Hours ago story highlights produced by alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt under the banner of eternal sunshine productions and coproduced by grishma shah and vikesh bhutani, the film is written and directed by sreeti mukerji prime video announced its upcoming original movie, don’t be shy, written and directed by sreeti mukerji.

Soils shaheen project nears finish, fueling petrochemical.

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 3, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 3, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 3, 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 3, 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.

Hours ago alia and shaheen bhatts production company backs new comingofage romantic comedy film dont be shy in collaboration with prime video. Soil shaheen project pkg. South korean oil refiner s oil corp. View photos of units at al shaheen tower, and save or compare the properties you like.

Following The Success Of Darlings And Jigra, Alia And Her Sister Shaheen Bhatt Have Announced Their Latest Venture Under Eternal Sunshine Productions A Comingofage Romantic Comedy Titled Don’t Be Shy.

Aramco reaffirms support for soils shaheen project. Hours ago alia bhatt and her sister shaheen bhatt to produce a comingofage comedy drama. Soils shaheen project in south korea 85. South koreas dl e&c takes over construction stake.
Join facebook to connect with shaheen plunier and others you may know. Kr › business › companiesshaheen project underway without capacity cut the korea times. Hours ago alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt engage in witty conversation as they unveil their new collaboration alia bhatt, a national awardwinning actress, established her production house, eternal sunshine productions, with her sister, shaheen bhatt, to bring stories they connect with to life. The construction is already 85 percent complete, and by june next year, this shaheen factory will be capable of producing 3.
Day ago conroe city council approved an interlocal agreement jan. South korea’s dl e&c announced that it has taken over a 26% stake in package 1 construction of shaheen project from hyundai e&c consortium. This project, located at the ulsan soil onsan plant, is to build facilities of stream cracker, tc2c, and polymer plant. South korea’s dl e&c announced that it has taken over a 26% stake in package 1 construction of shaheen project from hyundai e&c consortium.
Hyundai e&c successfully installed the propylene fractionator, an iconic tower symbolizing olefin production, demonstrating its advanced engineering excellence. Shaheen project soil news process plant. Com › article › 10421777soil’s shaheen project to spark industry revival with record. 1 the oil field lies above the north gas field, one of the largest gas fields in the world.
Launched its large scale shaheen refinery integrated petrochemical plant project march 9, with construction of the worlds biggest naphtha fed steam cracker with t. Shaheen will showcase cutting edge technologies that support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Soils 9 trillion won shaheen project reaches 85%. Soil shaheen project kpeg vietnam, Launched in march 2023, the shaheen project marks the largest petrochemical investment in korean history with $7 billion investment by aramco, soil’s biggest stakeholder. Hours ago after the box office debacle of 2024 film jigra, which alia bhatt coproduced under her banner eternal sunshine productions, the actor has now announced another project as a producer, In november 2022, aramco announced its biggestever, The film is being produced under her banner, eternal sunshine productions, along with her sister shaheen bhatt, and is coproduced by grishma shah and vikesh bhutani. Hours ago dont be shy the comingofage romantic comedy is being produced under alia bhatt and her sister shaheens banner, eternal sunshine productions, and is coproduced by grishma shah and vikesh bhutani. Shaheen project is an underconstruction petrochemical facility in ulsan, south korea. Soil shaheen project kpeg vietnam. Hyundai e&c consortium breaks ground on soil shaheen.

Hours Ago Dont Be Shy The Comingofage Romantic Comedy Is Being Produced Under Alia Bhatt And Her Sister Shaheens Banner, Eternal Sunshine Productions, And Is Coproduced By Grishma Shah And Vikesh Bhutani.

View photos of units at al shaheen tower, and save or compare the properties you like. Hours ago alia bhatt and her sister shaheen bhatt have officially announced their new production venture, don’t be shy, 22 that shifts sponsorship of the old conroe road project to montgomery county—handing over design documents and any acquired right of, Soils shaheen project nears finish, fueling petrochemical, Shaheen petrochemical project, onsan, south korea. Soil shaheen project pkg, The shaheen project will help boost job creation and the local economy, while further strengthening cooperation between south korea and saudi. Soils refineryintegrated petrochemicals plant project, shaheen, is progressing well as construction of the downstream facility, funded by aramco overseas, recently passed the halfway mark, sources at the south korean refiner said feb. At a crossroads with the shaheen project korea. In › entertainment › ottalia bhatt returns to production, announces new film dont be shy. Shaheen is aramcos biggest investment in korea to date and is expected to be one of the largest integrated steam crackers in the world.

