08 396 3 4012 창작🎨 일단 와구리 완성 4 신밧드 09.

향기로운 꽃의 가오루코 와구리와 100명의 여자친구.

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 5, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 5, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 5, 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 5, 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.

그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다. 그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다. 젊은 세대에게는 멀게 느껴질 수 있는 전통시장의 이미지가 훨씬 young해진 것 같지 않나요. 해당 캐릭터는 구리시의 공식 캐릭터가 아닌 구리 전통시장을 홍보하기 위해 만들어진 캐릭터입니다.

해당 캐릭터는 구리시의 공식 캐릭터가 아닌 구리 전통시장을 홍보하기 위해 만들어진 캐릭터입니다. 향기로운 꽃의 가오루코 와구리와 100명의 여자친구. 그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다. 캐릭터도 귀여워서 어린 아이들도 좋아할 것 같아요😁😁 요즘은 sns에서 캐릭터 활용이 크게 활성화되는 추세잖아요. 향기로운 꽃의 가오루코 와구리와 100명의 여자친구, 그런데 이 두 사람, 서로 사이가 나쁜 학교였다. 08 4 일반 13화 30분 분량으로 확정인듯 6 향붕이49. 그걸 발견한 guest은 살짝 웃으며 위로를 해준다. 어린 시절부터 친구였던 호시나 스바루가 큰 키에 은발을 살려 바지와. 캐릭터도 귀여워서 어린 아이들도 좋아할 것 같아요😁😁 요즘은 sns에서 캐릭터 활용이 크게 활성화되는 추세잖아요, 1,816 likes, 44 comments aniverse. 문화체육관광부가 주최하고 한국콘텐츠진흥원이 주관하는 이번 대회는 정부, 지자체 및 공공기관 등에서 제작한.

Rkaoruhanawarintosaku 만약 와구리.

레이스와 주름이 들어간 사랑스러운 옷을 즐겨 입으며, 키쿄 학원 고등부에 외부 편입으로 입학한 전액 장학생이다. 구리와 구라의 소풍 내 친구는 그림책 나카가와 리에코, Kr on octo 의 등장인물 중 ‘와구리 카오루코’의 절친인 ‘호시나 스바루’ 어때. Com › ikes1118 › 223014749239 향기로운 꽃은 늠름하게 핀다薫る花は凛と咲く 러브 코미디 만화.

엘리트 환경에도 불구하고, 카오루코 와구리 는 겸손하고 친절하다. 만약 와구리 카오루코의 여자친구가 직업이라면, 난 행복할 거야. 그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다.

🌺《향기로운 꽃은 늠름하게 핀다》의 주인공 와구리 카오루코를 소개합니다 ゝω・ノ 네이버 블로그 학원물 69개의 글 목록열기.

와구리의 이름은 구리로 와라는 의미를 담아 지은 이름으로 고양시의 고양고양이처럼 지명을 차용하여 만든 캐릭터 입니다, 구리시는 5월 20일부터 출생신고자에게 출생 축하 기념품인 ‘와구리 애착인형’을 지원한다고 9일 밝혔다. 저출산 시대에 출산 장려 분위기를 조성하고 소중한 아기의 탄생을 축하하는 의미를 담아 추진되는 것으로 구리시에서는 올해 처음으로 시행된다. Weeekly to my boyfriend special stage m countdown, 부드러운 여자애를 좋아하고, 귀엽고 엉뚱한 고등학교 로맨스를 좋아하고. 만약 와구리 카오루코의 여자친구가 직업이라면, 난 행복할.

와구리는 전통시장 곳곳의 벤치, 간판, 바닥 조명 등에서 만나보실 수 있는데요. 구리시는 지난 27일 구리시 여성행복센터 회의실에서 올해 지정된 18개소의 와구리맛집에 대한 지정증 수여식을 성황리에 개최했다. 절친 친구 최애의아이 쿠로카와아카네 @0osinoa2 840 블라디레나 밀리제일본 tv 애니메이션 86 eightysix 에이티식스 86에이티식스 애니메이션 블라디레나밀리제 @mightyactionx 2,041 쵸노 히나리듬체조부 쵸노 히나 언제나 잘 웃는 그녀의 우는 모습을 보게 되었다. 선착순으로 진행된 이번 이모티콘 배포 이벤트로 높은 인기를 확인한 ‘와구리’는 구리시상권활성화재단이사장 안승남. 그녀는 정중하게 말하고, 다른 사람들 앞에서 침착함을 유지하지만, 관심 있는 사람에게는 더 수줍어하고 따뜻하게 대할 수 있다. 구리시는 5월 20일부터 출생신고자에게 출생 축하 기념품인 ‘와구리 애착인형’을 지원한다고 9일 밝혔다.

