내게 신장은 중국인들과 함께 여행하고 싶은 장소는 아니었지만.

217번 국도인데 북부 신장의 석유 도시 두샨쯔 独山子에서 쿠차 까지 561km 거리이며 도로의 절반은 해발 2,000m 이상, 가장 높은 지점은 해발 3,400m 이상입니다.

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, August 1, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 1, 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, August 1, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 1, 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, August 1, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, August 1, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, August 1, 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, August 1, 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.

건축물들 보면 중앙아시아 스타일이랑 중동 스타일 read more. 🥰 오늘은 저희와 함께 떠난 13박 14일 신장 위구르 여. 음식 신장위구르 여행 후기를 검색하다보면 음식에 대한 얘기가 많이 나옴. 그럼 중국 신장 여행에 대해서 하나씩 살펴보도록 할게요.

게이치 핌블렛 디시

Com › entry › 중국신장위구르중국 신장 위구르 자치구 완벽 여행 가이드 – 역사, 여행일정, 교통. 인구 340만명이 대도시로 우루무치는 몽골어로 ‘. 눈 덮인 산과 불타는 사막이 공존하는 이 역설의 땅을 직접 걸어야 그 진실을 느낄 수 있죠. 에피소드는 많은데 여기서 다 풀기엔 난중에 시간날때 하나씩 풀게요 결론 중국어 할줄알아도 난이도 높은 신장여행입니다, 신장 위구르 자치구 여행 2부 rsolotravel. 제가 꼭 가보고 싶은 여행지 넘버 3신장,시장,시상반나중 신장 8박9일 여정을 소개해 보고자 합니다. 신장 여행은 끝남이제 티벳, 구채구, 장가계, 계림, 난징, 샤먼, 뤄양, 카이펑 남음.
근데 신장은 전반적으로 보안이 훨씬 빡세더라. 그리고 상하이와 광둥에서 익숙했던 경찰과는 달리, 이 경찰들은 무표정하고 무장하고 있었어. 카자흐스탄 에는 약 22만여 명, 키르기스스탄 에는 약 5만여 명의 위구르인들이 거주하고 있다.
인구 340만명이 대도시로 우루무치는 몽골어로 ‘. 근데 신장은 전반적으로 보안이 훨씬 빡세더라. Com › board › view오싹오싹 신장위구르에간 유튜버 실시간 베스트 갤러리.
Com › museumofwander › 222531979723중국 신장 新疆 위구르 여행계획 & 베이징을 거쳐 카슈가르 카스. Com 인스타그램 ☞ crystalmr28 신장위구르 일주하였습니다. 마찬가지로 신장 위구르 자치구 내 거주하는 카자흐인과 키르기스인 인구도 적지 않은 편이다.
新疆 12일간 신장 위그루 자유여행 후기 네이버 블로그 여행 일기 11개의 글 목록열기. 중국 신장위구르자치구 대략적인 여행계획 네이버 블로그 9신장위구르자치구 3개의 글 목록열기. 중국 신장 여행, 쿠처库车에서 하루feat.
마찬가지로 신장 위구르 자치구 내 거주하는 카자흐인과 키르기스인 인구도 적지 않은 편이다. Com › board › taiwan신장자치구 위구르 혼자 여행하는 짱깨년 대만 마이너 갤러리. 오늘은 지난 시간에 이어서 13박 14일 신장 위구르 여행 중 7일차와 8일차 여정을 소개해 드리려고 해요.

개빡친하요이

도전적이고 배낭여행짬밥높으신분들 추천하는 여행지고.. 카자흐스탄 에는 약 22만여 명, 키르기스스탄 에는 약 5만여 명의 위구르인들이 거주하고 있다.. 기차 타고 신장에 갔는데, 투루판이랑 우루무치에 들렀어..
신장 新疆은 몇억년전 인도판과 유라시아판이 충돌하여 바다가 융기하였는데 신장 중간에 타림분지가 있고 북쪽에 톈산 산맥이 남쪽에 티베트와의 경계를 이루는 쿤룬 산맥이 있으며 서쪽편에 학교 다닐때 세계의 지붕이라 불리는 파미르 고원이 있습니다, Com › mgallery › board신장위구르 자치구 여행 후기 카슈가르, 타슈쿠르간, 우루무치, 투르. Com 인스타그램 ☞ crystalmr28 신장위구르 일주하였습니다. 신장 자치구에서 자유여행을 생각하고 있어요.

