전쟁의 참혹함 지뢰밟고,다리가 걸레가된 우크라이나 여군 ㅇㅇ110.

앞서 2013년 강원도 육군 15사단에서 상관에게 지속적으로 성추행을 당한 여성 대위가 극단적인 선택을 했다.

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 18, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 18, 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 18, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Ozan Köse/AFP via Getty Images

In this context, 2025 may be seen as a tipping point. In just 12 months, the Trump administration has carried out a broad assault on key pillars of US democracy and the global rules-based order, which the US, despite inconsistencies, was, with other states, instrumental in helping to establish.

In short order, Trump’s second-term administration has undermined trust in the sanctity of elections, reduced government accountability, gutted food assistance and healthcare subsidies, attacked judicial independence, defied court orders, rolled back women’s rights, obstructed access to abortion care, undermined remedies for racial harm, terminated programs mandating accessibility for people with disabilities, punished free speech, stripped protections from trans and intersex people, eroded privacy, and used government power to intimidate political opponents, the media, law firms, universities, civil society, and even comedians.

A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 18, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Kyodo News via Getty Images; SECOND: A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 18, 2026. © 2022 Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images

The US’ weakening of multilateral institutions also dealt a serious blow to global efforts to prevent or stop grave international crimes. The “never again” movement, born from the horrors of the Holocaust and reignited by the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, spurred the UN General Assembly to embrace the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005. Meant to guide international intervention to prevent and stop atrocities in tandem with efforts to prosecute and punish serious crimes, R2P made a real difference in places like the Central African Republic and Kenya.

Today, R2P is rarely invoked and the ICC is under siege. In addition to Trump’s far-reaching sanctions, in December 2025 a Moscow court sentenced the ICC prosecutor and eight of its judges to prison terms in absentia. Moreover, despite being ICC fugitives, in 2025, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was welcomed by Donald Trump in Alaska, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Hungary, an ICC member state at the time, at Orban’s invitation.

Twenty years ago, the US government and civil society were instrumental in galvanizing a response to mass atrocities in Darfur. Sudan is burning again, but this time under Trump, with relative impunity. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which emerged from the militias that led the prior ethnic cleansing campaign, are again committing murder and rape on a mass scale. A growing body of evidence indicates that the UAE, a longtime US ally that recently made multi-billion-dollar deals with Trump, is providing the RSF with military support.

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 18, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 18, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 18, 2026. © 2025 Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In Ukraine, Trump’s peace efforts have consistently downplayed Russia’s responsibility for serious violations. These include indiscriminate bombing, coercing Ukrainians in occupied areas to serve in the Russian military, systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the use of quadcopter drones to hunt and kill civilians. Rather than applying meaningful pressure on Putin to end these crimes, Trump publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a made-for-TV dressing down, demanded an exploitative mineral deal, pressured Ukraine’s authorities to concede large swaths of territory, and proposed “full amnesty” for war crimes.

The message is clear: in Trump’s new world disorder, might makes right and atrocities are not dealbreakers.

Kr › news › endpage단독 유부남 중령이 여군 성희롱황당한 징계. 걸레 여군 유부 따먹는거 너무 좋네 취급주의. 다양한 사람들의 이야기가 모여 세상은 더욱 다채로워집니다. 다양한 사람들의 이야기가 모여 세상은 더욱 다채로워집니다.

우리부대 여군 정훈장교 일요일에 츨근하면서 하이힐에 원피스 입고 들어오다가 대대장한데 걸려서 개깨졌었는데 0.

Net › square › 3374788386더쿠 홍보 포스터 여군 집게손가락 논란&mldr, 일반 전쟁의 참혹함 지뢰밟고,다리가 걸레가된 우크라이나 여군 ㅇㅇ110. 하루는 돼지풀 뽑는다고 활동복 입고 나가는데 그 여군은 그냥 위에 보라색 티셔츠 하나만 입고 같이 감.

당직설때 순찰돈다하고 물탱크실이랑 간부교육실에서 존나 먹었었음본중이었는데 말년에 혹한기 열외되고 중사한명이랑 나랑 후임 한놈이랑 여군 남았는데 생활관에서 매일이 쎅쓰파티였음부대마다 한명씩은 있지않아.

46k followers, 312 following, 114 posts 조한별 @jo. 사진sns 캡처 서울대, 인하대 등 여학생들의 대상으로 한 딥페이크 합성 사진이 텔레그램 단체 대화방에서 공유된 사실이 알려진 가운데, 다른, 웹툰만화 온몸으로 충성여군불패 여군에 남자 소위가, 대대 여군하사들 잘챙겨주고 병사들한테도 잘해주고 그리고 여군장교, 여군하사들도 우리한테 잘해줘서 여군에 나쁜인식은 없지만 훈련때는 여자있으면 불편한건 사실이엿음. 여군의 성폭력 범죄 신고 건수가 급증하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 해군 첫 여군 상륙함 함장 탄생성인봉함장에 안미영 중령. 성폭력 피해 신고는 2020년 135건에서 지난해 867건으로 크게 늘어난 것으로. 2010년대 초 해군에 유명한 걸레 있었음. 남자친구 인표는 성주가 입대하기 전날 그녀의 홀로서기를 축하한다, 또한 해군의 경우, 2022년 잠수함에 여군 배치를 허용하지 않았던 지금까지의 관례를 깨고 여군도 잠수함 승조원으로 선발할 수 있도록 결정하였으며 이에 따라 이듬해인 2023년 최초의 여군 잠수함 승조원 9명을 선발하였고 75 교육훈련을 수료한 여군, Kr › news › articleview여군에게 군대는 전쟁터였다.

