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.

By dic80, wednesday at 0327 pm in requests & fills s_men2024 taebeom_25 read more. 更新：結果tt1069關鍵字是精實？？ 網址數字是5407132. 更新：結果tt1069關鍵字是精實？？ 網址數字是5407132. Posted on 20230104 070131 好期待完整版的链接，谢谢 posted on 20230104 071624 很精彩的一次性交 posted on 20230104 073628 一號好讚好優 posted on 20230104 074241 跪求完整版 posted on 20230104 074731 超讚的 感謝分享！！ posted on 20230104 074950 一直很tyler wu,可攻可受非常棒 posted on 20230104 081524 很棒的身材.

게이 커뮤 추천

韓國帥哥都蠻帥 6_215 posted on 20220425 011800 好誘人啊⋯⋯ posted on 20220429 112235 謝謝分享，很喜歡這個系列 posted on 20230418 013215 這一位條件很好耶 posted on 20230418 023123 好帥的韓國帥哥 posted on 20230418 030819 腹肌超級性感 posted on 20230418 045547 這一位.. 500k top 1% @alantop1069 posts ‼️nsfw情慾內容未滿18歲請勿瀏覽‼️ see more movies linktr.. 韓國？ 巨大？ emmm posted on 20230907 011422 企劃很棒～～～～～～～ posted on 20230907 011439 好棒喔 真好 posted on 20230907 012141 太棒了，吃 posted on 20230907 012408 好看，謝謝分享 posted on 20230907 012504 刚在推刷到来这边又看到啦～看来真的火了哈哈 posted on 2023..

Posted on 20220826 072620 good good good love it posted on 20220826 073543 好喜歡這部 posted on 20220826 073837 從後面騎上去還真是爽 posted on 20220826 081741 終於看到，感謝分享 posted on 20220826 090711 6_229幹好爽 posted on 20220826 090834 感謝分享，以前只看過片段 posted on 20220826 090954 劇情啦 哪個醉了被強. 事故中，78歲邱范姓婦人傷勢最為嚴重，當場無生命跡象，送醫急救後於晚間7時37分宣告不治。今日下午檢察官會同法醫與婦人的3名女兒在桃園殯儀館進行相驗，死者 read more, 韓國其實都拍的蠻假的 但大大的辛苦是真的 posted on 20230206 055344 很帅～～～～ posted on 20230207 021011 好像一个主播。 posted on 20230207 023510 這個已經很舊 posted on 20230207 103449 好簽含的肉棒 posted on 20230207 034158 韓國竟然有漏！ posted on 20230207 073201.

Posted on 20230104 070131 好期待完整版的链接，谢谢 posted on 20230104 071624 很精彩的一次性交 posted on 20230104 073628 一號好讚好優 posted on 20230104 074241 跪求完整版 posted on 20230104 074731 超讚的 感謝分享！！ posted on 20230104 074950 一直很tyler wu,可攻可受非常棒 posted on 20230104 081524 很棒的身材. 韓國twitter 身材超好的韓國軍人 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網 free gay forum tt1069, Com › pkboy1069twitter, Tt1069 迷姦 空姐絲襪美腿高清美女圖韓國a漫畫偷拍浴室國小, Html 不精不貼 大隻腹肌師哥 脫衣誘惑 他能令你做綺夢嗎？, Posted on 20230104 070131 好期待完整版的链接，谢谢 posted on 20230104 071624 很精彩的一次性交 posted on 20230104 073628 一號好讚好優 posted on 20230104 074241 跪求完整版 posted on 20230104 074731 超讚的 感謝分享！！ posted on 20230104 074950 一直很tyler wu,可攻可受非常棒 posted on 20230104 081524 很棒的身材.

網盤下載區 multi of 韓國野獸 korean beast 21歲練習生床上肉搏.. 5 posted on 20220110 083300 超壯的 被他幹一定很爽 posted on 20220509 091244 台客就是讚 很羨慕吹到好屌..

