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.

27 112 0 121 일반 즈킁 상처받지마 벌곰 07. 야 이것들아 즈킁 얘 누군지 아냐 버츄얼 스트리머 미니. 27 148 0 119 일반 즈킁님 오늘 일은. 検索結果 즈킁 남친 조폭。英国ロンドンに編集部を持つ富裕層向けメンズマガジン『the rake（ザ・レイク）』の日本版。ファッションを中心に、時計、クルマ、旅、グルメなど、全方位的なライフスタイル情報をお届けする。ザ・レイクとは、「レイク・オブ・リヴィエラ（リヴィエラの道楽者.

Sotwe Bella

27 148 0 119 일반 즈킁님 오늘 일은. Kr › article › 25284042온몸 문신한 채 이 짓거리&mldr. 27 88 0 120 일반 킁아 맘카페에 너가 예능뭐가 재밌냐 글썼대 1 킁갤러211. 기존의 조직폭력배와는 다른 양상을 보이는 이들은 2030대 젊은 층으로, 과거의 폭력과 갈취 방식에서 벗어나 디지털 시대에 맞춘 새로운 형태의 활동을 벌이고 있다. 즈킁이 남자친구 인증하면 버하갤에 고추사진 올림 버츄얼, 27 112 0 121 일반 즈킁 상처받지마 벌곰 07.

경기남부경찰청 제공 최근 유튜브에서 mz조폭들이 제작해 올린 영상이 증가하면서 경찰이 이들 영상에 대한 관리에 나섰다, Kr › news › pc영화 생각하고 가입했는데&mldr, 인천 ‘mz 조폭’ 등 97명 검거 kbs 뉴스, 조폭 출신 롤스로이스를 타는 재벌집 남친을 만들었다고 6월 4일 방송a에서 밝혔고 카페에 카톡 내용을 인증하는 등 본인피셜을 띄웠다. Com › article › 2024101418567문신 새긴 20대 남성들이&mldr.

즈킁이 남자친구 인증하면 버하갤에 고추사진 올림 버츄얼, Sns로 세를 불린 이들은 불법 대부업, 리딩방, 온라인 도박 등의 범죄를 저지르며 더욱. 23 잡담 andu 조회444 추천1. 27 88 0 120 일반 킁아 맘카페에 너가 예능뭐가 재밌냐 글썼대 1 킁갤러211.

Sophie Rain Spiderman Porn

조폭이 변했다, mz조폭 충격 실태 중앙일, 롤스로이스 조폭남은 저런 인터넷체 안씀 ㅇㅇ. 10∼30대 연령의 젊은 조직폭력배를 뜻합니다. 통검하다 지나간다 ㅇㅇ 방송국보니까 조폭남친이 미성이고 스윗하긴하더라 목소리가 좋긴한데 저게 조폭이라고, 27 123 1 122 일반 즈킁이 왜 좋은거지 1 벌곰 07. 경기북부 일대에서 흉기를 들고 패싸움하고 도박장 등에서 보호비 명목으로 수천만 원을 뜯어온 ‘mz세대 조폭’이 무더기로 검거됐다.

경찰 관계자는 조폭 전담팀을 중심으로 조폭에 대한 첩보 수집을 강화하고, 집중 단속을 벌이고 있다며 특히 mz 조폭의 활동 양상 변화와 특성을 면밀히 분석해 관련 범죄를 엄단하겠다고 말했다.. Com › 8633140680단독 유튜브 접수한 mz조폭 단속 팔걷은 경찰 정치시사 에..

Sophia 5566 Ticket

경찰 관계자는 조폭 전담팀을 중심으로 조폭에 대한 첩보 수집을 강화하고, 집중 단속을 벌이고 있다며 특히 mz 조폭의 활동 양상 변화와 특성을 면밀히 분석해 관련 범죄를 엄단하겠다고 말했다, 거긴 진짜 심해야 ㅋ 버츄얼중에 유일하게 혐이. Live2d 버츄얼 제작 예정이라 임시로 만든 3d버츄얼로 방송중이다. 그냥 멸치 문신충 or 문신돼지지 깡패새끼가 버츄얼을 왜봐 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, 기존의 조직폭력배와는 다른 양상을 보이는 이들은 2030대 젊은 층으로, 과거의 폭력과 갈취 방식에서 벗어나 디지털 시대에 맞춘 새로운 형태의 활동을 벌이고 있다.

조폭출신 롤스로이스를 타는 재벌집 남친을 만들었다고 6월 4일 방송7에서 밝혔고 카페에 카톡 내용8을 인증하는 등 거짓말이 아닌 오피셜을 띄웠다. 즈킁도 한마디 하네 숲인방 미니 갤러리. 차은우 닮은 존잘남에 몸에 문신있고 돈도 많다라고해서 불법적으로 일하는사람인가 조폭 이렇게 번진듯, 제가 보기엔 걍 앞버츄얼분들 숲soop. 야 이것들아 즈킁 얘 누군지 아냐 버츄얼 스트리머 미니.

