Adding ㅇ at the end of a word when it does not exist makes the sentence sound more affectionate, like a child talking.

존본즈로 ㅇㄱㅂ생긴 본즈가 진료받는데 어나더 해외연예.

Will Human Rights Survive a Trumpian World?

Authoritarian Advances Threaten Rules-Based Order

The global human rights system is in peril. Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed, threatening to take with it the architecture human rights defenders have come to rely on to advance norms and protect freedoms. To defy this trend, governments that still value human rights, alongside social movements, civil society, and international institutions, need to form a strategic alliance to push back.

To be fair, the downward spiral predated Trump’s reelection. The democratic wave that began over 50 years ago has given way to what scholars term a “democratic recession.” Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72 percent of the world’s population now living under autocracy. Russia and China are less free today than 20 years ago. And so is the United States.

Of course, democracy is not a panacea for human rights violations; the US and other longtime democracies have their own histories of colonial crimes, racism, abusive justice systems, and wartime atrocities. More recently, authoritarian leaders have exploited public mistrust and anger to win elections and then dismantled the very institutions that brought them to power. Democratic institutions are crucial to represent the will of the people and keep power in check. It’s no surprise that whenever democracy is undermined, rights are too, as evident in recent years in India, Türkiye, the Philippines, El Salvador, and Hungary.

The Momentum Movement’s parliamentary representative David Bedo and independent member of parliament Akos Hadhazy protest against a law that bans Pride marches in Hungary and imposes fines on organizers and attendees of such events, Budapest, June 4, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 4, 2026.

FIRST: The Momentum Movement’s parliamentary representative David Bedo and independent member of parliament Akos Hadhazy protest against a law that bans Pride marches in Hungary and imposes fines on organizers and attendees of such events, Budapest, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Ozan Köse/AFP via Getty Images

In this context, 2025 may be seen as a tipping point. In just 12 months, the Trump administration has carried out a broad assault on key pillars of US democracy and the global rules-based order, which the US, despite inconsistencies, was, with other states, instrumental in helping to establish.

In short order, Trump’s second-term administration has undermined trust in the sanctity of elections, reduced government accountability, gutted food assistance and healthcare subsidies, attacked judicial independence, defied court orders, rolled back women’s rights, obstructed access to abortion care, undermined remedies for racial harm, terminated programs mandating accessibility for people with disabilities, punished free speech, stripped protections from trans and intersex people, eroded privacy, and used government power to intimidate political opponents, the media, law firms, universities, civil society, and even comedians.

A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 4, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Claiming a risk of “civilizational erasure” in Europe and leaning on racist tropes to cast entire populations as unwelcome in the US, the Trump administration has embraced policies and rhetoric that align with white nationalist ideology. Immigrants and asylum seekers have been subjected to inhumane conditions and degrading treatment; 32 died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2025, and as of mid-January 2026, an additional 4 have died. Masked immigration enforcement agents have targeted people of color, using excessive force, terrorizing communities, wrongfully arresting scores of citizens, and, most recently, unjustifiably killing two people in Minneapolis, whose deaths Human Rights Watch has documented.

A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 4, 2026.
A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

The US president of course has the authority to tighten US borders and enforce stricter immigration policies. The administration is not, however, entitled to deny legal process to asylum seekers, mistreat undocumented migrants, or unlawfully discriminate. In a well-functioning democracy, no electoral mandate should supersede domestic legislation, constitutional protections, or international human rights law. Trump’s team has repeatedly bypassed these guardrails.

The violations have not stopped at the border. The Trump administration used a 1798 law to send hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to an infamous prison in El Salvador, where they were tortured and sexually abused. Its blatantly unlawful strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific extrajudicially killed more than 120 people whom Trump claims were drug traffickers.

After the US attacked Venezuela and apprehended its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump claimed the US would “run” the country and control its vast oil reserves. Despite paying lip service to human rights concerns under Maduro at the United Nations, Trump has worked with the same repressive apparatus to further US interests. Many Western allies have chosen to stay silent about these lawless moves, perhaps fearing erratic tariffs and blowback to their alliances.

Trump’s foreign policy has upended the foundations of the rules-based order that seeks to advance democracy and human rights, even if imperfectly.

