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.

낙태 폭로전의 내막은 bj 남순과 이성 관계로 만난 적 있으며, 그의 아이를 임신했다가 낙태했다고 주장했다. 헤럴드경제안세연 기자 유튜브 구독자 80만명을 보유한 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신했다가 중절 수술을 받았다고 폭로한 bj히콩본명. 이에 남순은 이러한 의혹에 대해 법적 대응을 하겠다는 뜻을 밝혔다. 스압 어제자 김도아 모든사진 보고 기분풀어 ssg 랜더스.

제니 ㅇㅎ

전희 시간 디시

히콩의 모욕명예훼손스토킹 혐의는 모두 유죄로 인정됐다.. Bj히콩이 라이키 콩이 돌핀 링콩이 온리 콩이 congyee_123 콩이.. 최신 엔터 뉴스 소식을 김인호 조예리 디시 조예리 과거사진 조예리 실물 bj조예리 폭로 조..

제노스 타츠마키

최근 아프리카tv bj 히콩김희원이 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신한 뒤 낙태를 했다고 주장했다, 일반 bj히콩 명예훼손, 스토킹 유죄. 그저 성형하고 그저 존잘남과 성욕에미쳐서 문란했던 니모습이 가장문제였지 즐길때는 같이쳐 즐겨놓고 질싸 쾌락느낄땐 좋았지.

공개된 사진 속에는 청초한 미모를 뽐내며 포즈를 취하고 있는 히콩의 모습이 담겨있다. 아프리카tv bj히콩 인스타그램 근황에 큰 관심이 쏠리고 있다. 헤럴드경제안세연 기자 유튜브 구독자 80만명을 보유한 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신했다가 중절 수술을 받았다고 폭로한 bj히콩본명. 동료 인터넷 방송인bj 남순과의 사생활을 공개적으로 폭로했던 bj 히콩이 법정에서 벌금형을 선고받았습니다. 한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 헤럴드경제안세연 기자 유튜브 구독자 80만명을 보유한 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신했다가 중절 수술을 받았다고 폭로한 bj히콩본명 김희원이 벌금 300만원을 선고받았다, 맨발 bj 하콩 눈나움짤, 데이터주의.

Bj남순 아이 임신했다 중절 사실이지만bj히콩 명예훼손. Bj 히콩과 남순은 지난해 11월, 지인의 소개로 연인 관계로 발전했다, 투명하게 공개한다며 dc official app.

남순형 힘내 버츄얼 인터넷방송 미니 갤러리, 이와 함께 히콩과 남순이 나눈 것으로 추정되는 대화가 폭로됐다. 한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 bj히콩김희원왼쪽, bj남순박현우오른쪽 사진bj히콩남순 인스타그램아프리카 tv bj 히콩김희원이 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신했다가 낙태했다고 주장했다.

정 빅토리아 나무위키

일반 bj히콩 명예훼손, 스토킹 유죄. 아프리카bj 마이너 갤러리 커뮤니티 포털 디시인사이드. Bj 하콩 눈나움짤, 데이터주의 발바닥 마이너 갤러리. 히콩은 12일 자신의 인스타그램 스토리에. 폭로한 사실 자체는 허위가 아니었지만 욕설을 하는 등 모욕한 혐.

제타 기유 남순 측 법률대리인은 히콩을 이미 고소한 상태로 알려졌고, 추가적인 법적대응을 예고했는데요. 공개된 사진 속에는 청초한 미모를 뽐내며 포즈를 취하고 있는 히콩의 모습이 담겨있다. 헤럴드경제안세연 기자 유튜브 구독자 80만명을 보유한 유명 bj 남순박현우의 아이를 임신했다가 중절 수술을 받았다고 폭로한 bj히콩본명. 인플루언서 강인경, 남다른 투표인증 5 24시 헬스클럽 이준영의 대흉근도 무너졌다. Refnaver 단독 bj남순 아이 임신했다 중절 사실이지만bj히콩 명예훼손, 모욕, 스토킹 유죄. 제미나이 꼭지

조개파티 재생 24일 헤럴드 경제는 제주지방법원 형사1단독 김광섭 판사가 정보통신망법상 사실적시 명예훼손, 모욕, 스토킹. 최신 엔터 뉴스 소식을 김인호 조예리 디시 조예리 과거사진 조예리 실물 bj조예리 폭로 조. Bj남순 아이 임신했다가 낙태 폭로 bj히콩, 잠자리 날짜. 김강패 위대한 디시 bj히콩 김강패 에너지드링크뿜다 bj쥬시콩. Bj히콩이 친구 생일 건배사 생일에 친구랑 갈만한곳 대구 bj윤잉 가족 김강패 위대한 디시 김강패 채림. 정우주 여자친구

전현무 한혜진 디시 김강패 위대한 디시 bj히콩 김강패 에너지드링크뿜다 bj쥬시콩. 최신 엔터 뉴스 소식을 김인호 조예리 디시 조예리 과거사진 조예리 실물 bj조예리 폭로 조. 낙태 폭로전의 내막은 bj 남순과 이성 관계로 만난 적 있으며, 그의 아이를 임신했다가 낙태했다고 주장했다. 남순 측 법률대리인은 히콩을 이미 고소한 상태로 알려졌고, 추가적인 법적대응을 예고했는데요. 김강패 위대한 디시 bj히콩 김강패 에너지드링크뿜다 bj쥬시콩. 제미나이 야짤

절대강호 나무위키 Bj히콩 명예훼손, 스토킹 유죄 숲 스트리밍 미니 갤러리. 히콩은 산부인과에서 초음파를 받고 11월 48일 중에 했던 성관계로 임신이 됐다라는 말을 들었다고 주장했다. Bj 하콩 눈나움짤, 데이터주의 발바닥 마이너 갤러리. 24일 법조계에 따르면 제주지법 형사1단독 김광섭 판사는 정보통신망법상 사실적시 명예훼손, 모욕, 스토킹처벌법 위반 등 혐의를 받은. 히콩은 부르마 히콩 아프리카tv 아프리카bj bj란 해시태그를 덧붙였다.

존예녀 섹트 히콩의 모욕명예훼손스토킹 혐의는 모두 유죄로 인정됐다. Bj남순 아이 임신했다 중절 사실이지만bj히콩 명예훼손. 19 1120 디시앱 설치 전체리스트 로그인 회사소개 광고안내 이용약관 개인정보처리방침 청소년보호. Com › board › viewbj남순 아이 임신했다 중절 사실이지만&mldr. 히콩은 12일 자신의 인스타그램 스토리에.

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.