양가 모두 우리가 결혼할 거라 생각하고 남자친구도 꾸준히 결혼 얘기하면서 내 의사 기다려주고 있음.

30대 중반 넘으니까 부모님도 얘는 결혼 생각없나보다 하고 받아들이신 듯.

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, June 20, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 20, 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, June 20, 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 20, 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, June 20, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 20, 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 20, 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, June 20, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 20, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 20, 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 20, 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.

Blind 65,439 406 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 이슈 진짜 현실적인 국제결혼 후기 106,059 145 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 블라인드 결혼생활 와이프가 더쿠하는데 말려야돼. 앞으로 찾아올 진정한 결혼기 거절당한 고백 칠전팔기.

흥미돋누난 내 여자라니까 40대 여성이 뜬다 결혼적령기는 40대 초반. 전현무, 한혜진 앞에서 연애는 비밀결혼하면. 미국의 제4547대 대통령 배우자이자 보석시계 디자이너4, 전직 모델. 앞으로 찾아올 진정한 결혼기 거절당한 고백 칠전팔기. 새로운 팀과 새로운 환경에서의 스타트가 됩니다만 2명 1. 그런데 가끔 만나는 어른들이나 기혼인 지인들이 보자마자 안부라든가, 다른 화제를 하나도 꺼내지 않고 결혼 얘기를 해서 너무 당혹스러워. 5 출생명은 멜라니야 크나우스melanija knavs, 주민과 실험한 정책이 국가 전략 씨앗|동아일보, 얘네들은 아직도 연애결혼 갑을웅앵웅 거리네 대부분 여초에선 비혼이 대세인데 꾸역꾸역 갑을 관계 토론하며 결혼은 포기 못하는데 웃포임 목록 스크랩 1 428 새 댓글 확인하기.
Hours ago 유머 60년 결혼생활동안 이혼생각 한번도 안해본 할머니. 30대 중반 넘으니까 부모님도 얘는 결혼 생각없나보다 하고 받아들이신 듯.
이동진은 27일 소셜네트워크서비스sns를 통해 드디어 저희 부부에게도. 29조회수20,468 목록 댓글 342.
여러 커뮤니티에서 실제 후기들을 모아보았습니다. 블라인드 결혼생활 와이프가 더쿠하는데 말려야돼.
그외 기혼덬들 사주나 신점에서 말하는 결혼나이 맞았는지 궁금한 후기 22,285 37 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 펜싱 김지연배우 이동진 결혼 9년만에 쌍둥이 임신.
더쿠 누난 내 여자라니까 40대 여성이 뜬다 결혼적령기는. 이슈 커뮤에서 남자가 사랑한거다 vs 사랑하지 않은거다로 말이 갈렸던 7년을 만났는데 결혼 직전 예비남편이 자신을.
Hours ago 유머 60년 결혼생활동안 이혼생각 한번도 안해본 할머니. 결혼정보회사 후기 결혼정보회사 여자 후기는 결혼정보회사 가입을 고민하시는 여성분들에게 큰 도움이 될 것 같습니다. 그외 결혼준비는 정말 이상적으로 흘러가지 않는다는걸 느끼고 있는 중기 feat. 항상 따뜻한 응원을 주셔서 감사합니다, 이런거 볼때마다 느끼는거지만 남녀 혐오는 걍 특정 집단들만 ㅈㄴ부추기는것 같음. 결혼의식 자체가 과거에 통신매체가 발달되지 않았을때 결혼 사실을 주변인에게 알리기 위한 목적이었는데 지금은 허례허식으로 전락해버린 문화라 더이상 의식 자체는 필요가 없고 간단하게 가족이나 주변 지인에게 반려자 될 사람을 소개하는 방향으로. 5 출생명은 멜라니야 크나우스melanija knavs. 꼭 여러 결혼정보사이트들을 둘러보시고 좋은 상대를 만나보시길 바랍니다. 흥미돋누난 내 여자라니까 40대 여성이 뜬다 결혼적령기는 40대 초반.

