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위에 사진처럼 귀여운 얼굴 특수문자부터 구경해보니 트럼프카드 특수문자까지 있더라구요.

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 6, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 6, 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 6, 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 6, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 6, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 6, 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 6, 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.

Likes, 0 comments awwponytail on 🏝️이렇게 온라인 광고 우리의 도구, 이재명 팬아트가 완성되었습니다 😊 @2_jaemyung 이재명 지금은이재명 진짜대한민국 더불어민주당 섬칠라. 또 이재명 후보를 앞서 소재로 삼았던 캐릭터들의 공통점인 안경을 쓰고 더불어민주당 당색인 파란색 넥타이를 착용한 이재명 후보 손뜨개 인형이. 26 2323 놀라는 모습의 홍준표 도트아트. 아이언맨 이재명과 우산 든 윤석열로 그림 대결승자는.

18 1249 이재명 아스키아트 볼때마다 이거 생각남.

11 0713 두차이햄, 플라스틱, 항세자 아스키 아트. 이재명 대통령을 보고 있으면 생각나는 이분 도트픽시스. 이 특수문자도 다들 이용하시면 좋을 것 같아요. 미디어파인이창석 편집인 화가 고리들과 디자이너 한승민이 이재명 대선후보를 위한 예술포스터 프로젝트를 시작했다.

이재명 아스키아트 볼때마다 이거 생각남 치지직.

30 1445 간만에 정치인 도트아트 모음. 잡담 이재명 더피인형 도트아트 커엽당ㅜㅜ 322 4 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. Likes, 0 comments awwponytail on 경선 압도적인 승리를 기원합니다💙 우리 모두 후보님 열심히 응원해요🙌 🏝️104번째 그림 지금은. Likes, 0 comments artgg_official on aug 2025 아트경기 작가 이재명 이재명, lee, jaemyung 이재명은 인공적 사물의 현실 상태와 잠재적 차원의 다양성에 주목한다. 잡담 이재명 더피인형 도트아트 커엽당ㅜㅜ 322 4 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 닌볼트 작가는 영화 <어벤저스> 시리즈의 타노스 장갑을 끼고 있는 아이언맨의 얼굴 대신 이재명 민주당 대선후보의 얼굴을 그리고 있고, 왼쪽. 26 2323 놀라는 모습의 홍준표 도트아트, 이재명 이모티콘, 이재명 팬아트 한둘 韓 티스토리. 109 likes, 20 comments vanillanail_ on janu 요청하신 디자인에 자석젤 추가로 유니크하고 넘 멋진 아트탄생😍🤍🖤🪄 ️ 이달의아트 자석네일 1월네일 블랙네일 글리터네일 오로라네일 리본네일 도트네일 웨딩네일 풀파츠네일 파츠네일 글리터네일 컬러추가무료 파츠할인 손발동시시술시. Days ago 80 likes, 22 comments vanillanail_ on janu 세로그라의 유니크한 디자인🫶🤍🤎🖤 에그젤🖤🖤과 뉘앙스아트가 포인트🤍🩶 ️ ️ 이달의아트 뉘앙스네일 1월네일 달마시안네일 에그젤네일 쿠앤크네일 리본네일 도트네일 웨딩네일 풀파츠네일.

Likes, 1 Comments Awwponytail On 우리의 도구, 1️⃣ 지금은 이재명 ️ 우리의 도구 태극기 Ver.

Day ago 0 likes, 0 comments pawtrait_main on janu 우리 아이와 레트로 감성의 만남, 픽셀 아트로 특별해지는 순간.. 109 likes, 20 comments vanillanail_ on janu 요청하신 디자인에 자석젤 추가로 유니크하고 넘 멋진 아트탄생😍🤍🖤🪄 ️ 이달의아트 자석네일 1월네일 블랙네일 글리터네일 오로라네일 리본네일 도트네일 웨딩네일 풀파츠네일 파츠네일 글리터네일 컬러추가무료 파츠할인 손발동시시술시.. 무려 11번이나 pawtrait art를 찾아주신 단골 고객.. 추미애 의원처럼 개혁에 있어서 단호함이나 치밀함을 갖추고, read more..
우와 신기하다 더불어민주당 당대표겸 대권주자 이재명 국회의원을 지지하는 이재명 갤러리 입니다, 아트맵 전시리뷰 풍경들 이재명 포스코갤러리 포스코미술관은 에서 대상으로 선정된 『이재명 작가 개인전 풍경들』을 준비하였습니다. 위에 사진처럼 귀여운 얼굴 특수문자부터 구경해보니 트럼프카드 특수문자까지 있더라구요.

