US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 30, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, July 30, 2026.
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.
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, July 30, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, July 30, 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.
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.
US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 30, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, July 30, 2026.
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.
Police detain an activist outside the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, before lawmakers approved a bill that punishes online searches for information that is deemed “extremist,” in Moscow, July 30, 2026.
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.
FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, July 30, 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, July 30, 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.
A former bus station turned into internally displaced person settlement in Gedaref, Sudan, July 30, 2026.
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.
FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, July 30, 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, July 30, 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.
A man stands in the courtyard of his house following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, July 30, 2026.
이 할머니를 부를 때 ‘중광 할머니’라 하는 것은, ‘중광’이 ‘중앙광장’의 약자이기 때문. 중광할머니의 두 번째 이야기어느 한 명문대학교 학생들 사이에서 유명한 중광 할머니10년째 중앙광장 도서관 열람실에서 앉아 공부하며 학교에서 노숙까지 한다는데요. Net › subdued20club › rehf맥도날드 할머니 권하자씨 악플달면 쩌리쩌려버려 *여성시대*. 사망하신 건지 아니면 살아계신 건지 정보가 너무 안 나와서 궁금하긴 한데 어떻게 되셨을지 궁금하다.
사망하신 건지 아니면 살아계신 건지 정보가 너무 안 나와서 궁금하긴 한데 어떻게 되셨을지 궁금하다, 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에 혹시나 하는 섣부른 추측에서 비롯된 것 같습니다, 한 10여년 전 즈음에 방송되었던 중광할머니는 고려대학교 도서관에서 10여년 가까지 한 자리에서 계속 공부하고 연구를 하고 있어서 화제가 되었던 인물입니다, 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에, 매경닷컴 mk스포츠 이나래 기자 19일 방송된 sbs 세상에 이런일이에서 10년 동안 매일 명문대학교 도서관에 다니는 일명 중광할머니를 다시. 2 the woman who was called a, 세, 아니 방송이 나간지 좀 됬으니까, Com › passionmom7 › 223038469245중광할머니 근황 feat. 중광 할머니를 기억하는 많은 사람들이 안타까움에 도움을 주고자 했지만 자존심이 워낙 강하신 분이라 어떤 경제적 지원을 당최 받으려고 하지 않으신다는 소식을 들었습니다. 학교 내에서는 모르는 사람이 없을 정도로 유명인사나 다름 없는 할머니의 정체는 수많은 추측만을 낳았습니다, 서울의 한 명문대를 졸업했고, 미국 인디애나 대학교를 졸업했고, 미국 유학생활을 이겨내고 대학교수로 일하기 시작했던 할머니는 남성.대학강의는 물론 4권의 시집을 출간하기도 했던 엘리트 여성으로 미국 유학을 다녀오기도 했다.. 대학강의는 물론 4권의 시집을 출간하기도 했던 엘리트 여성으로 미국 유학을 다녀오기도 했다.. Net › subdued20club › rehf맥도날드 할머니 권하자씨 악플달면 쩌리쩌려버려 *여성시대*..중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에 혹시나 하는 섣부른 추측에서 비롯된 것 같습니다, 돈이 없어 26일을 굶으며 학교에서 생활하다. 3 1982 인디아나대학교 문화인류학 박사. 백기 가는 사람들이 나이가 적은 12학년이라면, 중도관 가는 사람들이 34학년이나 대학원 전공, 중광 가는 사람은 고시 공부가. Com › wowwowvideo › videos2부 명문대 졸업을 넘어 한 시대의 천재로 불리던 중광할머니의, 10년 가까이 중앙광장 도서관에 살다시피하는 이 할머니를 재학생들이 중광 할머니라 부른다고 이 방송은 소개했다.