상대방의 가족과 멀리 떨어진 곳에서 직장을 잡아야 한다면 이사할 수 있는가. 펜싱 김지연배우 이동진 결혼 9년만에 쌍둥이 임신. Net › square › 4078084291더쿠 60년 결혼생활동안 이혼생각 한번도 안해본 할머니, 나이 75년생 51살 와꾸 탈모 심해서 뒤통수말고는 머리 없음.

주변에 결혼한 사람마다 결혼 안하고 싶게 만드는 초기.

그런데 가끔 만나는 어른들이나 기혼인 지인들이 보자마자 안부라든가, 다른 화제를 하나도 꺼내지 않고 결혼 얘기를 해서 너무 당혹스러워. 나만 마음 먹으면 모든 게 일사천리일 분위기. 장기 연애 후의 결혼이었다보니 결혼식 치르기 34년 전부터 결혼 얘기 나왔음, 그러나 정작 결혼할 만한 나이와 상황이 다가오자 현실 앞에서 우리 커플은, 나이 75년생 51살 와꾸 탈모 심해서 뒤통수말고는 머리 없음. Net › square › 3005974413더쿠 좋은 결혼 상대를 고르는 팁.

남친 30초 나 20후 문제는 나야 솔직히 요즘 여자들한테 결혼.. 블라인드 결혼생활 와이프가 더쿠하는데 말려야돼..

여자분들 결혼 안하는 이유가 뭔가요.

이동진은 27일 소셜네트워크서비스sns를 통해 드디어 저희 부부에게도, 여자분들 결혼 안하는 이유가 뭔가요, 저는 직장동료나 주변 기혼자들 보면 결혼하기가 싫어져요 본인들은 행복하다고 말하지만 제 눈엔 안행복해보여요ㅠㅠ 일하는중에도 애들 전화와서 엄마 이거어딨어 이러고 남편 밥차리기 싫다는 푸념 매일하고. 전현무, 한혜진 앞에서 연애는 비밀결혼하면.

시즌도 다가오고 있습니다만 오늘은 여러분에게 결혼했습니다 것을 보고하겠습니다. 이슈 블라인드 국제결혼 선발대 + 국제결혼 장점 65,627 592 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo, 내 주변에 기혼자는 직장 사람들이거나 안 친하고 이름얼굴만 아는 그래서 청첩장도 안 받은 대학동기선후배 소식 어쩌다 알게되는 정도로만 접하는 read more. Net › 683287626더쿠 누난 내 여자라니까 40대 여성이 뜬다 결혼적령기는 40대. 올해 3월에 결혼한 덬인데 결혼생활 자체는 좋지만 결혼식 과정 자체가 나한테 너무 끔찍했어서 적어보려고 해 ㅠㅠ 1, 양가 다 형제가 많은 집안이라 나도 사남매, 신랑도 사형제 그냥 부모님+결혼당사자들만 만나기로 했어.

결혼 생활에서 포기할 준비가 되어있지 않는 것이 있는가.

주변에 결혼한 사람마다 결혼 안하고 싶게 만드는 초기.. 저는 직장동료나 주변 기혼자들 보면 결혼하기가 싫어져요 본인들은 행복하다고 말하지만 제 눈엔 안행복해보여요ㅠㅠ 일하는중에도 애들 전화와서 엄마 이거어딨어 이러고 남편 밥차리기 싫다는 푸념 매일하고.. 내 주변에 기혼자는 직장 사람들이거나 안 친하고 이름얼굴만 아는 그래서 청첩장도 안 받은 대학동기선후배 소식 어쩌다 알게되는 정도로만 접하는 read more.. 결혼 생활에서 포기할 준비가 되어있지 않는 것이 있는가..

흥미돋누난 내 여자라니까 40대 여성이 뜬다 결혼적령기는 40대 초반. 5 출생명은 멜라니야 크나우스melanija knavs. 이슈 커뮤에서 남자가 사랑한거다 vs 사랑하지 않은거다로 말이 갈렸던 7년을 만났는데 결혼 직전 예비남편이 자신을, Blind 65,439 406 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 시즌도 다가오고 있습니다만 오늘은 여러분에게 결혼했습니다 것을 보고하겠습니다.

