"Peace" for Profit: False Mediation as a Tool of U.S. War

As International Peace Day 2025 approaches, the world is engulfed in grave wars, genocides, and other monumental threats to peace. Yet, the Trump administration boasts itself as the "Peace Presidency" and claims to have solved multiple conflicts already, not even one year into Trump's second term. Trump himself is publicly stating that he believes he deserves the next Nobel Peace Prize, even while renaming the "Department of Defense" the "Department of War". While some progressive and peace-minded people and organizations may focus their efforts on condemning Trump's hypocrisy and decrying the vain attempt at adding the Nobel Peace Prize to his bloodstained legacy, it is important to understand that Trump's actions are more than just one megalomaniac shaping global politics to his personal desires. In fact, the current situation of US-led war is still the logical development of US imperialism since the post-WWII era began.

Trump uses the term "peace deal" to describe the results of the different ceasefires and other temporary cessation of hostilities that he supposedly facilitated between states. This is not a new way of thinking for US imperialism. Even though Trump was the one to popularize the use of the term "peace deal" in the modern day, the US has always viewed conflict resolution as just another business deal, not a genuine end to the root causes of conflict. US imperialists are always looking for more profits, not peace.

One has only to look at the examples of past US Presidents to see this. Some examples include Clinton's facilitation of Western investment into former Yugoslavian and Somalian industry after the so-called "peace accords" in those countries during the 90s, Bush's contracts offered to Halliburton and other construction companies to rebuild Iraq after the bringing of "democracy" under brutal US occupation, Obama's overt support for "peace talks" with Colombia that strategically maintained General Motors' harshly exploitative factories in the country, and Biden's weaponizing of "ceasefire" talks in Gaza to smear the Palestinian resistance and encourage the Zionists to continue their genocide. Trump's so-called "peace deals" follow this same trend, and US corporations, financial investors, and other war profiteers continue to line up to collect their payout over the bodies of those killed by US-led war. The global peace movement must clearly grasp the root causes of recent prominent conflicts in the world, understand the true interests of the forces involved, and never lose sight of US imperialism's attempts to maneuver the situation in its favor as peoples' movements and other progressive forces continue to fight back for just and lasting peace.

The May India-Pakistan conflict was the first instance since Trump's inauguration in which he claimed to have brought about "peace" between two warring states. But a closer look at the US's own role in the conflict is needed. India and Pakistan have been locked in conflict for territory since British colonialism forcefully divided the two countries in 1948. The recent war started right after US Vice President JD Vance visited New Delhi, a suspicious sign that US-India security talks may have included a promise to back India should it go to war with Pakistan, which it did after a supposed attack occurred against tourists in India-occupied Kashmir. Kashmir itself is one of the key points of conflict between the two states as both states, with India leading the way, fight to occupy and lay claim to this Himalayan valley land whose people have asserted their independence for hundreds of years. The US has a key interest in weakening Pakistan given that the country is a close ally of neighboring Iran and a major investment hub for Chinese development projects. In the end, the biggest winner was US big business, since Trump promised tariff relief as an economic incentive to stop the fighting, but then reneged on his word with even harsher tariffs on India just last month. The everyday working and toiling people of both India and Pakistan were the ones to face the brunt of both the fighting and US economic meddling in the end, and the peoples' movement in both countries should be supported by the global peace movement as they fight for justice and an end to foreign intervention in their countries.

The next so-called "peace deal" claimed by Trump was the ceasefire between Iran and the Zionist entity after US-Zionist missiles were launched at Iran's civilian nuclear program and many other infrastructure and civilian population areas. The true reason behind such a quick ceasefire was that the US wanted to look as though they were bringing the much-touted "peace to the Middle East" after the failure of the US-Zionist occupation to crush the Palestinian resistance and expand the occupation's control, and therefore the US's, in the region for the long term. The US failed to weaken Iran and so realized that it had to fix the problem it started, and fast. Trump wanted to look like a good diplomatic actor by overseeing a ceasefire, but then went right back to the harsh US sanction regime against Iran as the Zionists openly boasted about launching another attack soon. This "peace deal" was only meant to buy the US and Zionists time. Iran's sovereignty must be defended by the global peace movement if we are to avoid further war in West Asia.

Shortly after the ceasefire with Iran, the US hosted the signing of another "peace deal" between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). War has been ravaging the DRC since Rwanda began invading the country shortly after the downfall of the US-backed Mobutu dictatorship, and Rwandan troops have carried out their bloody assaults with US-provided weapons to plunder the DRC's vast mineral resources. Despite claiming to support an end to the conflict, the US wanted a "deal" that would maintain Rwanda's ability to plunder and sell minerals to the West, minerals that Western tech companies could then buy at cheap prices. In light of this sham peace process, the people's movement in DRC must be supported as they fight US-Rwanda intervention as well as state repression from the DRC government that is only looking after its own mining profits.