결국해주는누나

Tt1069 迷姦 空姐絲襪美腿高清美女圖韓國a漫畫偷拍浴室國小打手槍koreanbiacum 7 17 john street new york ny 三津谷葉子ヌード 平成26 年は西暦何年 東海オンエア, 好可愛的韓國歐巴，噴噴好讚阿阿阿阿 posted on 20240615 011959 thank you for sharing 身材很棒 posted on 20240615 013438 斯文好看 posted on 20240615 014313 原來是他我有追蹤ig一陣子了 posted on 20240615 060721 小鮮肉的感覺 但好高 好棒 謝謝 posted on 20240615 061257 身材很讚. 真的嗎？ 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網 free gay forum, By dic80, wednesday at 0327 pm in requests & fills s_men2024 taebeom_25 read more.

Html若隱若現 出浴誘惑男 你想和他一起洗澡嗎？ 大圖 url url. It’s what’s happening twitter. Posted on 20250112 124047 比較喜歡之前的 posted on 20250112 012232 很帥身材又好 感謝分享 posted on 20250112 012540 很优很享受 posted on 20250112 013708 只有幫客人打射,按摩師不需要全裸吧 posted on 20250112 013822. 電影區 peekvid韓國翹臀網黃『새로이』saeroi（@sa9988765）. Twitter韓國肌肉軍人被爽操 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網 free gay forum tt1069, 韓國系列十五 性感精壯の黝黑帥氣歐巴 說他看過我拍的韓國系列 覺得被我吹感覺真的很爽 於是我們就邀約一天見面 見面後過沒多久他就硬了 因為他說很期待能被我.

강찹쌀 겨

韓國其實都拍的蠻假的 但大大的辛苦是真的 posted on 20230206 055344 很帅～～～～ posted on 20230207 021011 好像一个主播。 posted on 20230207 023510 這個已經很舊 posted on 20230207 103449 好簽含的肉棒 posted on 20230207 034158 韓國竟然有漏！ posted on 20230207 073201. Mp4韓國肌肉纹身哥哥落地窗前羞耻爆操小小受 mp4时間静止系列操逼操一半停止时間換個人操有女 mp4奶系鲜肉，帥氣腼腆的奶系肉棒弹出，正面m字腿急速抽插. 韓國？ 巨大？ emmm posted on 20230907 011422 企劃很棒～～～～～～～ posted on 20230907 011439 好棒喔 真好 posted on 20230907 012141 太棒了，吃 posted on 20230907 012408 好看，謝謝分享 posted on 20230907 012504 刚在推刷到来这边又看到啦～看来真的火了哈哈 posted on 2023. Kenny @kenny87850356.

Comalanto x formerly twitter, Org › zhmy › tt1069tt1069 维基百科，自由的百科全书 zh, 網盤下載區 multi of 韓國野獸 korean beast 21歲練習生床上肉搏, 7 years ago 915 健身教練輸到脫衣服🏋️ 初一 小腹肌會員專屬tt1069被封鎖！真相、爭議、vpn翻牆全解析 ｜fj234會員限定, 7 years ago 915 健身教練輸到脫衣服🏋️ 初一 小腹肌會員專屬tt1069被封鎖！真相、爭議、vpn翻牆全解析 ｜fj234會員限定.

和台灣三溫暖很不一樣的韓國當地三溫暖風俗， 韓國的小房間都沒有鎖，而且暗房會有很多人直接拿手機燈照你的臉， 不過在這家從3樓上4樓的樓梯牆上有用血紅色的跑馬燈警告大家不要帶手機上樓 不喜歡在暗房被用手機燈閃瞎眼的可以去。. 身材超好的韓國軍人 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網. Tw › 296112知名男同志論壇「tt1069」遭封鎖！網嘆：時代的眼淚 民生電子報.

강지 실물 서코 感覺可以直接火車便當xp 他的伴侶真好 posted on 20220109 111445 鍛鍊的如此強壯的韓國肌肉猛男 居然沒有正式寫真或比賽上台寫真只有花絮太可惜了ˊ. Org › zhmy › tt1069tt1069 维基百科，自由的百科全书 zh. Twitterѿ 屌韓國有無碼版的同志電影. 網盤下載區 多空短片 516 體育生帥哥私聊 + 韓國taehyun + liam + 控射巨根肌肉男 1080p. 7 years ago 915 健身教練輸到脫衣服🏋️ 初一 小腹肌會員專屬tt1069被封鎖！真相、爭議、vpn翻牆全解析 ｜fj234會員限定. 개조이 미드 디시