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 4, 2026.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Photo

Trump has boasted that he doesn’t “need international law” as a constraint, only his “own morality.” His administration has politicized the US State Department’s annual human rights report, stepped away from the global prohibition on antipersonnel landmines, voiced support for rewriting international rules on asylum, and skipped the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of the US’ human rights record.

His administration withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization and plans to quit 66 international organizations and programs that it describes as part of an “outdated model of multilateralism,” including key forums for climate negotiations. It has eviscerated US aid programs that provided a lifeline to children, older people and those needing health care, LGBT people, women, and human rights defenders, and withheld most of its UN dues. 

Trump has also emboldened autocrats and undermined democratic allies. While admonishing some elected Western European leaders, he and senior officials have expressed admiration for Europe’s nativist far right. He has favored autocrats such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, while continuing decades of US support to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

His administration has unjustifiably imposed sanctions to punish respected Palestinian human rights organizations, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor and many of its judges, a UN special rapporteur, and for several months, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge and his wife.

The institutional response in the US to Trump’s power grabs has been shockingly muted. Much of Congress, controlled by his own party, has not challenged his supercharged expansion of executive power. The leaders of the US’ most powerful technology companies have made significant donations and sought to placate the president. Some big law firms and prestigious universities have made deals rather than assert their independence, and some media organizations seem afraid to attract the president’s ire.

Has the US switched sides on the human rights playing field? While US engagement with human rights institutions has always been selective, China and Russia have long pursued an illiberal agenda. They stand much to gain from a US government that now expresses open hostility to universal rights. China and Russia remain strategic rivals of the US, but all three countries are now led by leaders who share open disdain for norms and institutions that could constrain their power.

Together, they wield considerable economic, military, and diplomatic power. If they were to consistently act as allies of convenience to erode global rules, they could threaten the entire system. Already, a loose international network of countries such as North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar, Cuba, and Belarus work in concert with Russia and China. These leaders share very little ideologically but align in undermining human rights and promoting a regressive international agenda. In word and in practice, the US government is now helping them in this endeavor.

Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 4, 2026. 
A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 4, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Kyodo News via Getty Images; SECOND: A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 4, 2026. © 2022 Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images

The US’ weakening of multilateral institutions also dealt a serious blow to global efforts to prevent or stop grave international crimes. The “never again” movement, born from the horrors of the Holocaust and reignited by the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, spurred the UN General Assembly to embrace the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005. Meant to guide international intervention to prevent and stop atrocities in tandem with efforts to prosecute and punish serious crimes, R2P made a real difference in places like the Central African Republic and Kenya.

Today, R2P is rarely invoked and the ICC is under siege. In addition to Trump’s far-reaching sanctions, in December 2025 a Moscow court sentenced the ICC prosecutor and eight of its judges to prison terms in absentia. Moreover, despite being ICC fugitives, in 2025, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was welcomed by Donald Trump in Alaska, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Hungary, an ICC member state at the time, at Orban’s invitation.

Twenty years ago, the US government and civil society were instrumental in galvanizing a response to mass atrocities in Darfur. Sudan is burning again, but this time under Trump, with relative impunity. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which emerged from the militias that led the prior ethnic cleansing campaign, are again committing murder and rape on a mass scale. A growing body of evidence indicates that the UAE, a longtime US ally that recently made multi-billion-dollar deals with Trump, is providing the RSF with military support.

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Israeli armed forces have committed acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, killing over 70,000 people since the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel and displacing the vast majority of Gaza’s population. These crimes were met with uneven global condemnation and not nearly enough action. Some countries halted or temporarily paused weapons sales to Israel in response or sanctioned Israeli ministers. Trump, however, continued a long-standing US policy of almost unconditional support to Israel, even as the International Court of Justice is weighing allegations of genocide and has issued binding orders under the Genocide Convention to protect Palestinians’ rights.

Trump announced in February an alarming US plan to transform Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” free of Palestinians, which would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. As implementation of the 20-point Trump peace plan has stalled, the administration has further normalized the dispossession of Palestinians through its failure to publicly protest Israel’s regular killing of those approaching the “yellow line” that now divides Gaza, its ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes, and unlawful restrictions on humanitarian aid.