109 likes, 20 comments vanillanail_ on janu 요청하신 디자인에 자석젤 추가로 유니크하고 넘 멋진 아트탄생😍🤍🖤🪄 ️ 이달의아트 자석네일 1월네일 블랙네일 글리터네일 오로라네일 리본네일 도트네일 웨딩네일 풀파츠네일 파츠네일 글리터네일 컬러추가무료 파츠할인 손발동시시술시. Likes, 1 comments awwponytail on 우리의 도구, 1️⃣ 지금은 이재명 ️ 우리의 도구 태극기 ver. 닌볼트 작가는 영화 <어벤저스> 시리즈의 타노스 장갑을 끼고 있는 아이언맨의 얼굴 대신 이재명 민주당 대선후보의 얼굴을 그리고 있고, 왼쪽.

난처음봤을때 공혁준 아스키아트인줄알았음 ㅋㅋ. 그리고 스마트폰에서 찍힌 고효율 이미지인 heic을 지원한답니다, 30 1445 간만에 정치인 도트아트 모음, 그동안 각 분야나 주제별로 노무현의 성공과 실패를 살폈다 2003년 2월 9일 sbs 뉴스에서 유행어까지 낳은 당시 노무현 당선자의 독특한 화법이 화제가 read more.

379 Followers, 158 Following, 151 Posts 섬주민🏝 이재명 팬아트 @awwponytail On Instagram 이재명과 민주당을 지지합니다 그림그리기 이제 시작한 초보 잼칠라 주로 그립니다💙 이재명 잼칠라 프로크리에이트드로잉 @2_jaemyung.

Comdotart 🔮도트아트 ― sns keyboard 이미지를 도트 실루엣의 아스키 아트로 바꾸어 줍니다. 자세한 사용법 일단, 이 서비스는 유에서 유를 창조하는 것을 기본으로 하기 때문에 도트 아트를 얻기 위해서는 이를 변환할 이미지가 필요해요, 아이언맨 이재명과 우산 든 윤석열로 그림 대결승자는. 닌볼트 작가는 영화 <어벤저스> 시리즈의 타노스 장갑을 끼고 있는 아이언맨의 얼굴 대신 이재명 민주당 대선후보의 얼굴을 그리고 있고, 왼쪽, 그는 사물의 전체는 항상 지각되지 않은 무언가와 함께 한다고 보고, 정지되거나 기능을 상실한 이미지를 수집해 정보를 가리거나. 109 likes, 20 comments vanillanail_ on janu 요청하신 디자인에 자석젤 추가로 유니크하고 넘 멋진 아트탄생😍🤍🖤🪄 ️ 이달의아트 자석네일 1월네일 블랙네일 글리터네일 오로라네일 리본네일 도트네일 웨딩네일 풀파츠네일 파츠네일 글리터네일 컬러추가무료 파츠할인 손발동시시술시.

점자아트는 2021년부터 네이버 웹툰 댓글에 자주 보이는 방식이다, 엄마표미술놀이 마미아트 만들기영상 미술강좌 학교미술 방과후미술 미술교육 초등교육 유아교육 취미생활 집콕 미술놀이 유아미술 초등. 30 1445 간만에 정치인 도트아트 모음. Likes, 0 comments awwponytail on 경선 압도적인 승리를 기원합니다💙 우리 모두 후보님 열심히 응원해요🙌 🏝️104번째 그림 지금은, 26 2323 놀라는 모습의 홍준표 도트아트, 이재명 대통령을 보고 있으면 생각나는 이분 도트픽시스.

Likes, 1 comments awwponytail on 우리의 도구, 1️⃣ 지금은 이재명 ️ 우리의 도구 태극기 ver. 엄마표미술놀이 마미아트 만들기영상 미술강좌 학교미술 방과후미술 미술교육 초등교육 유아교육 취미생활 집콕 미술놀이 유아미술 초등. 공지가 길다면 한번씩 눌러서 읽어주시면 됩니다. 아스키아트 +도트아트 존재하지 않는 이미지입니다.

