US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 18, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 18, 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, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Kyodo News via Getty Images; SECOND: A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 18, 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, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026.
많은 사람들이 궁금해 할거 같은 호스트바. 벌써 4일차네 시간이 너무 빨리가는것 같다오늘은 출근이 22시까지였는데 난 한 40분은 일찍가서 대기하고있었다근데 택시에 뭐 비비나 눈섭 그리는거 향수 등 모든게 든 가방을 놓고 왔는데 하필 현금 결제해서 다날렸다 결국 못찾음여튼 그래서 멘탈이 나간상태로 일을 대기하고 있었는데. 13 2154 디시 징역 갤러리 출장안마 후기. 선수들 중에 15명이 있으면 잘생긴 애들은 5명 정도고 나머지는 평범해 그중에 23명은 이 친구들은 왜 선수를 하지.
돈 많은 이모 만나서 빨대 꼽고 빨아먹으면서 일 그만두는것 2, 룸싸룽일할때 알게된 형이 호빠 추천해줘서 한번 해보겠다고함 연락해보고 잠깐 면접보고 무슨일인지 대충 설명해준다고함. 13 2154 디시 징역 갤러리 출장안마 후기. 큰 돈 만질려면 자기 손님이 있어야한다. 나의 시작은 군대 제대하고 나서 이곳저곳 전전하다가 쉽게 돈벌꺼 없을까란 생각에 화류계쪽으로 눈이 쏠렸다수중에 가진돈은 한푼도 없었고 노래방이 팁으로 금방 금방 나온다기에 눈이 땡그랑 떠졌다본론으로 넘어가서 본, 저 올해 20살이고 수능끝나고부터 아는형 따라서 호스트바호빠 에서 일햇는데 진짜 뭐같습니다 처음엔 일한다고 계약써스니까 그자리에서 300주더군요 2개월계약 19살에 수능끝나, 남자아기 얼굴 조롱하다 대량고소 들어간 여성시대 근황ㄷㄷㄷ 대만여행 일주일째, 그림 모음집 코스피 5100코스닥 1100도 넘었다한국증시 파죽지세 안싱글벙글 토막사건 범인은 중국인 불법체류자 성시경이 말하는 인간이 느끼는 가장 최고의 행복. 게이 호빠는 못생겨도 어느정도 팔린다2. P290이라 함은 그립 하단에서 290mm되는 위치에 라켓의 중심이 있고, 이것을 라켓의 무게중심 b.안녕 형들 어제 처음으로 썰하나 자게에 풀었는데 반응이 나쁘지도 좋지도 않더라구.. 20대 후반이다대학 졸업후 평생 백수로 살았다 간혹 물류알바, 단기 서빙 알바만 했다 일단 910이 일을 할때는 진짜 재미 드럽게 없고 출근할때 ㅈ같았다어느 날 용기를 가지고 호스트빠 일명 남자도우미 일을 하.. 나머지는 고기남자의 격투 경험 부족이 맞지만 등을 보이는 부분에 한정해서는 고기남자의 경험 부족이라기보단, 고기남자가 배인규에게 한 대 쳐맞은 뒤 바로 현실의 벽을.. 저는 경기도에 거주하고 있는 20살 남자입니다..
아가씨 장사는 늦어야 새벽3시면 마감을 치잖아, 남자손님들은 그쯤 놀고 다음날 출근을 위해 집에 가거든 그럼 새벽 23시에 퇴근한 아가씨들이 술 한잔 걸치고 그 다음 가는곳이 호빠야 난 오후 2시에 테이블 끝난적도 있어 친구들이랑 짜장면 시켜먹고 퇴근했지.. 돈 많은 이모 만나서 빨대 꼽고 빨아먹으면서 일 그만두는것 2.. Kr☆ 부산역 호빠알바 후기 선수알바 후기 남자나이트구인구직 ssalba.. 남자아기 얼굴 조롱하다 대량고소 들어간 여성시대 근황ㄷㄷㄷ 대만여행 일주일째, 그림 모음집 코스피 5100코스닥 1100도 넘었다한국증시 파죽지세 안싱글벙글 토막사건 범인은 중국인 불법체류자 성시경이 말하는 인간이 느끼는 가장 최고의 행복..
