丘吉尔的铁幕演讲，即《铁幕演说》（Iron Curtain Speech），又称《和平砥柱》（Sinews of Peace），是其在1946年3月5日在美国密苏里州富尔顿市的威斯敏斯特学院（也有说法为威斯特敏斯学院）发表的一篇著名演讲。以下为该演讲的原文内容：
President McCluer, ladies and gentlemen, and last, but certainly not least, the President of the United States of America:
I am very glad indeed to come to Westminster College this afternoon, and I am complimented that you should give me a degree from an institution whose reputation has been so solidly established. The name "Westminster" somehow or other seems familiar to me. I feel as if I have heard of it before. Indeed now that I come to think of it, it was at Westminster that I received a very large part of my education in politics, dialectic, rhetoric, and one or two other things. In fact we have both been educated at the same, or similar, or, at any rate, kindred establishments.
It is also an honor, ladies and gentlemen, perhaps almost unique, for a private visitor to be introduced to an academic audience by the President of the United States. Amid his heavy burdens, duties, and responsibilities—unsought but not recoiled from—the President has traveled a thousand miles to dignify and magnify our meeting here today and to give me an opportunity of addressing this kindred nation, as well as my own countrymen across the ocean, and perhaps some other countries too. The President has told you that it is his wish, as I am sure it is yours, that I should have full liberty to give my true and faithful counsel in these anxious and baffling times. I shall certainly avail myself of this freedom, and feel the more right to do so because any private ambitions I may have cherished in my younger days have been satisfied beyond my wildest dreams. Let me, however, make it clear that I have no official mission or status of any kind, and that I speak only for myself. There is nothing here but what you see.
I can therefore allow my mind, with the experience of a lifetime, to play over the problems which beset us on the morrow of our absolute victory in arms, and to try to make sure with what strength I have that what has gained with so much sacrifice and suffering shall be preserved for the future glory and safety of mankind.
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.
The United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American Democracy. For with primacy in power is also joined an awe-inspiring accountability to the future. If you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement. Opportunity is here now, clear and shining for both our countries. To reject it or ignore it or fritter it away will bring upon us all the long reproaches of the after-time.
在这篇演讲中，丘吉尔高度赞扬了美国对西方世界的贡献，并强调了美国应承担起更多责任。同时，他也抨击了苏联，将其称为“世界和平的威胁者”，并宣称“从波罗的海的斯德丁（Stettin，今波兰什切青）到亚得里亚海边的的里雅斯特，一道横贯欧洲大陆的铁幕已经落下”。这篇演讲后来被广泛认为是冷战开始的标志。