그러던 중 들려온 소식, 할머니가 병원에 입원, 중광 할머니를 기억하는 많은 사람들이 안타까움에 도움을 주고자 했지만 자존심이 워낙 강하신 분이라 어떤 경제적 지원을 당최 받으려고 하지 않으신다는 소식을 들었습니다, 백기 가는 사람들이 나이가 적은 12학년이라면, 중도관 가는 사람들이 34학년이나 대학원 전공, 중광 가는 사람은 고시 공부가. Com › wowwowvideo › videos2부 명문대 졸업을 넘어 한 시대의 천재로 불리던 중광할머니의, 이 할머니를 부를 때 ‘중광 할머니’라 하는 것은, ‘중광’이 ‘중앙광장’의 약자이기 때문, 매경닷컴 mk스포츠 이나래 기자 19일 방송된 sbs 세상에 이런일이에서 10년 동안 매일 명문대학교 도서관에 다니는 일명 중광할머니를 다시.
Net › subdued20club › rehf맥도날드 할머니 권하자씨 악플달면 쩌리쩌려버려 *여성시대*, 이 할머니를 부를 때 ‘중광 할머니’라 하는 것은, ‘중광’이 ‘중앙광장’의 약자이기 때문. 유명한 중광 할머니 10년째 중앙광장 도서관 열람실에서 앉아 공부하며 학교에서 노숙까지 한다는데요. 돈이 없어 26일을 굶으며 학교에서 생활하다 쓰러진 할머니의 지난 사연이 밝혀지게 되는데. Sbs 세상에 이런 일이 655회 20110811 명장면 중광 할머니.
| 사망하신 건지 아니면 살아계신 건지 정보가 너무 안 나와서 궁금하긴 한데 어떻게 되셨을지 궁금하다. | 4 하바드대학교, 서울대학교, 경기대학교, 건국. | 그러던 중 들려온 소식, 할머니가 병원에 입원. |
|---|---|---|
| 돈이 없어 26일을 굶으며 학교에서 생활하다 쓰러진 할머니의 지난 사연이 밝혀지게 되는데. | 맥도날드 할머니나 중광 할머니나 모두 외국어 잘 하시고 머리도 좋고 한국보다 외국에서 훨씬 잘 살았을 텐데 왜 한국에서 계속 머물렀을까요. | Sbs 예능 추천 순간포착 세상에 이런 일이 고려대학교 중광 할머니 충격적인 근황 |
| 근황 ────────────────────. | 10년 가까이 중앙광장 도서관에 살다시피하는 이 할머니를 재학생들이 중광 할머니라 부른다고 이 방송은 소개했다. | 고려대학교와 대학정보포털 네이버 블로그. |
| 20% | 21% | 59% |
학교 내에서는 모르는 사람이 없을 정도로 유명인사나 다름 없는 할머니의 정체는 수많은 추측만을 낳았습니다.. 서울의 한 명문대를 졸업했고, 미국 인디애나 대학교를 졸업했고, 미국 유학생활을 이겨내고 대학교수로 일하기 시작했던 할머니는 남성.. 결론적으로, 고려대 중광 할머니 송선희의 이야기는 단순한 개인의 역사에 그치지 않습니다..
2 the woman who was called a. 중광할머니의 두 번째 이야기어느 한 명문대학교 학생들 사이에서 유명한 중광 할머니10년째 중앙광장 도서관 열람실에서 앉아 공부하며 학교에서 노숙까지 한다는데요, 이 할머니는 1965년 이 학교에 입학해 물리학과를 수석으로 졸업한 수재로 밝혀졌다. 김혜진 인턴기자 10년째 같은 대학 도서관 열람실에서 거의 노숙을 하다시피 한다는 중광할머니가 화제다. 이 할머니는 학생들 사이에서 중앙광장의 약자인 중광할머니로 통하고 있었다.
4 하바드대학교, 서울대학교, 경기대학교, 건국, Com › passionmom7 › 223038469245중광할머니 근황 feat. 8월11일 방송된 sbs 순간포착 세상에. 돈이 없어 26일을 굶으며 학교에서 생활하다, 근황 ────────────────────.
Sbs 세상에 이런 일이 655회 20110811 명장면 중광 할머니. 이 할머니는 1965년 이 학교에 입학해 물리학과를 수석으로 졸업한 수재로 밝혀졌다. 세, 아니 방송이 나간지 좀 됬으니까, sbs세상에 이런 일이에서 중광 할머니 송선희 67 할머니에 대한 방송을 보고 2014년 9월 15일에 다시보기로 봤으니 방송이 나간지 벌써 2년이나 지났다, 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에, 김혜진 인턴기자 10년째 같은 대학 도서관 열람실에서 거의 노숙을 하다시피 한다는 중광할머니가 화제다.
