged during the Cold War as a rallying point for conservatives determined to resist the advance of Soviet communism. Generations of conservative leaders have understood that the central mission of our movement was to oppose tyranny, to defend America’s leadership in the world, and to keep the flame of liberty burning brightly. The new Center for Defeating Communism is a continuation of that mission in the 21st century.
But CPAC has never confined this fight to U.S. shores. CPAC has stood shoulder to shoulder with freedom fighters across the globe. We have marched with the brave young people in the streets of Hong Kong, demanding liberty from Beijing’s tyranny. We have gathered with patriots in the parliaments of Hungary and Paraguay, empowering conservative leaders to defend their nations’ sovereignty and Judeo-Christian values against the creeping influence of socialism and Chinese expansionism.
Through these partnerships and conferences, CPAC has helped ignite a worldwide movement of conservatives determined to reclaim their freedom and preserve the dignity of the individual. The Center for Defeating Communism will build on this global legacy by uniting those who know firsthand what it means to stand up to authoritarian power.
The need could not be clearer. The Chinese Communist Party is brazen in its ambitions. It seeks to dominate the world economically, technologically, and militarily. But it does not stop there. The CCP works tirelessly to corrupt our culture, to shape how Americans think, and to weaken faith in our founding principles. It has extended its reach into Wall Street, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and even our classrooms.
The CCP’s influence is not just about foreign policy: It is about how Americans understand their own country, their own freedoms, and their own identity.
The threat is not limited to China. Socialism in Venezuela has turned the wealthiest nation in Latin America into a land of hunger and despair. Cuba’s communist dictatorship has crushed freedom for generations and now serves as a foothold for Beijing just 90 miles off U.S. shores. These regimes may differ in scale, but they share the same destructive ideology.
Wherever communism and socialism take root, the results are misery, repression, and lost liberty. Yet astonishingly, there are still voices in the United States that praise socialism as if its track record were not written in the suffering of millions.
The CPAC Center for Defeating Communism will call out this dangerous ideology unapologetically. It will expose those in our own country who excuse or enable communist regimes for profit or political gain. It will confront corporations that bow to Beijing to protect their bottom line. It will highlight the role of universities that silence critics of China while cashing Beijing’s checks. And it will educate the public about how these choices threaten not just our economy, but the very survival of our free way of life.
Communism is not only a foreign enemy. It is also an enemy within. American leaders, businesses, and cultural elites have too often chosen appeasement over confrontation, comfort over courage. That is how communism advances—not always by direct conquest, but by the quiet erosion of confidence, by convincing free people to doubt the very ideals that make them free.
If America forgets the principles of faith, family, and freedom, then communism will not need to conquer us. We will have surrendered already.
This is the defining struggle of our time. Just as the Soviet Union once sought to break the will of the free world, the CCP and its domestic allies now seek to finish the job.
The question before us is whether America will once again rise to meet the challenge. The answer must be yes. The CPAC Center for Defeating Communism will lead that charge, exposing lies, unmasking collaborators, and rekindling a belief in American exceptionalism. This is CPAC’s mission—it has always been CPAC’s mission—and with the Center for Defeating Communism, it will be carried forward with a renewed vigor and unshakable resolve.
