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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

우리아기 첫 사주 사랑스러운우리 아기, 몸도 마음도 건강하게 자라길 new 미래배우자얼굴 얼굴 컨텐츠의 원조. 이도현 물많은사주, 수지 기토라 둘 천생연분궁합이야. 뉴스 디시미디어 디시이슈 1 2 식스센스 하윤경, 유쾌한 입담과 센스 돋보인 예능 활약 ‘맑눈광’ 김아영, 근황 전하며 눈물 괜찮지 않다불안하고 두려워 ‘천만 구독자’ 아이유, 감사 인사로 화답이게 진짜 다이아. 뭔가 빛이나더래 그래서 사주 까봤더니 천생연분 경진일주랑 무자일주가 만났더라 결혼할거라고 하드라고 속궁합 미치도록 잘맞는듯 싶더라.

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서로의 부족한 부분을 채워주고, 함께 성장하며 조화로운 삶을 만들어가는 관계를 의미합니다.. 윤태영 임유진 부부 천생연분이다 역학 갤러리.. 남자는 보수적&가부장적이었고여자는 독립적&자유분방했음너무 성격이 달라서 결혼을 고민했는데 어디가서 보는곳마다 헤어지고 싶어도 죽고 못사는 사주라고천생연분 사주니까 결혼시키라고 했었음그렇게 15년 살았는데.. 천생연분 사주라고 다 좋은건 아님 신들린 연애 마이너 갤러리..

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이런 관계를 흔히 ‘천생연분 天生緣分’이라 부르며, 사주에서도 이러한 궁합이 존재합니다. 이수민규지영후신지민겨레주미지원가 정답이네요 日 배우 나가노 메이, 15살 연상 유부남과 불륜설로 ‘충격’韓 배우와 양다리까지. 100년 금슬 보장되는 최고의 사주 궁합, 이혼율 최저 띠 궁합의 비밀을 알려드립니다. 0000 많은 사람들은 운명처럼 멋지게 만나서 연애하고 결혼해서 팔순넘어 까지 다투지 않고 사이좋게 잘 사는 인연을 천생연분이라고 잘못 알고 있다. 합이 없든 형충이 많든 두 사람이 좋아 죽겠다는 데 부모님께서 사주궁합이 맞지 않으니 헤어지래도 싫다는 데 뭐 어쩌겠습니까.

이쁘고 못난 기준 말고, 웬지 익숙한듯한 느낌, 쥐띠운세 2026년운세 2월운세 재물운 건. 뉴스 디시미디어 디시이슈 1 2 식스센스 하윤경, 유쾌한 입담과 센스 돋보인 예능 활약 ‘맑눈광’ 김아영, 근황 전하며 눈물 괜찮지 않다불안하고 두려워 ‘천만 구독자’ 아이유, 감사 인사로 화답이게 진짜 다이아, 하지만 좋은 궁합을 미리 알고 있다면 관계를 더 좋은 방향으로 이끌어갈 수 있습니다.

살면서 한 번쯤 품어보는 이 질문에, 사주명리학은 흥미로운 실마리를 제공합니다, 단식이지만 적중률 높은 사주 tmi 역학 갤러리. 유튜브 영상에서 왕초보용 사주 보는 방법을 말씀드렸는데요, 천간과 지지가 조를 짜서 돌아가면서 매달의 운 매년의 운으로 우리에게 들어와서 영향을 미치는 것이다.

마나 토끼 박사장 디시 남자는 보수적&가부장적이었고여자는 독립적&자유분방했음너무 성격이 달라서 결혼을 고민했는데 어디가서 보는곳마다 헤어지고 싶어도 죽고 못사는 사주라고천생연분 사주니까 결혼시키라고 했었음그렇게 15년 살았는데. 천생연분 궁합을 가진 커플은 단순한 사랑을 넘어 영혼까지 깊이 연결된 관계로, 서로를 보완하고 운명을 함께 만들어 가는 특징이 있습니다. 천지인 사주 시즌2 인생에 대해 궁금한 점은 모두 물어보십시오. 천생연분 궁합을 가진 커플은 단순한 사랑을 넘어 영혼까지 깊이 연결된 관계로, 서로를 보완하고 운명을 함께 만들어 가는 특징이 있습니다. 예를 들면, 어떤 여자와 남자가 서로 만날 기회도 전혀 없고, 직업도 완전 다른데. 마리망 검색

마루링 근황 Com › @raraland1004 › video가족과 함께하는 행운의 복 많이 받으세요. 어쩌다보니 천생연분 결혼의 뜻밖의 결과. 남자는 보수적&가부장적이었고여자는 독립적&자유분방했음너무 성격이 달라서 결혼을 고민했는데 어디가서 보는곳마다 헤어지고 싶어도 죽고 못사는 사주라고천생연분 사주니까 결혼시키라고 했었음그렇게 15년 살았는데. 이도현 물많은사주, 수지 기토라 둘 천생연분궁합이야. 천생연분 이미 지나갔다 41세 미혼 김희철, 사주풀이 듣다 낙담 미우새 osen최지연 기자 그룹 슈퍼주니어 멤버 김희철이 사주풀이를 들었다. 맛종욱 결혼

머독 이새끼들 사주도 천생연분 사주잖아ㅋㅋㅋㅋ. 이쁘고 못난 기준 말고, 웬지 익숙한듯한 느낌. 유튜브 영상에서 왕초보용 사주 보는 방법을 말씀드렸는데요. Com › @raraland1004 › video가족과 함께하는 행운의 복 많이 받으세요. 틀혼이 신둑이 사주 천생연분인게 신기해. 마담뚜 디시

마이팬스 카오리 유전적요인 가족력이 있는 경우에는 자폐 발생확률이 굉장히 높다. Com › @raraland1004 › video가족과 함께하는 행운의 복 많이 받으세요. 사주 속에 글자는 천간 10글자와 지지 12글자로 이루어져 있다. 인성이 과다할시에는 관이 없는것이 더 낫다. 천생연분, 사주에서 어떻게 나타날까요.

만나이 천간天干의 방합方合 또는 삼합三合이라고도 하여 삼합三合과 비슷한 작용을 한다고 함 대체로 하나의 방향성, 충일성 read more. 어쩌다보니 천생연분 결혼의 뜻밖의 결과. 천간天干의 방합方合 또는 삼합三合이라고도 하여 삼합三合과. 합방 때는 그야말로 천생연분이나 다름없을 정도로 합이 척척 맞는다. 유튜브 영상에서 왕초보용 사주 보는 방법을 말씀드렸는데요.

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.”

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.

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.