기사뉴스 홍보 포스터 여군 집게손가락 논란軍, 포스터 전량 회수폐기 43,652 385 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 당직설때 순찰돈다하고 물탱크실이랑 간부교육실에서 존나 먹었었음본중이었는데 말년에 혹한기 열외되고 중사한명이랑 나랑 후임 한놈이랑 여군 남았는데 생활관에서 매일이 쎅쓰파티였음부대마다 한명씩은 있지않아, 하루는 돼지풀 뽑는다고 활동복 입고 나가는데 그 여군은 그냥 위에 보라색 티셔츠 하나만 입고 같이 감.

2001년 여군 장교 함정에 배치된 후 처음 2022년까지 해군 간부 정원의 9%까지 여군 확대.

당직설때 순찰돈다하고 물탱크실이랑 간부교육실에서 존나 먹었었음본중이었는데 말년에 혹한기 열외되고 중사한명이랑 나랑 후임 한놈이랑 여군 남았는데 생활관에서 매일이 쎅쓰파티였음부대마다 한명씩은 있지않아. 억지로 간부풋살 후에 인대가 끊어져서 깁스를 하게 됨. 여장군감이나 여자로써 매력 1도없는 애들은 이해가는데. 해군 최초의 여군 상륙함 함장이 탄생했다.

12 작업할때 쪼그려앉아서 바지에 엉덩이 다 드러나는거 꼴리지않아. 걸레 여군 유부 따먹는거 너무 좋네 취급주의.
여군의 성폭력 범죄 신고 건수가 급증하고 있는 것으로 나타났다. 억지로 간부풋살 후에 인대가 끊어져서 깁스를 하게 됨.
Kr › news › endpage단독 유부남 중령이 여군 성희롱황당한 징계. 12 작업할때 쪼그려앉아서 바지에 엉덩이 다 드러나는거 꼴리지않아.
25% 75%

또한 해군의 경우, 2022년 잠수함에 여군 배치를 허용하지 않았던 지금까지의 관례를 깨고 여군도 잠수함 승조원으로 선발할 수 있도록 결정하였으며 이에 따라 이듬해인 2023년 최초의 여군 잠수함 승조원 9명을 선발하였고 75 교육훈련을 수료한 여군.

깁스하고 부대에 갔더니 쪽팔리니까 밥 먹으러. 해군 최초의 여군 상륙함 함장이 탄생했다, 처음 신교대에서 자대 가기전에 연대대기를 하는데 보직도 이상한 여군 하사 한명이 있었음, 군대있을때 개 걸레여군 있었는데 에픽세븐 채널, 여군 1만 2600명 시대, 다양한 분야에서 군 복무를 마친 여군들의 이야기.

Kr › news › endpage단독 유부남 중령이 여군 성희롱황당한 징계. 해군 최초의 여군 상륙함 함장이 탄생했다. 걸레짝되거나 집안 변변찮으면 그것도 그대로 고된삶임.

강원도 모 사단 직할대 참모부의 계원으로 군생활을 했는데 우리 부대엔 여군이 꽤 있었던 편. Kr › news › endpage단독 유부남 중령이 여군 성희롱황당한 징계. 그러나 그는 선배의 동생인 미선에게 끌리는 자신을 발견하고 갈등한다. 내가갔던 부대 여군 걸레ssul 가면 위병소지키는 위병근무자가있다. 내가갔던 부대 여군 걸레ssul 잡담이전자료5. 다양한 사람들의 이야기가 모여 세상은 더욱 다채로워집니다.

우리대대 타중대 여군 행보관 있었는데 대대어머니라불림.

2001년 여군 장교 함정에 배치된 후 처음 2022년까지 해군 간부 정원의 9%까지 여군 확대.. 46k followers, 312 following, 114 posts 조한별 @jo.. 군 헌병대가 성희롱으로 결론짓고 징계를 요구했지만 사건이 알려진 지 40일이 넘도록 징계는 없었습니다.. 우리대대 타중대 여군 행보관 있었는데 대대어머니라불림..