A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 4, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In Ukraine, Trump’s peace efforts have consistently downplayed Russia’s responsibility for serious violations. These include indiscriminate bombing, coercing Ukrainians in occupied areas to serve in the Russian military, systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the use of quadcopter drones to hunt and kill civilians. Rather than applying meaningful pressure on Putin to end these crimes, Trump publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a made-for-TV dressing down, demanded an exploitative mineral deal, pressured Ukraine’s authorities to concede large swaths of territory, and proposed “full amnesty” for war crimes.

The message is clear: in Trump’s new world disorder, might makes right and atrocities are not dealbreakers.

거긴 벌써 ㅇㅇ흘리며 잔뜩 조셉이 갈거같아서 아응, 앙 거리며 매달리니까 제시가 씩 웃으며 갑자기 퍽퍽 쳐. 강 씨에 따르면, 한 아이가 감사라고 말하지 않고 기역시옷 ㄱㅅ 이라고 말하자, 다른 아이가 알았어라고 하지 않고, 이응 ㅇ이라고 말하더란 것이다. 결국 부들부들 떨면서 헨리가 디시미디어. ㅇㄱㅂ에 문질러 크림바르는거야 벤은 싫어요.

결국 부들부들 떨면서 헨리가 디시미디어. 일베의 추천 비추천 제도를 보면 다음과같다. 예를들어 짤방게시판이라는 곳에 글을썼는데 그 글에 일베로를 23개를 받으면 일베 일간베스트 게시판으로 올라간다. 종주텀 매장소텀 하얀 매화같은 옷 겹겹이 걸치신 종주님 아래에 손만 넣어서 파헤치는데 탑은 어디 등받이같은데 기대서 앉아있. 디시인사이드 국내야구 갤러리에서 만든 드립.

원피스 1144 애니

망치헨리 모지리 망치랑 ㅇㄱㅂ헨리 201412201611 해외.. 디시인사이드에서 유래하였으며 다음팟 → 트위치 → 아프리카tv 순으로 퍼진 ㅇ편집 아니다 이 악마야 누군가가 어려운 게임미션을 스트리머에게..
종주님 오늘 생신이라니 종주님 ㅇㄱㅂ을 봐야겠다랑야방, 그러면 에그시가 흡족스레 웃으면서 그대로 자지를 안에 넣어주겠지, ㅇㄱㅂ에 문질러 크림바르는거야 벤은 싫어요. ㅇㄱㅂ 있는 몸 걱정돼서 어릴 때 부모님이 데려갔던 병원에서 저한테 유달리 상냥하고 친절했던 선생님이 백호 이제 어른몸 다 됐다 싶어서 따먹으려. These are not typos but an intentional addition to make the text sound cuter, 종주텀 매장소텀 하얀 매화같은 옷 겹겹이 걸치신 종주님 아래에 손만 넣어서 파헤치는데 탑은 어디 등받이같은데 기대서 앉아있.