Thailand and Cambodia waged a brief war against each other in July, a legacy of ongoing conflicts since the end of French colonial rule of Cambodia in which colonial borders left access to key temples in the two predominantly Buddhist countries unresolved. While safe access for pilgrims to temple grounds was cited openly as the reason for the conflict starting, it had already become clear that the ruling regimes of both countries sought a war against each other to deflect from political crises and rising peoples' movements at home. Trump took credit for the agreement that the countries signed, while the US's role was actually minimal, with Trump leveraging tariffs as a form of coercion. For the US's part, they favored the possibility for Thailand to weaken Cambodia, a key ally of China that recently opened China's second ever official overseas military base, while taking as a bonus a chance to sell more expensive high-tech fighter jets to Thailand. In light of this recent conflict, peoples' movements in both countries, especially of the rural peasants that were most impacted by the conflict, should be supported.

Trump would then go on to host the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan in the White House for what was advertised as a "historic peace deal." War between the two Caucus Mountain nations has been ongoing since the fall of the Soviet Union, and subsequent US-Turkish-Zionist courting of Azerbaijan for oil deals and weapons sales had the added objective of weakening Armenia as a key ally of Russia. Both countries have fought devastating wars over territory, the most infamous result being the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in the autonomous region of Nagorno-Karabakh by Azerbaijani forces. Tagged onto the US-brokered ceasefire between the countries is the contract for the US and Türkiye to build the Zangezur Corridor, a development scheme giving the US lease to develop land in both countries and "secure" it with US troops, right on the border with Iran. As US capitalists cash in and military troops prepare to station on the doorstep of Iran, it is vital that Iran's sovereignty must be defended against attempts at intervention, while Armenia must be supported against Azerbaijani attempts at grabbing additional territory.

Each of these so-called "peace deals" led up to the much-reported August summit between the US and Russia in Alaska. The war in Ukraine has dragged on over 3 years and claimed the lives of over 200,000 people, though exact numbers are hard to estimate. Trump signaled early on that he would depart from former President Biden's policy of near-unending military support for Ukraine, and instead pushed the US to cut its losses, drastically reduce the amount of aid and shift to its primary focus of war preparations against China and Iran, while pressuring EU and NATO members to continue funding the proxy war against Russia. However, this did not stop Trump from seeking his "deal" for access to Ukraine's mineral resources and establishment of drone production alongside Ukrainian weapons manufacturers. While Russia maneuvers peace talks to secure control over Ukrainian territory that it has occupied in the war, its primary incentive is to defend its territory against US-NATO intervention. If this war is to be brought to an end, NATO must be resisted as the most dangerous US-led military alliance in the world today.

With all the recent "peace deal" maneuvering by US-led war profiteers, Trump propagandizes himself as an honest broker for a much-anticipated ceasefire in Gaza between the Palestinian resistance and the genocidal Zionist regime. Trump's populist presidential campaign slogans to bring "peace to the middle east" have been fully unmasked to the vast majority of the world. The Zionists seek to complete their genocide of the Palestinian people, while the US does whatever it must to keep the occupation strong so as to fulfill their interests in the region and unleash their Zionist attack dog against Iran and the forces of the Axis of Resistance. Behind closed doors, Trump is also gathering the close confidants of his real-estate empire to invest in the so-called "re-development" of Gaza, a project that could only be fulfilled after the defeat of the resistance and the complete ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. Continuing to fight back through immense sacrifice, the resistance continues to stand as the only forces that can frustrate the US's savage hunger for profit and the Zionists' genocidal hunger for land grabs. The resistance has made clear time and time again that any ceasefire that relinquishes their ability to represent and fight for the lives and liberation of the Palestinian people will not be accepted, and the global peace movement must stand fully behind this brave defense of Palestinian self-determination.

Trump's "peace deals" of 2025 go far beyond Trump as an individual. They are continued proof that US imperialism has never been interested in peace, only in accumulating profits from militarized plunder. Trump has merely been the most open about this intention. Subsequently, the objective of the global peace movement should be far beyond exposing the glory-seeking antics of Trump as an individual ruler. By focusing on the big picture, our fights to expose Trump's sham "peace deals" are part of the wider struggle to stop US-led war from driving the world into full-blown world war once again.

As the US, and the institutions it dominates like the UN, plan to mark International Peace Day 2025 with sham calls to pacify resistance movements while keeping the imperialist system intact, the Resist US-Led War Movement mobilizes all-out under the slogan: Resist US Military Bases! Fight for Land, Liberation, Sovereignty, and Just Peace! US Out of Everywhere! Let us mark the weeks to come with a militant spirit to challenge US overseas military bases and the whole system of US-led war between September 14 and 30th. , Let us also mark the second anniversary of the Al Aqsa Flood campaign with militant actions and calls for peace and solidarity with the Palestinian people and their resistance, proclaiming loudly that that peace can only be just and lasting when it is tied to the fight for national and social liberation.