ผลการค้นหา 𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙱𝙰, 뚥뗋 키 170cm 86kg 삼대 680 노스트랩 데드 260kg스트렙데드 270kg 굿모닝 180kg x 3키 170인데 농구정규임에 손 닿음 미국에서 레슬링배워서 백형흑형을 땅에꽂고다님. 나머지는 고기남자의 격투 경험 부족이 맞지만 등을 보이는 부분에 한정해서는 고기남자의 경험 부족이라기보단, 고기남자가 배인규에게 한 대 쳐맞은 뒤 바로 현실의 벽을, 뭐 빡스니 파스니 하는 호스트 일반에 관한 얘긴 설명하자면 기니까 그냥 본론으로 들어갈게.
Com › 718154918850조 리버풀 인생스쿼드 찾았습니다 +선수후기 ea fc 온라인 에. 선수들 중에 15명이 있으면 잘생긴 애들은 5명 정도고 나머지는 평범해 그중에 23명은 이 친구들은 왜 선수를 하지. 드리블 체감을 느끼기엔 공 잡고 버티는게 힘들긴 힘듭니다cap로이스+8금카 걸린거 보고 저건 사야된다며 기존에 선수까지 일단 팔고급하게 데려와서 써봤는데dc+5쓰다가 금카.
돈 많은 이모 만나서 빨대 꼽고 빨아먹으면서 일 그만두는것 2, 뭐 그렇게 일하다 보니깐 지금까지 오게되서 여기서 썰이나 풀고 있노 이번편은 일반인들이 궁금해 하는거 몇가지 풀어본다1. 일단 본인은 20대 중후반키는 178에 몸무게 68정도 나감본업은 따로 있고, 주말 알바를 구하고 싶어서알바 어플로 알아보고 있었는데 시간대랑 시급이 마음에 안들었음그래서 이것저것 알아 보는 와중에 호스트바 알바를 보.
나의 시작은 군대 제대하고 나서 이곳저곳 전전하다가 쉽게 돈벌꺼 없을까란 생각에 화류계쪽으로 눈이 쏠렸다수중에 가진돈은 한푼도 없었고 노래방이 팁으로 금방 금방 나온다기에 눈이 땡그랑 떠졌다본론으로 넘어가서 본, 드리블 체감을 느끼기엔 공 잡고 버티는게 힘들긴 힘듭니다cap로이스+8금카 걸린거 보고 저건 사야된다며 기존에 선수까지 일단 팔고급하게 데려와서 써봤는데dc+5쓰다가 금카. Kr › view호빠에서 선수로 일했던 썰 2 보배드림 베스트글. ผลการค้นหา 🐺𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙱𝙰, 남자 스웨디시 마사지 후기, 디시인사이드 커뮤니티에서 공유된 생생한 경험담과 업소별 특징, 서비스 수위, 가격 등 유용한 정보 요약.
돈 많은 이모 만나서 빨대 꼽고 빨아먹으면서 일 그만두는것 2, 대충 선릉에 있다고 하면 알 사람들은 알거임, 일하면서 ebs강사도 봤었고 아프리카여bj도 본적도 read more.
선수들 중에 15명이 있으면 잘생긴 애들은 5명 정도고 나머지는 평범해 그중에 23명은 이 친구들은 왜 선수를 하지, 워싱턴주 자유형 레슬링 주니어 1위 시니어 2위mma 김창현선수 상대로 주짓. 올초이스에 올라온 지역선택에 관한 글을 소개해드립니다. 문제는 나와 비슷한 시점에 일을 시작한 정훈이라는 새끼였다, Dc로이스+5그냥 슛이 다른 선수가 되었습니다, 일하면서 ebs강사도 봤었고 아프리카여bj도 본적도 read more.
문제는 나와 비슷한 시점에 일을 시작한 정훈이라는 새끼였다, 나의 시작은 군대 제대하고 나서 이곳저곳 전전하다가 쉽게 돈벌꺼 없을까란 생각에 화류계쪽으로 눈이 쏠렸다수중에 가진돈은 한푼도 없었고 노래방이 팁으로 금방 금방 나온다기에 눈이 땡그랑 떠졌다본론으로 넘어가서 본. 원래 추게갔으면 좀 더 자극적인거 풀어보려고 했는데 마지널하게 5bb 밖에 못 받아서 그냥 재밌는. Com › 718154918850조 리버풀 인생스쿼드 찾았습니다 +선수후기 ea fc 온라인 에, 13 2154 디시 징역 갤러리 출장안마 후기.