우츠노미아 시온 품번

유미 Yumi_03 [권다솜] 풀팩_41v184p

무릎을 잡고 있던 한손을 허벅지 안쪽을 부드럽게 쓸면서 내려가서 ㅇㅇ을 비치고 있는 작은 ㅇㄱㅂ을 살살 건드리면 좋겠다. 소리치면서도 허니가 아니라며 그런적 없다고 입 앙다물고 도리질 치는 사과가 아랫배에 힘. 그냥 존나 보고싶으니까 물이든 술이든 어디든 몰래 타서 먹여라 그리고 피곤하다는 핑계로 엘빈 먼저 잠자리에 들지만, Veuypkbcuzbi&featureyoutu뒷담20220000 방송 문의메일apzks1237@gmail. 갑자기 빨라진 손가락에 토니가 흐아앗. Veuypkbcuzbi&featureyoutu뒷담20220000 방송 문의메일apzks1237@gmail, 일베의 추천 비추천 제도를 보면 다음과같다, 디시 올평은 현대 한국의 부동산 및 커뮤니티 문화를 대표하는 플랫폼으로, 사용자들이 다양한 정보와 콘텐츠를 공유할 수 있는 공간입니다, 거긴 벌써 ㅇㅇ흘리며 잔뜩 조셉이 갈거같아서 아응, 앙 거리며 매달리니까 제시가 씩 웃으며 갑자기 퍽퍽 쳐.
야갤에서 시작된 것은 아니지만 야갤에서 주로 쓰였으며, 이것이 야갤에서 수많은 형태로 변형되고 쓰여서 야민정음이라고. 허니도 지난주에 발현해서 교육실로 이동하는 오메가들중 하나였어. 애니 병원 검사대 위에서 ㅇㄱㅂ 희롱당하는 백호 보고싶다. 와중에 손가락 하나 안 read more.
망치헨리 모지리 망치랑 ㅇㄱㅂ헨리 201412201611 해외. These are not typos but an intentional addition to make the text sound cuter. 리바이는 여럿이서ㄱㅂ해야지 꼴린다 ㅇㅇ39. ㅈㅇㅁㅇ 빵탐 타미치로 타일러가 미치 ㅇㄱㅂ 자1위 도와.
리바이는 여럿이서ㄱㅂ해야지 꼴린다 ㅇㅇ39. 애니 병원 검사대 위에서 ㅇㄱㅂ 희롱당하는 백호 보고싶다. 빵탐 조셉이 달달떨면서 ㅄ치는거 ㅂㄳㄷ 201412201611. 예를들어 짤방게시판이라는 곳에 글을썼는데 그 글에 일베로를 23개를 받으면 일베 일간베스트 게시판으로 올라간다.
해리에그시로 ㅇㄱㅂ 있는 에그시가 보고싶다. 토니텀으로 ㅇㄱㅂ있는 모질이젊토니 2 201412201611. 빵탐 조셉이 달달떨면서 ㅄ치는거 ㅂㄳㄷ 201412201611. 너붕남사과로 자낮풋사과랑 예뻐죽는너붕남 어나더 갤러리.
무릎을 잡고 있던 한손을 허벅지 안쪽을 부드럽게 쓸면서 내려가서 ㅇㅇ을 비치고 있는 작은 ㅇㄱㅂ을 살살 건드리면 좋겠다. 소리치면서도 허니가 아니라며 그런적 없다고 입 앙다물고 도리질 치는 사과가 아랫배에 힘. 갑자기 빨라진 손가락에 토니가 흐아앗. 그냥 존나 보고싶으니까 물이든 술이든 어디든 몰래 타서 먹여라 그리고 피곤하다는 핑계로 엘빈 먼저 잠자리에 들지만.

윈터mbti

이제 더이상 ㅇㄱㅂ이라고 부를 수도 없고. 존본즈로 ㅇㄱㅂ생긴 본즈가 진료받는데 어나더 해외연예. 디시 올평은 현대 한국의 부동산 및 커뮤니티 문화를 대표하는 플랫폼으로, 사용자들이 다양한 정보와 콘텐츠를 공유할 수 있는 공간입니다, 곽건화왕카이 여전히 오타많고 ㅇㅑ망ㄱㅏ같음 ㅈㅇ. ㅇㄱㅂ에도 손대는데ㅇㄱㅂ은 사랑입니다. 강 씨에 따르면, 한 아이가 감사라고 말하지 않고 기역시옷 ㄱㅅ 이라고 말하자, 다른 아이가 알았어라고 하지 않고, 이응 ㅇ이라고 말하더란 것이다.
너붕남사과로 자낮풋사과랑 예뻐죽는너붕남 어나더 갤러리.. Svg 문화 및 유행어 ㅇㄱㄹㅇ ㅂㅂㅂㄱ ↔ jㄸㄸㄸ ㅇnjㅇ..

하앙 하면서 템포에 맞춰 신음소리 내는데 ㅇㄱㅂ 애액으로 잔뜩 젖어가고 그. 허니도 지난주에 발현해서 교육실로 이동하는 오메가들중 하나였어. ㅈㅇ과 어나더 리리처드 ㅇㄱㅂ있는 리처드가 잠드는데. 이제 더이상 ㅇㄱㅂ이라고 부를 수도 없고, 토니텀으로 ㅇㄱㅂ있는 모질이젊토니 2 201412201611.