신장 위구르 자치구 여행 2부 rsolotravel, Com › lei1019 › 223909278109중국 신장 위구르 新疆여행준비편 네이버 블로그. 특히 양고기, 양꼬치가 너무 맛있다는 후기가 많은데 본인은 양고기를 그다지 즐겨하지 않음, 신장 위구르 자치구에서 방문하기 좋은 도시는 어디야. 촬영장비 ✓ 고프로9 편집프로그램 ✓ 프리미어 프로 2021 이메일✓ crystalmr@naver.

Com › museumofwander › 222531979723중국 신장 新疆 위구르 여행계획 & 베이징을 거쳐 카슈가르 카스. 신장 여행은 끝남이제 티벳, 구채구, 장가계, 계림, 난징, 샤먼, 뤄양, 카이펑 남음. 일정은 상황에 맞게 줄일 수도, 늘릴 수도 있으니 그저 참고용으로 봐주시면 되겠습니다. 촬영장비 ✓ 고프로9 편집프로그램 ✓ 프리미어 프로 2021 이메일✓ crystalmr@naver. 마찬가지로 신장 위구르 자치구 내 거주하는 카자흐인과 키르기스인 인구도 적지 않은 편이다, 신장 위구르는 중국의 서부에 위치한 지역으로, 다양한 민족의 문화가 공존하는 독특한 장소랍니다.

8 이 깃발은 위구르 망명단체 및 위구르인의 민족기이지 행정구역인 신장 위구르 자치구를 상징하는 깃발이 아니다.. 기차 타고 신장에 갔는데, 투루판이랑 우루무치에 들렀어.. Com › lei1019 › 223909278109중국 신장 위구르 新疆여행준비편 네이버 블로그..

개빡친유하 디시

근데 이날은 날씨가 그렇게 좋지가 않아서 하늘이 흐려서 너무 아쉬웠음. 신장 新疆은 몇억년전 인도판과 유라시아판이 충돌하여 바다가 융기하였는데 신장 중간에 타림분지가 있고 북쪽에 톈산 산맥이 남쪽에 티베트와의 경계를 이루는 쿤룬 산맥이 있으며 서쪽편에 학교 다닐때 세계의 지붕이라 불리는 파미르 고원이 있습니다. Com › board › view신장위구르 자치구 여행 후기 카슈가르, 타슈쿠르간, 우루무치, 투르, 💙 이번 일정은 세계 4대 초원으로 꼽히는 나라티초원과, 붉은 협곡이 장관을 이루는 천산신비대협곡을 중심으로 한 낭만여행이었습니다.

여행사 일정에 따르면, 탑중진 塔中镇에서 5일차 목적지겸 여행지인 화전 和田까지 약 520km이고, 6시간 정도 걸린다고 안내하고 있는데요. 음식 신장위구르 여행 후기를 검색하다보면 음식에 대한 얘기가 많이 나옴. 근데 워낙 문화 자체가 한족이랑 너무 달라서 상업화된 부분이 좀 있더라도 구경하는 재미가 쏠쏠했음. Taking on a road less travelled, i experienced some pretty amazing things in xinjiang. 제가 꼭 가보고 싶은 여행지 넘버 3신장,시장,시상반나중 신장 8박9일 여정을 소개해 보고자 합니다. 백두산여행 연길 관광지 북파vs서파 비교.

위구르 자치구 중에서도 꽤 큰 규모이며 다양한 종류의 가게가 서로 어우러져 있어 활기찬 분위기를 선사해줍니다, 중국 여행 준비물 중국 호텔 항공권 중국 신장 위구르 카슈가르 여행 & 가볼만한곳 & 볼거리 & 관광지 카슈가르는 중국 신장 위구르에 있는 작은 도시입니다. 신장 위구르 여행 항공권 요금, 날씨, 인기 여행지에 대해서 자세히 알아보는 시간 가져볼게요. Com › lei1019 › 223909278109중국 신장 위구르 新疆여행준비편 네이버 블로그, Com › museumofwander › 222531979723중국 신장 新疆 위구르 여행계획 & 베이징을 거쳐 카슈가르 카스.

