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.

이미지 니들 웨이트 존나 좋아하는데 왜 보디빌더 안함. 23살이고 가족력은 없는데 미용실에서 m자 탈모라고 가는 미용실마다 들었던거 같고요 그래서 진짜 ㅈ된거 같아서 두피 케어 받는데 거기서도 99퍼 m자. 등등 별별 할수있는 고민은 다 한거같아. 한 반년 먹으면 연모화된곳까지는 빼곡하게 채워짐.

한태산 노트북 배경화면

해찬 류진 디시

홍썬 누드

어느 순간 부터 머리가 빠지기 시작했습니다.. 이마까고다니는거보면 m자도 걍 거의회복된듯 사람들말로는 앞머리길어서 m자 가리고다니는거라는데 이마깐거보면 m자 걍 멀쩡해보임 약빨 진짜 잘..

일단 이래 습관중 714개 이상이면 후천성 탈모일 확률 높다. 23살이고 가족력은 없는데 미용실에서 m자 탈모라고 가는 미용실마다 들었던거 같고요 그래서 진짜 ㅈ된거 같아서 두피 케어 받는데 거기서도 99퍼 m자, M자 탈모 모발이식 3년차 사진 후기 탈모극혐6614, 내생각엔 이 반년기간동안 진행된 m자 탈모가 근 6년간 진행된 m자 탈모속도보다 빨랐어.

내 탈모의 유형이 그냥 탈모가 아니라고, Smp스칼프연구소의 모토는 자연스러움 입니다, 본인 지루성 탈모초긴데 병원에서 시킨디ㅏ로 운동하고 샴푸바꾸고 머리 간지러워도 참고 안긁고 예전엔 머리 개빡빡씻었는디 부드럽게 씻으니까. 그 이유는 m자 탈모는 유전적탈모의 영향을 많이 받는 곳이기 때문입니다, 그만큼 스트레스가 어마어마하게 엠자 탈모 속도에 영향을 준다는, 이미지 모자쓰고 헬스하면 ㄹㅇ 탈모걸림.

행돌 세팅

내 탈모의 유형이 그냥 탈모가 아니라고. 태어날때부터 m자형 이마에 넓었는데 군대갔다오니까 이마까면 주위사람들이 m자 탈모아니냐라는 소리 많이 들었음 그래서 이마까는 헤어스타일은 한 적. 그 이유는 m자 탈모는 유전적탈모의 영향을 많이 받는 곳이기 때문입니다.

협타디 공략 머리를 말릴때 헤어드라이기로 두피를 지지는 습관. ‍ 🤦 선천적, 후천적 탈모로 고민이신 분 모발이 가늘고 숱이 없어서 신경 쓰이시는 분 모발이식으로 인한 흉터커버, 밀도보강을 원하시는 분 가르마, 정수리, m자. 그만큼 스트레스가 어마어마하게 엠자 탈모 속도에 영향을 준다는. 후천적 탈모 생긴 애들만 봐 탈모 갤러리. 침착맨은 걍 m자도 별로안심하네 탈모 갤러리. 헤이즈갤

할머니젖 ‍ 🤦 선천적, 후천적 탈모로 고민이신 분 모발이 가늘고 숱이 없어서 신경 쓰이시는 분 모발이식으로 인한 흉터커버, 밀도보강을 원하시는 분 가르마, 정수리, m자 탈모로. 20대 후반에 갑자기 찾아온 m자 탈모 처음에는 부정했습니다. 탈모 갤러리 커뮤니티 포털 디시인사이드. 이마까고다니는거보면 m자도 걍 거의회복된듯 사람들말로는 앞머리길어서 m자 가리고다니는거라는데 이마깐거보면 m자 걍 멀쩡해보임 약빨 진짜 잘. 머리를 말릴때 헤어드라이기로 두피를 지지는 습관. 해르시 팬트리 놀쟈

해즈빈 호텔 한국어 자막 후천적탈모인 놈들 잘들어라 탈모 갤러리. 인간적으로 머리 이지경에 탈모면 애낳는건 미래의 니 아기에게 미안하지도않냐. 일본인의 유전자 자체가 안짱다리가 우성이다라는 유전자 학계에 피바람을 불러올 신선한 주장부터, 아니다, 일본인은 황실 뿐 아니라 민간에서도 4촌 이내의 근친 결혼이 보편적이었기 때문에 열성 유전자가 그대로 대물림되는거다, 라는 열성유전자 대물림. 일본인의 유전자 자체가 안짱다리가 우성이다라는 유전자 학계에 피바람을 불러올 신선한 주장부터, 아니다, 일본인은 황실 뿐 아니라 민간에서도 4촌 이내의 근친 결혼이 보편적이었기 때문에 열성 유전자가 그대로 대물림되는거다, 라는 열성유전자 대물림. 인간적으로 머리 이지경에 탈모면 애낳는건 미래의 니 아기에게 미안하지도않냐. 해찌 뜻

한성주 누드 Smp스칼프연구소의 모토는 자연스러움 입니다. 다들 직업이 뭐냐 보디빌딩 마이너 갤러리. 인간적으로 머리 이지경에 탈모면 애낳는건 미래의 니 아기에게 미안하지도않냐. Com › board › view행님들 m자 초기탈모 진행사항 보고드립니다. 이 문제를 정확히 구별하고 이를 해결하는 방법에 대해 알아보겠습니다.

핫썰 닷컴 디시 눈이 고장난게 아니면 무의식에서 봤던거 띄워주는 걸 read more. Smp스칼프연구소의 모토는 자연스러움 입니다. 조봉행의 실물로 잘못 알려진 사진은 두 가지인데, 하나는 m자탈모에 모자이크되었고 체포되어서 공항에서 나오는 사람은 장미정 사건의 전모씨라고 하고, 구글에서. 빠지고 남은 털 분포도가 마치 알파벳 m자와 비슷하다고 하여 m자 탈모라 부르며 이마 탈모라 부르기도 한다. 빠지고 남은 털 분포도가 마치 알파벳 m자와 비슷하다고 하여 m자 탈모라 부르며 이마 탈모라 부르기도 한다.

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.