Americana bonitaropa님이 찾은 핀입니다. Com › board › view노무현 도트아트 노무현 갤러리 디시인사이드. Com › board › view노무현 도트아트 노무현 갤러리 디시인사이드, Com › 6122640228삭제된 글입니다, 섬주민🏝 이재명 팬아트 경선 압도적인 승리를 기원합니다.

슬더스갤 Com › 6122640228삭제된 글입니다. Comdotart 🔮도트아트 ― sns keyboard 이미지를 도트 실루엣의 아스키 아트로 바꾸어 줍니다. Nhn엔터, 픽셀아트 모바일 rpg 크루세이더 퀘스트 글로벌. Day ago 0 likes, 0 comments pawtrait_main on janu 우리 아이와 레트로 감성의 만남, 픽셀 아트로 특별해지는 순간. Likes, 0 comments realprogress. 스포츠중계 슈퍼 팡

숲 태희 디시 이른바 ‘쥴리 벽화’와 ‘김부선 벽화’가 그려졌던 서울 종로구의 한 중고서점 외벽에서 더불어민주당 이재명 대선 후보와 국민의힘 윤석열 대선 후보 벽화로 ‘아트배틀’이 펼쳐졌다. 난처음봤을때 공혁준 아스키아트인줄알았음 ㅋㅋ. Kr › arti › society포토 아이언맨 이재명과 우산 씌워주는 윤석열 ‘아트배틀’. 기후 위기표현의 가치아시아 9개국 예술가, 대학로서 머리. 공지가 길다면 한번씩 눌러서 읽어주시면 됩니다. 스트림 레코더 치지직

스트립챗 계정 비활성화 아이언맨 이재명과 우산 든 윤석열로 그림 대결승자는. 극혐 盧 노알라 라는 제목과 함께 노무현 전 대통령의 영정 사진. 닌볼트 작가는 영화 <어벤저스> 시리즈의 타노스 장갑을 끼고 있는 아이언맨의 얼굴 대신 이재명 민주당 대선후보의 얼굴을 그리고 있고, 왼쪽. Americana bonitaropa님이 찾은 핀입니다. 이른바 ‘쥴리 벽화’와 ‘김부선 벽화’가 그려졌던 서울 종로구의 한 중고서점 외벽에서 더불어민주당 이재명 대선 후보와 국민의힘 윤석열 대선 후보 벽화로 ‘아트배틀’이 펼쳐졌다. 스카 야노 디시

시노부 기유 디시 기후 위기표현의 가치아시아 9개국 예술가, 대학로서 머리. 미디어파인이창석 편집인 화가 고리들과 디자이너 한승민이 이재명 대선후보를 위한 예술포스터 프로젝트를 시작했다. 그동안 각 분야나 주제별로 노무현의 성공과 실패를 살폈다 2003년 2월 9일 sbs 뉴스에서 유행어까지 낳은 당시 노무현 당선자의 독특한 화법이 화제가 read more. 닌볼트 작가는 영화 <어벤저스> 시리즈의 타노스 장갑을 끼고 있는 아이언맨의 얼굴 대신 이재명 민주당 대선후보의 얼굴을 그리고 있고, 왼쪽. 한눈에 보는 오늘 it과학 뉴스 nhn엔터테인먼트 아주경제 정광연 기자 nhn엔터테인먼트대표 정우진가 서비스하고 로드컴플릿대표.

시노부 설사 이재명 이모티콘, 이재명 팬아트 한둘 韓 티스토리. 이른바 쥴리 벽화와 김부선 벽화가 그려졌던 서울 종로구의 한 중고서점 외벽에서 더불어민주당 이재명 대선 후보와 국민의힘 윤석열 대선 후보. 엄마표미술놀이 유아미술 강좌 도트슬림을 소개합니다. Comasciiartgenerator대충 보면 어케 쓰는지 앎. 26 2323 놀라는 모습의 홍준표 도트아트.

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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 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 6, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

Likes, 0 comments donghyeon5719 on j 이재명 1963 이재명 미술 챗지피티 지브리 아트어스., 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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