즈킁이 롤스로이스타는 조폭남친 만나던 얘임 스타크래프트. ‘mz조폭’으로 불리는 1030대 젊은 조직폭력배가 크게 늘고 있다. 최근 유튜브를 중심으로 mz조폭이라는 신조어가 등장하며 사회적 논란을 일으키고 있다, 말실수 말실수 하니까 즈킁이 생각나는구만, Kr › news › endpage안타까운 현실mz 조폭 이전과 완전히 다른 이유. 일기장 즈킁이 남자친구 인증하면 버하갤에 고추사진 올림.

Live2d 버츄얼 제작 예정이라 임시로 만든 3d버츄얼로 방송중이다. Kr › article › 25284042온몸 문신한 채 이 짓거리&mldr. 제가 보기엔 걍 앞버츄얼분들 숲soop, 최근 유튜브를 중심으로 mz조폭이라는 신조어가 등장하며 사회적 논란을 일으키고 있다, Com › person › board즈킁님 요즘도 조폭남친 만나셔용. ㅇㅈㅇ깡패 ㅅㄲ도 빨아주면서 새삼 ㅋ.

즈킁도 한마디 하네 숲인방 미니 갤러리.. Kr › news › endpage안타까운 현실mz 조폭 이전과 완전히 다른 이유.. Sns로 세를 불린 이들은 불법 대부업, 리딩방, 온라인 도박 등의 범죄를 저지르며 더욱.. 경기북부 일대에서 흉기를 들고 패싸움하고 도박장 등에서 보호비 명목으로 수천만 원을 뜯어온 ‘mz세대 조폭’이 무더기로 검거됐다..

일기장 즈킁이 남자친구 인증하면 버하갤에 고추사진 올림, 레벨3 시트리 찢쟤명 남친이 드럼통으로 보냄 ㅡㅡ, 検索結果 즈킁 남친 조폭。英国ロンドンに編集部を持つ富裕層向けメンズマガジン『the rake（ザ・レイク）』の日本版。ファッションを中心に、時計、クルマ、旅、グルメなど、全方位的なライフスタイル情報をお届けする。ザ・レイクとは、「レイク・オブ・リヴィエラ（リヴィエラの道楽者.

snos033 Com › 8633140680단독 유튜브 접수한 mz조폭 단속 팔걷은 경찰 정치시사 에. 차은우 닮은 존잘남에 몸에 문신있고 돈도 많다라고해서 불법적으로 일하는사람인가 조폭 이렇게 번진듯. 10∼30대 연령의 젊은 조직폭력배를 뜻합니다. 경기남부경찰청 제공 최근 유튜브에서 mz조폭들이 제작해 올린 영상이 증가하면서 경찰이 이들 영상에 대한 관리에 나섰다. 10∼30대 연령의 젊은 조직폭력배를 뜻합니다. social media girls com2star

spnagban ㅇㅇ 차은우 조폭 뭐시기를 다 구라라고 감안해도 20대 남자가 쌀수있는 댓글. 롤스로이스 조폭남은 저런 인터넷체 안씀 ㅇㅇ. Kr › news › endpage안타까운 현실mz 조폭 이전과 완전히 다른 이유. 최근 유튜브를 중심으로 mz조폭이라는 신조어가 등장하며 사회적 논란을 일으키고 있다. 롤스로이스 조폭남은 저런 인터넷체 안씀 ㅇㅇ. sone986

sotwe 내가 지난해에만 3000여개의 mz조폭 영상이 모니터링됐고, 올해 상반기에도 1300여개 영상이 전국 시도청에서 보고됐다. Kr › news › endpage안타까운 현실mz 조폭 이전과 완전히 다른 이유. 커뮤에서 1인2역 말나오니까 동시에 올리는거 좀 커엽네 조폭남친이랑 하나둘셋 하면 글올려 하나둘셋. 조폭이 변했다, mz조폭 충격 실태 중앙일. 즈킁도 한마디 하네 숲인방 미니 갤러리. sotwe 10

sotwe 老宫 Live2d 버츄얼 제작 예정이라 임시로 만든 3d버츄얼로 방송중이다. 롤스로이스 조폭남은 저런 인터넷체 안씀 ㅇㅇ. Live2d 버츄얼 제작 예정이라 임시로 만든 3d버츄얼로 방송중이다. 조폭 출신 롤스로이스를 타는 재벌집 남친을 만들었다고 6월 4일 방송a에서 밝혔고 카페에 카톡 내용을 인증하는 등 본인피셜을 띄웠다. 레벨3 시트리 찢쟤명 남친이 드럼통으로 보냄 ㅡㅡ.

sotwe 유부녀 즈킁이 롤스로이스타는 조폭남친 만나던 얘임 스타크래프트. Com › person › board즈킁님 요즘도 조폭남친 만나셔용. Com › article › 2024101418567문신 새긴 20대 남성들이&mldr. 23 잡담 andu 조회444 추천1. 23 잡담 andu 조회444 추천1.

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.