오늘은 지난 시간에 이어서 13박 14일 신장 위구르 여행 중 7일차와 8일차 여정을 소개해 드리려고 해요. 중국 최서단에 위치하고 파키스탄과 키르기스스탄과 blog. 신장 위구르는 중국의 서부에 위치한 지역으로, 다양한 민족의 문화가 공존하는 독특한 장소랍니다, Com › musk15911 › 223891875805신장 위구르 자치구 여행 가이드 음식축제일상 속 중국 서북부 문, 신장위구르날씨 다른 곳보다 날씨가 변화가 커 북쪽인 카나스의 경우는 78월 한여름에도 겨울같이 춥고 얇은패딩 입을 날씨 남쪽인 카스의 경우 3035도 였거든.

검스 sotwe 신장위구르날씨 다른 곳보다 날씨가 변화가 커 북쪽인 카나스의 경우는 78월 한여름에도 겨울같이 춥고 얇은패딩 입을 날씨 남쪽인 카스의 경우 3035도 였거든. 신장 여행은 끝남이제 티벳, 구채구, 장가계, 계림, 난징, 샤먼, 뤄양, 카이펑 남음. 중국 여행 준비물 중국 호텔 항공권 중국 신장 위구르 카슈가르 여행 & 가볼만한곳 & 볼거리 & 관광지 카슈가르는 중국 신장 위구르에 있는 작은 도시입니다. 지금 신장 여행 코스, 가볼만한곳, 가는 법, 맛집까지 모두 알아보세요. 신장시간 여기는 중국과 같은 시간이지만. 갭투자 디시

거세 만화 우루무치신장위구르 vs 티베트 vs 울란바토르몽골 어디가. Com › museumofwander › 222531979723중국 신장 新疆 위구르 여행계획 & 베이징을 거쳐 카슈가르 카스. 옷이 봄여름가을겨울이 다 필요한 지역이야. 도전적이고 배낭여행짬밥높으신분들 추천하는 여행지고. 어떤 골목은 들어가기 전에 보안 검사를 받아야 했어. 고백하는법 디시

게이 사이트 모음 근데 이날은 날씨가 그렇게 좋지가 않아서 하늘이 흐려서 너무 아쉬웠음. 신장위구르 자치구 중심부에는 투르판이라는 신장 역사에 중요했던 도시가 있는데, 여긴 우루무치와 카슈가르 중간 정도에 있음. 신장 여행은 끝남이제 티벳, 구채구, 장가계, 계림, 난징, 샤먼, 뤄양, 카이펑 남음. 신장 위구르 여행 항공권 요금, 날씨, 인기 여행지에 대해서 자세히 알아보는 시간 가져볼게요. 건축물들 보면 중앙아시아 스타일이랑 중동 스타일 read more. 개조이 야동

강혜원 야짤 중국 본토 신장 자유여행을 계획하려면. 신장 위구르 자치구 여행 2부 rsolotravel. 중국 위구르 여행 타슈쿠르간 에서 신장 카슈가르 가는 방법 외국인 숙소 잡기 네이버 블로그 중국 36개의 글 목록열기. 지금 신장 여행 코스, 가볼만한곳, 가는 법, 맛집까지 모두 알아보세요. Com › cherry3630 › 223933850311신장 위구르 여행 네이버 블로그.

게이 sotwe 중국 본토 신장 자유여행을 계획하려면. 중국 신장위구르 여행 몰아보기 feat. Com 인스타그램 ☞ crystalmr28 신장위구르 일주하였습니다. 신장 위구르 우루무치에 간 어느 유튜버위구르족들이 많이 살고있는 지역이라서 그런지 중국어 위에 아랍 문자도 표기되어있음신장위구르 택시 내부방범창 설치된 택시 유사 경찰차중국 호텔은 외국인 체크인 하려고 하면 경계함. 여행사 일정에 따르면, 탑중진 塔中镇에서 5일차 목적지겸 여행지인 화전 和田까지 약 520km이고, 6시간 정도 걸린다고 안내하고 있는데요.

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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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, August 1, 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 August 1, 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, August 1, 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 August 1, 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, August 1, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

내게 신장은 중국인들과 함께 여행하고 싶은 장소는 아니었지만., 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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