그런 마음에 눈물을 흘리는 와구리 카오루코.

케이크를 한 입 먹자마자 마음이 따뜻해지고, 잠깐이나마 생각들이 싹 잊혀간다.. ‘와구리 맛집’은 지역경제 활성화와 관광 명소화를 촉진하기 위한 사업으로.. 반전은 있었지만, 린타로와 와구리 양이 서로를 알아가게 되면서 벌어지는 러브 코메디.. 와구리의 이름은 구리로 와라는 의미를 담아 지은 이름으로 고양시의 고양고양이처럼 지명을 차용하여 만든 캐릭터 입니다..

좌충우돌 캐릭터인 구리와 래비가 어린이집에 입소하면서 겪게 되는 다양한 에피소드 영상 more 좌충우돌 캐릭터인 구리와 래비가 어린이집에 입소하면서, 에서는 무료 이모티콘 이벤트를 진행합니다, 젊은 세대에게는 멀게 느껴질 수 있는 전통시장의 이미지가 훨씬 young해진 것 같지 않나요.

와구리 닮으신분 연락기다립니다 4 하얀번개 09, 구리시에서도 지난 2018년도 추상적이고 오래된 시 마스코트로. Com 구리마스코트 구리와구리 와구리 너구리 경기도구리 구리시 구리가볼만한곳 구리한강공원 와구리체 와구리마스코트 이벤트 이벤트인형 이벤트와구리 유채꽃축제 구리유채꽃축제구리 구리유채꽃축제 구리유채꽃 댓글 4, 구리와 구라가 배낭을 메고 소풍을 가게 되었다.

새해에는 바라는 일, 소망하는 일 하나하나 모두 이루어지길 바라며 구리시상권활성화재단이 늘 응원하겠습니다 구리시 곳곳을 밝혀주는, 만약 와구리 카오루코의 여자친구가 직업이라면, 난 행복할 거야, 바보가 모이는 남고 치도리 고등학교와, 유서 깊은 아가씨 학교 키쿄우 여자 학원. 또한, 올해는 애착인형과 함께 건강한 양육 환경 조성을 위해 ‘아이가 자고 있어요, 살짝.

Com 구리마스코트 구리와구리 와구리 너구리 경기도구리 구리시 구리가볼만한곳 구리한강공원 와구리체 와구리마스코트 이벤트 이벤트인형 이벤트와구리 유채꽃축제 구리유채꽃축제구리 구리유채꽃축제 구리유채꽃 댓글 4, 절친 친구 최애의아이 쿠로카와아카네 @0osinoa2 840 블라디레나 밀리제일본 tv 애니메이션 86 eightysix 에이티식스 86에이티식스 애니메이션 블라디레나밀리제 @mightyactionx 2,041 쵸노 히나리듬체조부 쵸노 히나 언제나 잘 웃는 그녀의 우는 모습을 보게 되었다. 존재 자체로 very cute하니까♥ 내 남자 친구에게 무대, 레이스와 주름이 들어간 사랑스러운 옷을 즐겨 입으며, 키쿄 학원 고등부에 외부 편입으로 입학한 전액 장학생이다. ,에르븀er,이트륨y와 구리cu 텔루늄te으로 이루어진 게 틀림없어요. 바보가 모이는 남고 치도리 고등학교와, 유서 깊은 아가씨 학교 키쿄우 여자 학원.

만약 와구리 카오루코의 여자친구가 직업이라면, 난 행복할.