고로켓 딥페 Twitterѿ 屌韓國有無碼版的同志電影. Org › zhmy › tt1069tt1069 维基百科，自由的百科全书 zh. 和台灣三溫暖很不一樣的韓國當地三溫暖風俗， 韓國的小房間都沒有鎖，而且暗房會有很多人直接拿手機燈照你的臉， 不過在這家從3樓上4樓的樓梯牆上有用血紅色的跑馬燈警告大家不要帶手機上樓 不喜歡在暗房被用手機燈閃瞎眼的可以去。. Html 不精不貼 大隻腹肌師哥 脫衣誘惑 他能令你做綺夢嗎？. Tw › 296112知名男同志論壇「tt1069」遭封鎖！網嘆：時代的眼淚 民生電子報. 강간플 twitter

걸레 김양 Tt1069 迷姦 空姐絲襪美腿高清美女圖韓國a漫畫偷拍浴室國小打手槍koreanbiacum 7 17 john street new york ny 三津谷葉子ヌード 平成26 年は西暦何年 東海オンエア. Tt1069 迷姦 空姐絲襪美腿高清美女圖韓國a漫畫偷拍浴室國小. 500k top 1% @alantop1069 posts ‼️nsfw情慾內容未滿18歲請勿瀏覽‼️ see more movies linktr. Html 不精不貼 大隻腹肌師哥 脫衣誘惑 他能令你做綺夢嗎？. 韓國其實都拍的蠻假的 但大大的辛苦是真的 posted on 20230206 055344 很帅～～～～ posted on 20230207 021011 好像一个主播。 posted on 20230207 023510 這個已經很舊 posted on 20230207 103449 好簽含的肉棒 posted on 20230207 034158 韓國竟然有漏！ posted on 20230207 073201. 걸그룹 알몸

감예봉 라방 Posted on 20220826 072620 good good good love it posted on 20220826 073543 好喜歡這部 posted on 20220826 073837 從後面騎上去還真是爽 posted on 20220826 081741 終於看到，感謝分享 posted on 20220826 090711 6_229幹好爽 posted on 20220826 090834 感謝分享，以前只看過片段 posted on 20220826 090954 劇情啦 哪個醉了被強. 500k top 1% @alantop1069 posts ‼️nsfw情慾內容未滿18歲請勿瀏覽‼️ see more movies linktr. 韓國系列十五 性感精壯の黝黑帥氣歐巴 說他看過我拍的韓國系列 覺得被我吹感覺真的很爽 於是我們就邀約一天見面 見面後過沒多久他就硬了 因為他說很期待能被我. 500k top 1% @alantop1069 posts ‼️nsfw情慾內容未滿18歲請勿瀏覽‼️ see more movies linktr. 身材超好的韓國軍人 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網.

고사5성 호텔 韓國系列十五 性感精壯の黝黑帥氣歐巴 說他看過我拍的韓國系列 覺得被我吹感覺真的很爽 於是我們就邀約一天見面 見面後過沒多久他就硬了 因為他說很期待能被我. 韓國帥哥都蠻帥 6_215 posted on 20220425 011800 好誘人啊⋯⋯ posted on 20220429 112235 謝謝分享，很喜歡這個系列 posted on 20230418 013215 這一位條件很好耶 posted on 20230418 023123 好帥的韓國帥哥 posted on 20230418 030819 腹肌超級性感 posted on 20230418 045547 這一位. Posted on 20220826 072620 good good good love it posted on 20220826 073543 好喜歡這部 posted on 20220826 073837 從後面騎上去還真是爽 posted on 20220826 081741 終於看到，感謝分享 posted on 20220826 090711 6_229幹好爽 posted on 20220826 090834 感謝分享，以前只看過片段 posted on 20220826 090954 劇情啦 哪個醉了被強. Twitter韓國肌肉軍人被爽操 電影區 tt1069同志貼圖交友網. 韓國其實都拍的蠻假的 但大大的辛苦是真的 posted on 20230206 055344 很帅～～～～ posted on 20230207 021011 好像一个主播。 posted on 20230207 023510 這個已經很舊 posted on 20230207 103449 好簽含的肉棒 posted on 20230207 034158 韓國竟然有漏！ posted on 20230207 073201.

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.