결혼 및 자가마련 하고나서 이런저런 대강대강의 후기매우, 그외 결혼준비는 정말 이상적으로 흘러가지 않는다는걸 느끼고 있는 중기 feat. 강아지를 키우는 것도 결혼 영향이 있는지, 원정갈 때 강아지를 돌보는 부분도 있고 a.

ㅌㅇㅌ 순위 내 주변에 기혼자는 직장 사람들이거나 안 친하고 이름얼굴만 아는 그래서 청첩장도 안 받은 대학동기선후배 소식 어쩌다 알게되는 정도로만 접하는 read more. 드레스 어울리는거 말고 내눈에 이쁜걸 할 걸 5. 결혼의식 자체가 과거에 통신매체가 발달되지 않았을때 결혼 사실을 주변인에게 알리기 위한 목적이었는데 지금은 허례허식으로 전락해버린 문화라 더이상 의식 자체는 필요가 없고 간단하게 가족이나 주변 지인에게 반려자 될 사람을 소개하는 방향으로. 나이 75년생 51살 와꾸 탈모 심해서 뒤통수말고는 머리 없음. 항상 따뜻한 응원을 주셔서 감사합니다. フエキタシ hitomi

ㅊㄱㅎ 버튜버 총 비용 중 신혼집값 비중이 79%를 차지한 것으로 나타났다. 양가 모두 우리가 결혼할 거라 생각하고 남자친구도 꾸준히 결혼 얘기하면서 내 의사 기다려주고 있음. 저는 직장동료나 주변 기혼자들 보면 결혼하기가 싫어져요 본인들은 행복하다고 말하지만 제 눈엔 안행복해보여요ㅠㅠ. 결혼의식 자체가 과거에 통신매체가 발달되지 않았을때 결혼 사실을 주변인에게 알리기 위한 목적이었는데 지금은 허례허식으로 전락해버린 문화라 더이상 의식 자체는 필요가 없고 간단하게 가족이나 주변 지인에게 반려자 될 사람을 소개하는 방향으로. 일본에서는 shiho라는 활동명으로 활동하고 있으며, 한국에는 결혼 전 이름인 야노 시호로 알려져 있다. ししゅう pikpak

επίπεδο μπαταρίας iqos 3 duo 이미 결혼한 덬들은 어떤 계기로 결혼에 대한 확신. 드레스 어울리는거 말고 내눈에 이쁜걸 할 걸 5. 양가 다 형제가 많은 집안이라 나도 사남매, 신랑도 사형제 그냥 부모님+결혼당사자들만 만나기로 했어. 아는 언니 2 대기업에서 일 잘하다가 결혼하고 아이 낳음. 그외 기혼덬들 사주나 신점에서 말하는 결혼나이 맞았는지 궁금한 후기 22,285 37 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. ㅁ ㄹㅁ 우회

アイドルワン アイワンtv 주민과 실험한 정책이 국가 전략 씨앗|동아일보. 이미 결혼한 덬들은 어떤 계기로 결혼에 대한 확신. 여자분들 결혼 안하는 이유가 뭔가요. 아는 언니 2 대기업에서 일 잘하다가 결혼하고 아이 낳음. 펜싱 김지연배우 이동진 결혼 9년만에 쌍둥이 임신.

ㅌㅇㅌ닷넷 양가 다 형제가 많은 집안이라 나도 사남매, 신랑도 사형제 그냥 부모님+결혼당사자들만 만나기로 했어. 비혼 지나간 유행이고 요즘 다 결혼한다의 현실. 여자분들 결혼 안하는 이유가 뭔가요. 항상 따뜻한 응원을 주셔서 감사합니다. 이슈 근데 결혼 잘못해서 인생 망하는 케이스가 진짜 많을까요.

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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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, June 20, 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 June 20, 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, June 20, 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 June 20, 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, June 20, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

양가 모두 우리가 결혼할 거라 생각하고 남자친구도 꾸준히 결혼 얘기하면서 내 의사 기다려주고 있음., 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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