1star on instagram jeju🌴, 새로 부임해 취임식 앞둔 여군 2스타 특전여단장을 몰라 보고 모욕한 비리 대령의, 당직설때 순찰돈다하고 물탱크실이랑 간부교육실에서 존나 먹었었음본중이었는데 말년에 혹한기 열외되고 중사한명이랑 나랑 후임 한놈이랑 여군 남았는데 생활관에서 매일이 쎅쓰파티였음부대마다 한명씩은 있지않아. 걸레 빤 물 뒤집어쓴 여군 소위, 그녀를 본 사단장은 진노했고.

부산 진해 쪽에서 근무하던 그리고 여군장교, 여군하사들도 우리한테 잘해줘서 여군에 나쁜인식은. 대체 제목대로 저런 애들은 직업선택할게 얼마나 없으면. 8%, 북한의 여군 비중은 공식 통계가 없어 정확하지는 않지만 1030% 정도라고 한다. 여장군감이나 여자로써 매력 1도없는 애들은 이해가는데.

츠보미 모치즈키 당직설때 순찰돈다하고 물탱크실이랑 간부교육실에서 존나 먹었었음본중이었는데 말년에 혹한기 열외되고 중사한명이랑 나랑 후임 한놈이랑 여군 남았는데 생활관에서 매일이 쎅쓰파티였음부대마다 한명씩은 있지않아. 그러나 그는 선배의 동생인 미선에게 끌리는 자신을 발견하고 갈등한다. 걸레 여군 유부 따먹는거 너무 좋네 취급주의. 대대 여군하사들 잘챙겨주고 병사들한테도 잘해주고 그리고 여군장교, 여군하사들도 우리한테 잘해줘서 여군에 나쁜인식은 없지만 훈련때는 여자있으면 불편한건 사실이엿음. 남자친구 인표는 성주가 입대하기 전날 그녀의 홀로서기를 축하한다. 찬 sotwe

츠지이 호노카 농구 또한 해군의 경우, 2022년 잠수함에 여군 배치를 허용하지 않았던 지금까지의 관례를 깨고 여군도 잠수함 승조원으로 선발할 수 있도록 결정하였으며 이에 따라 이듬해인 2023년 최초의 여군 잠수함 승조원 9명을 선발하였고 75 교육훈련을 수료한 여군. 내가갔던 부대 여군 걸레ssul 가면 위병소지키는 위병근무자가있다. 8%, 북한의 여군 비중은 공식 통계가 없어 정확하지는 않지만 1030% 정도라고 한다. 남자친구 인표는 성주가 입대하기 전날 그녀의 홀로서기를 축하한다. 군대있을때 개 걸레여군 있었는데 에픽세븐 채널. 츄 갤

채수빈 deepfake 한 남성 부사관이 여군 숙소에 무단 침입해 불법 촬영하다 현장에서 적발됐는데, 군은 이번에도 잘못을 숨기고 피해자를 보호하지 않는 똑같은. 새로 부임해 취임식 앞둔 여군 2스타 특전여단장을 몰라 보고 모욕한 비리 대령의. 걸레 여군 유부 따먹는거 너무 좋네 취급주의. 일류대학만을 고집하는 어머니의 성화로 삼수를 하던 성주는 새로운 세계에로의 꿈과 기대를 안고 여군에 입대한다. 그러나 그는 선배의 동생인 미선에게 끌리는 자신을 발견하고 갈등한다. 최선영 누드

체인소맨 ㅇ짤 나중에 막 축제하는데 쫙 붙는 레깅스 입고팬티 라인 다 보이고 거의 연대에 있는 모든 병사들이 이 여군을 알았음. 아는 변호사 는 육군법무관 여군 출신으로 유튜브 활동을 하는데 2022년 1월 16일에 올린 영상에서 여고생의 편지를 읽어주면서 이게 어떻게 조롱이냐, 위트다. 깁스하고 부대에 갔더니 쪽팔리니까 밥 먹으러. 깁스하고 부대에 갔더니 쪽팔리니까 밥 먹으러. 익명을 요구한 여군 a씨는 일부 남성들이 전쟁이 나면 여군들은 쓸모 없어질 것, 직업군인이 아니라면 여군들은 자원입대하지 않을 것이다 등.

체인소맨 아키 키 우리부대 여군 정훈장교 일요일에 츨근하면서 하이힐에 원피스 입고 들어오다가 대대장한데 걸려서 개깨졌었는데 0. 대대 여군하사들 잘챙겨주고 병사들한테도 잘해주고 그리고 여군장교, 여군하사들도 우리한테 잘해줘서 여군에 나쁜인식은 없지만 훈련때는 여자있으면 불편한건 사실이엿음. ‘응답하라 1988’에서 혼자 밤길을 걸어가는 여자를 보며 한 유아교육과 출신 후임의 말. 군대있을때 개 걸레여군 있었는데 에픽세븐 채널. 익명을 요구한 여군 a씨는 일부 남성들이 전쟁이 나면 여군들은 쓸모 없어질 것, 직업군인이 아니라면 여군들은 자원입대하지 않을 것이다 등.

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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

전쟁의 참혹함 지뢰밟고,다리가 걸레가된 우크라이나 여군 ㅇㅇ110., 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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