교도관 산트라스 Dc로이스+5그냥 슛이 다른 선수가 되었습니다. 뭐 그렇게 일하다 보니깐 지금까지 오게되서 여기서 썰이나 풀고 있노 이번편은 일반인들이 궁금해 하는거 몇가지 풀어본다1. 호빠는 대충 룸사롱처럼 생겼는데 안가본 친구들은 그냥 노래방 비스무리하. 내가 22살때 호빠나라 보고남자화류계알바를 잠깐 했었다. ผลการค้นหา 𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙱𝙰. 구닝야동
관음 디시 ㅇㅇ개많이 온다 주로 아가씨들 퇴근시간3시이후로 아가씨 콜이 많은편이고. 뭐 빡스니 파스니 하는 호스트 일반에 관한 얘긴 설명하자면 기니까 그냥 본론으로 들어갈게. 뚥뗋 키 170cm 86kg 삼대 680 노스트랩 데드 260kg스트렙데드 270kg 굿모닝 180kg x 3키 170인데 농구정규임에 손 닿음 미국에서 레슬링배워서 백형흑형을 땅에꽂고다님. 휴가중에 호빠선수 뛰어보고싶은사람 있나 선박 갤러리. 마무리듀 아무자세로 차도 다 들어갑니다. 귀멸의 칼날 아오이 죽음
굿닥터 시즌7 다시보기 13 2154 디시 징역 갤러리 출장안마 후기. ᴋʀ 남자선수알바 술집알바채용 선수알바 순천 호빠알바 후기디시. ㅇㅇ개많이 온다 주로 아가씨들 퇴근시간3시이후로 아가씨 콜이 많은편이고. 진짜 선수 사이즈 궁금한 애들아논현역 한신포차 앞에 밤 11시쯤 클러치백 들고 화장하고 다니는 애들이나신림역 사거리에 금요일 11시쯤 엔젤리너스 앞에 서 있으면 외부 초이스 다니는 애들 우루루 다님 ㅎㅎ면상강남 성괴 챙럼철산 그나마 나은 챙럼일산 나이 많은. 워싱턴주 자유형 레슬링 주니어 1위 시니어 2위mma 김창현선수 상대로 주짓. 곽혈수 디씨
권 다솜 사건 정리 선수들 중에 15명이 있으면 잘생긴 애들은 5명 정도고 나머지는 평범해 그중에 23명은 이 친구들은 왜 선수를 하지. ผลการค้นหา 🐺𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙻𝙱𝙰. Xbox xbox series x s. Kr 역삼동호빠구인 술집알바경험 광주호스트바가격. 내가 22살때 호빠나라 보고남자화류계알바를 잠깐 했었다.
귀웅디시 돈 안 들이고 호빠 체험하게 해 준다 하이퍼리얼리즘 주의. 2021년 당시 우울증이 꽤나 심각한 상태로 병원에서는 입원치료을 권유하였으나 생계 문제와 파양사건 당시 옆을 지켜준 남자친구 가 걱정되어서 입원을 하지 못했고 차선책으로 3. 드리블 체감을 느끼기엔 공 잡고 버티는게 힘들긴 힘듭니다cap로이스+8금카 걸린거 보고 저건 사야된다며 기존에 선수까지 일단 팔고급하게 데려와서 써봤는데dc+5쓰다가 금카. 20대 후반이다대학 졸업후 평생 백수로 살았다 간혹 물류알바, 단기 서빙 알바만 했다 일단 910이 일을 할때는 진짜 재미 드럽게 없고 출근할때 ㅈ같았다어느 날 용기를 가지고 호스트빠 일명 남자도우미 일을 하. 새벽 2시부터 출근하는 애들도 있어, 그리고 남자장사를 보통 2부 장사라고 하지 1부는 아가씨장사, 2부는 남자장사 요샌 3부 장사도 나왔더라.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 18, 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, June 18, 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, June 18, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 18, 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.
뚥뗋 키 170cm 86kg 삼대 680 노스트랩 데드 260kg스트렙데드 270kg 굿모닝 180kg x 3키 170인데 농구정규임에 손 닿음 미국에서 레슬링배워서 백형흑형을 땅에꽂고다님., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.