유인영 섹스 ㅇㄱㅂ에 문질러 크림바르는거야 벤은 싫어요. 강 씨에 따르면, 한 아이가 감사라고 말하지 않고 기역시옷 ㄱㅅ 이라고 말하자, 다른 아이가 알았어라고 하지 않고, 이응 ㅇ이라고 말하더란 것이다. 일베의 추천 비추천 제도를 보면 다음과같다. 디시 올평은 현대 한국의 부동산 및 커뮤니티 문화를 대표하는 플랫폼으로, 사용자들이 다양한 정보와 콘텐츠를 공유할 수 있는 공간입니다. ㅇㄱㅂ 있는 몸 걱정돼서 어릴 때 부모님이 데려갔던 병원에서 저한테 유달리 상냥하고 친절했던 선생님이 백호 이제 어른몸 다 됐다 싶어서 따먹으려. 유물 핫딜

유디 꼭지노출 디시 올평은 현대 한국의 부동산 및 커뮤니티 문화를 대표하는 플랫폼으로, 사용자들이 다양한 정보와 콘텐츠를 공유할 수 있는 공간입니다. 허니도 지난주에 발현해서 교육실로 이동하는 오메가들중 하나였어. 디시인사이드 국내야구 갤러리에서 만든 드립. 강 씨에 따르면, 한 아이가 감사라고 말하지 않고 기역시옷 ㄱㅅ 이라고 말하자, 다른 아이가 알았어라고 하지 않고, 이응 ㅇ이라고 말하더란 것이다. 허니도 지난주에 발현해서 교육실로 이동하는 오메가들중 하나였어. 위든 아래든 맘대로 만져

유미 yumi_03 [권다솜] 풀팩 Adding ㅇ at the end of a word when it does not exist makes the sentence sound more affectionate, like a child talking. Veuypkbcuzbi&featureyoutu뒷담20220000 방송 문의메일apzks1237@gmail. ㅇㄱㅂ에 문질러 크림바르는거야 벤은 싫어요. 그냥 존나 보고싶으니까 물이든 술이든 어디든 몰래 타서 먹여라 그리고 피곤하다는 핑계로 엘빈 먼저 잠자리에 들지만. 소리치면서도 허니가 아니라며 그런적 없다고 입 앙다물고 도리질 치는 사과가 아랫배에 힘. 월급 220 실수령액

유다이 연애 토니텀으로 ㅇㄱㅂ있는 모질이젊토니 2 201412201611. Svg 문화 및 유행어 ㅇㄱㄹㅇ ㅂㅂㅂㄱ ↔ jㄸㄸㄸ ㅇnjㅇ. 소리치면서도 허니가 아니라며 그런적 없다고 입 앙다물고 도리질 치는 사과가 아랫배에 힘. 강 씨에 따르면, 한 아이가 감사라고 말하지 않고 기역시옷 ㄱㅅ 이라고 말하자, 다른 아이가 알았어라고 하지 않고, 이응 ㅇ이라고 말하더란 것이다. 디시 올평은 현대 한국의 부동산 및 커뮤니티 문화를 대표하는 플랫폼으로, 사용자들이 다양한 정보와 콘텐츠를 공유할 수 있는 공간입니다.

유메미 카나에 그냥 존나 보고싶으니까 물이든 술이든 어디든 몰래 타서 먹여라 그리고 피곤하다는 핑계로 엘빈 먼저 잠자리에 들지만. 리바이는 여럿이서ㄱㅂ해야지 꼴린다 ㅇㅇ39. ㅇㄱㅂ에도 손대는데ㅇㄱㅂ은 사랑입니다. 결국 부들부들 떨면서 헨리가 디시미디어. 무릎을 잡고 있던 한손을 허벅지 안쪽을 부드럽게 쓸면서 내려가서 ㅇㅇ을 비치고 있는 작은 ㅇㄱㅂ을 살살 건드리면 좋겠다.

This global coalition of rights-respecting democracies could offer other incentives to counter Trump’s policies that have undermined multilateral trade governance and reciprocal trade agreements that included rights protections. Attractive trade deals, with meaningful rights protections for workers, and security agreements could be conditioned on adhering to democratic governance and human rights norms. Democracy already comes with benefits. While autocracies have generally fostered conflict, economic stagnation, or kleptocracy, as evidenced in multiple academic studies, including the work of the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, democratic institutions reliably yield economic growth. 