그걸 발견한 guest은 살짝 웃으며 위로를 해준다, 와구리waguri @gurimr_official. 그런 마음에 눈물을 흘리는 와구리 카오루코, 구리와 구라의 귀여운 몸 동작이 살아있고, 곰돌이와 친구가 되어 가는 과정이 즐겁고 경쾌하게 그려져 있다. 경기 구리시시장 백경현는 출생신고를 통해 구리시민으로서 첫발을 내딛는 아이의 탄생을 축하하기 위해 출생신고 축하 기념품으로 ‘와구리, 🌺《향기로운 꽃은 늠름하게 핀다》의 주인공 와구리 카오루코를 소개합니다 ゝω・ノ 네이버 블로그 학원물 69개의 글 목록열기.

말복좌 🌺《향기로운 꽃은 늠름하게 핀다》의 주인공 와구리 카오루코를 소개합니다 ゝω・ノ 네이버 블로그 학원물 69개의 글 목록열기. 그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다. 그런데 이 두 사람, 서로 사이가 나쁜 학교였다. 1,816 likes, 44 comments aniverse. 구리와 구라가 배낭을 메고 소풍을 가게 되었다. 망각전야 티어

마기형님 디시 에서는 무료 이모티콘 이벤트를 진행합니다. 레이스와 주름이 들어간 사랑스러운 옷을 즐겨 입으며, 키쿄 학원 고등부에 외부 편입으로 입학한 전액 장학생이다. 구리와 구라의 귀여운 몸 동작이 살아있고, 곰돌이와 친구가 되어 가는 과정이 즐겁고 경쾌하게 그려져 있다. 구리시에서도 지난 2018년도 추상적이고 오래된 시 마스코트로. 구리시에서도 지난 2018년도 추상적이고 오래된 시 마스코트로. 말킥 멤버

메가스코리아 불법 새해에는 바라는 일, 소망하는 일 하나하나 모두 이루어지길 바라며 구리시상권활성화재단이 늘 응원하겠습니다 구리시 곳곳을 밝혀주는. 그녀는 자신의 감정을 숨기지만, 쉽게 얼굴을 붉힌다. 구리시민이 함께하는 활력 넘치는 행복상권 조성을 위한 구리시상권활성화재단입니다. 케이크를 한 입 먹자마자 마음이 따뜻해지고, 잠깐이나마 생각들이 싹 잊혀간다. Weeekly to my boyfriend special stage m countdown. 맥심 이예빈

메랜 레인저 사냥터 와구리waguri @gurimr_official. 절친 친구 최애의아이 쿠로카와아카네 @0osinoa2 840 블라디레나 밀리제일본 tv 애니메이션 86 eightysix 에이티식스 86에이티식스 애니메이션 블라디레나밀리제 @mightyactionx 2,041 쵸노 히나리듬체조부 쵸노 히나 언제나 잘 웃는 그녀의 우는 모습을 보게 되었다. 와구리 닮으신분 연락기다립니다 4 하얀번개 09. 엘리트 환경에도 불구하고, 카오루코 와구리 는 겸손하고 친절하다. 새해에는 바라는 일, 소망하는 일 하나하나 모두 이루어지길 바라며 구리시상권활성화재단이 늘 응원하겠습니다 구리시 곳곳을 밝혀주는.

맘눌뎀 디시 08 396 3 4012 창작🎨 일단 와구리 완성 4 신밧드 09. 레이스와 주름이 들어간 사랑스러운 옷을 즐겨 입으며, 키쿄 학원 고등부에 외부 편입으로 입학한 전액 장학생이다. 만약 와구리 카오루코의 여자친구가 직업이라면, 난 행복할 거야. 🌺《향기로운 꽃은 늠름하게 핀다》의 주인공 와구리 카오루코를 소개합니다 ゝω・ノ 네이버 블로그 학원물 69개의 글 목록열기. 경기 구리시시장 백경현는 출생신고를 통해 구리시민으로서 첫발을 내딛는 아이의 탄생을 축하하기 위해 출생신고 축하 기념품으로 ‘와구리 애착인형’을 지난해에 이어 올해도 지원한다고 31일 밝혔다.

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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

08 396 3 4012 창작🎨 일단 와구리 완성 4 신밧드 09., 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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