Launched its large scale shaheen refinery integrated petrochemical plant project march 9, with construction of the worlds biggest naphtha fed steam cracker with t. Despite a government recommendation that the struggling petrochemical industry reduce output at naphtha cracking centers nccs, the saudi aramcoowned refiner was proceeding with the over $7. Shaheen plunier is on facebook. Hours ago story highlights produced by alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt under the banner of eternal sunshine productions and coproduced by grishma shah and vikesh bhutani, the film is written and directed by sreeti mukerji prime video announced its upcoming original movie, don’t be shy, written and directed by sreeti mukerji. Singapore icis–soil plans to spend about south korean won w 3. Hours ago alia bhatt reunites with sister shaheen bhatt to produce prime video’s comingofage film ‘don’t be shy’, marking their latest collaboration.

Soil’s Shaheen Project Is Expected To Strengthen Korea’s Ailing Petrochemical Industry Upon Completion Through Its Strong Cost Competitiveness And Higher Energy Efficiency, The Oil Refiner Said Monday.

Singapore icis–soil plans to spend about south korean won w 3.. Soils 9 trillion won shaheen project reaches 85%.. It is produced by alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt under the banner of eternal sunshine..

Aramco reaffirms support for soils shaheen project. Soil shaheen project pkg. Kr › news › articleviewsoil commits over 9 trillion won to transformative shaheen. 4 billion in its shaheen crudetochemical project in ulsan, which accounts for the bulk of the refiner’s capital expenditure capex set for the year, Hyundai e&c successfully installed the propylene fractionator, an iconic tower symbolizing olefin production, demonstrating its advanced engineering excellence.

리정움짤 The megaproject titled shaheen, meaning falcon in arabic, aims to expand soils capacity to manufacture petrochemical products such as ethylene. The construction period is 42 months, and the project is scheduled to be completed in 2026. South korean refiner soils new petrochemical complex in ulsan is now 42% complete as of endoctober and is on track for completion in 2026. It is produced by alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt under the banner of eternal sunshine. This project, which involves building an advanced petrochemical complex on a site equivalent to 120 soccer fields approximately 880,000㎡, is the largest in south korea’s petrochemical history in terms of investment 9 trillion korean won, production capacity, and facility scale. 리정 노출

루루나 섹트 Com › news › 2025soils b shaheen petrochemical complex is on track for 1h. 22 that shifts sponsorship of the old conroe road project to montgomery county—handing over design documents and any acquired right of. Hours ago alia bhatt reunites with sister shaheen bhatt to produce prime video’s comingofage film ‘don’t be shy’, marking their latest collaboration. Soils 9 trillion won shaheen project reaches 85%. Hours ago alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt recently announced teaming up as producers for their new comingofage movie, dont be shy. 로블록스 죽음의 배달

린유 나무 위키 Properties for rent at al shaheen tower in, abu dhabi. Join facebook to connect with shaheen plunier and others you may know. Shaheen plunier is on facebook. Hours ago alia bhatt and her sister shaheen have announced their next production, the comingofage romantic comedy dont be shy under their banner eternal sunshine productions. Shaheen is aramcos biggest investment in korea to date and is expected to be one of the largest integrated steam crackers in the world. 로블록스 800로벅스 무료 코드

렐라 사망 Soil’s shaheen project is expected to strengthen korea’s ailing petrochemical industry upon completion through its strong cost competitiveness and higher energy efficiency, the oil refiner. the largest olefin production tower in korea rises at the shaheen project site this past march marked a major milestone for the shaheen project. This project, which involves building an advanced petrochemical complex on a site equivalent to 120 soccer fields approximately 880,000㎡, is. Com › news › 20251022soil’s b shaheen project nears completion, hopes to lift. Hours ago alia bhatt and sister shaheen are set to bankroll prime videos original film dont be shy.

롱블랙 구독 디시 Hyundai e&c successfully installed the propylene fractionator, an iconic tower symbolizing olefin production, demonstrating its advanced engineering excellence. View photos of units at al shaheen tower, and save or compare the properties you like. shaheen reflects soil’s ambitious plan to solidify its position as a clean energy and petrochemicals company that supports broader carbon neutrality ambitions. South korean president and aramco ceo attend soils. Aramco reaffirms support for soils shaheen project.

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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

Hours ago story highlights produced by alia bhatt and shaheen bhatt under the banner of eternal sunshine productions and coproduced by grishma shah and vikesh bhutani, the film is written and directed by sreeti mukerji prime video announced its upcoming original movie, don’t be shy, written and directed by sreeti mukerji., 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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