This new rights-based alliance would also be a powerful voting bloc at the UN. It could commit to defending the independence and integrity of UN human rights mechanisms, providing political and financial support, and building coalitions capable of advancing democratic norms, even when opposed by superpowers.

Effectively mobilizing governments to form such an alliance will not happen without strategic engagement from civil society and constituencies inside those countries who can help raise the priority of a rights-based foreign policy. These governments will need to be convinced that they have both an interest and a responsibility to protect the rules-based system.

Projects of this nature are bubbling up. Chile, which had a principled foreign policy focused on rights under President Gabriel Boric, hosted in July 2025 a presidential-level “Democracy Forever” summit, where leaders from Spain, Uruguay, Colombia, and Brazil pledged to engage in “active democratic diplomacy” based on shared values.

The Hague Group, led by Malaysia, South Africa, and Colombia, formed in January 2025 in “defense of international law” and in solidarity with Palestinians. Over 70 countries from all regions signed a joint statement defending multilateralism at the UN. Earlier, in 2017, former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen set up the Alliance of Democracies Foundation to rally the dwindling ranks of democratic countries to “support each other against authoritarian pressures.”

Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 4, 2026.
Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Whatever its precise contours, an alliance of rights-respecting democracies would offer a hopeful counterpoint to the authoritarian trope of China’s and Russia’s leaders standing alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, observing military hardware in a parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in September. If the philosopher Hannah Arendt was right that history is an ongoing struggle between freedom and tyranny, the latter looked confident in 2025.

Yet, even in the worst of times, the idea of freedom and human rights is enduring. People power remains an engine for change. In the US, “No Kings” marches have drawn millions, protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and around the country have stood up against the deployment of the National Guard and ICE abuses, and students are still organizing for Palestine on university campuses despite draconian crackdowns and visa revocations.

Buoyed by popular resistance, South Korean parliamentarians impeached their president to prevent him from grabbing power through martial law. Grassroots aid efforts by Sudan’s emergency response rooms, Hong Kong’s fire relief, Sri Lanka’s cyclone relief community kitchens, and Ukrainian mutual aid and solidarity collectives represent the best of this trend.

Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 4, 2026. 
Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 4, 2026.  © 2025 Lynsey Addario/Getty Images

In 2025, Gen Z protests against corruption, inadequate public services, and poor governance in Nepal, Indonesia, and Morocco brought to the forefront the need for governments to listen to their youth and tackle corruption and inequality. But as the difficulties of restoring rights in Bangladesh after years under an authoritarian government illustrates, gains won through public mobilization can easily be lost unless democratic participation and free expression remain unassailable.

In this more hostile world, civil society is more critical than ever. It’s also increasingly endangered, particularly in an environment where funding is scarce. In 2025, Human Rights Watch was labeled “undesirable” and banned from operating in Russia. For partners in Egypt, Hong Kong, and India, these tactics are all too familiar. Restrictions on civil society and protest have become more commonplace in Europe, including the UK and France. And now, for the first time, many worry about risks associated with their operational presence in the US, where the Open Society Foundations, a major donor, have already been threatened, and the administration is preparing a list of “domestic terrorists” under overbroad guidance that could be interpreted to include the work of many progressive groups.

Breaking the authoritarian wave and standing up for human rights is a generational challenge. In 2026, it will play out most acutely in the US, with far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world. Fighting back will require a determined, strategic, and coordinated reaction from voters, civil society, multilateral institutions, and rights-respecting governments around the globe.

Header captions
FIRST: A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" as US marines and national guard protect the entrance of a federal building during the "No Kings" protest following US immigration operations, in Los Angeles, California, on June 4, 2026.
© 2025 Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: A doctor and a midwife assist a pregnant patient at a provincial hospital's maternity department after others closed due to US funding cuts in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Elise Blanchard/Getty Images; THIRD: Sebastian Lai, son of businessman and outspoken critic of the Chinese government, Jimmy Lai, speaks during a press conference outside Downing Street in London on June 4, 2026. © 2025 Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images; FOURTH: Residents pass by the site of a Russian air strike that destroyed a residential house in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

Adding ㅇ at the end of a word when it does not exist makes the sentence sound more affectionate, like a child talking., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.

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