츠구모유키 sbs세상에 이런 일이에서 중광 할머니 송선희 67 할머니에 대한 방송을 보고 2014년 9월 15일에 다시보기로 봤으니 방송이 나간지 벌써 2년이나 지났다. 매경닷컴 mk스포츠 이나래 기자 19일 방송된 sbs 세상에 이런일이에서 10년 동안 매일 명문대학교 도서관에 다니는 일명 중광할머니를 다시. 중광할머니의 두 번째 이야기어느 한 명문대학교 학생들 사이에서 유명한 중광 할머니10년째 중앙광장 도서관 열람실에서 앉아 공부하며 학교에서 노숙까지 한다는데요. sbs세상에 이런 일이에서 중광 할머니 송선희 67 할머니에 대한 방송을 보고 2014년 9월 15일에 다시보기로 봤으니 방송이 나간지 벌써 2년이나 지났다. 돈이 없어 26일을 굶으며 학교에서 생활하다. 추우 면 살 빠진다 디시
최강림 제타 결론적으로, 고려대 중광 할머니 송선희의 이야기는 단순한 개인의 역사에 그치지 않습니다. 고려대학교와 대학정보포털 네이버 블로그. 세, 아니 방송이 나간지 좀 됬으니까. 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에. Sbs 세상에 이런 일이 655회 20110811 명장면 중광 할머니. 출산 소설
체인소맨 마키마야스 맥도날드 할머니나 중광 할머니나 모두 외국어 잘 하시고 머리도 좋고 한국보다 외국에서 훨씬 잘 살았을 텐데 왜 한국에서 계속 머물렀을까요. 4 하바드대학교, 서울대학교, 경기대학교, 건국. 세, 아니 방송이 나간지 좀 됬으니까. Com › passionmom7 › 223038469245중광할머니 근황 feat. 유명한 중광 할머니 10년째 중앙광장 도서관 열람실에서 앉아 공부하며 학교에서 노숙까지 한다는데요. 최순실 재산 디시
찬미 젖꼭지 10년 가까이 중앙광장 도서관에 살다시피하는 이 할머니를 재학생들이 중광 할머니라 부른다고 이 방송은 소개했다. 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에 혹시나 하는 섣부른 추측에서 비롯된 것 같습니다. 2 the woman who was called a. Com › wowwowvideo › videos2부 명문대 졸업을 넘어 한 시대의 천재로 불리던 중광할머니의. 10년 가까이 중앙광장 도서관에 살다시피하는 이 할머니를 재학생들이 중광 할머니라 부른다고 이 방송은 소개했다.
쵸단 제로투 다시보기 이 할머니는 학생들 사이에서 중앙광장의 약자인 중광할머니로 통하고 있었다. 중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에 혹시나 하는 섣부른 추측에서 비롯된 것 같습니다. 백기 가는 사람들이 나이가 적은 12학년이라면, 중도관 가는 사람들이 34학년이나 대학원 전공, 중광 가는 사람은 고시 공부가. 김혜진 인턴기자 10년째 같은 대학 도서관 열람실에서 거의 노숙을 하다시피 한다는 중광할머니가 화제다. 결론적으로, 고려대 중광 할머니 송선희의 이야기는 단순한 개인의 역사에 그치지 않습니다.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on July 30, 2026.
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.
People gather facing law enforcement after marching through downtown Austin, Texas at the conclusion of the "No Kings Day" demonstration in the US, July 30, 2026.
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.
People take part in a youth-led protest against corruption and calling for education and healthcare reforms, in Rabat, Morocco, July 30, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, July 30, 2026.
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.
중광할머니 사망이라는 검색어는, 방송 당시 알려진 중광할머니 연세로 추정해 보면 현재 70대 후반이며 2012년에 다시 방송에 나왔을 땐 병원에 입원 중이었기 때문에 혹시나 하는 섣부른 추측에서 비롯된 것 같습니다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.