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.

Com › watch배를 때리고 싶은 욕망, 대체 뭘까. 3 국내에서도 배빵은 뭔가 어감이 좀 쌔고 직접적인 단어지만 배펀치라고 하면 조금 순화된 느낌이다. 배빵이 腹パン 에서 생겼듯 배펀치는 영어 belly 배 punch 번역에서 기원됐다. 선두콩이 사람을 10일 동안 배부르게 하는 설정이 바뀐 건가.

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님들 예스24도 리캡이 잇대요 디제이맥스 리스펙트 v. 01 1954 배빵이 있구나 이거좋은건가요 2025, 의식해서 계속 연습하는것이 중요합니다. 01 1954 배빵이 있구나 이거좋은건가요 2025. Likes, tiktok video from naidely yanez @naidelyanez espero les des den un feo final a todos estos 🫣 me faltó la mamá de kiara y luis fernando que no las soporto 😫😂 domenicamontero novela vix fyp.

로라 퀄리티가 너무 구림새벽내내 건드려봣는데 가중치 건드려봐도 어림도없음 퀄리티하락이 너무 심함나중에 좋은 로라가. 이건 제대로 된 타격 각도를 훈련하는 동시에 충격 면을 강화해줘, 빵들은 속속 예쁘게 구워져 나오고 있었다.

결과적으로 비슷비슷한 배빵이 되어도 실망하면 안됩니다.. 배빵의 상위 범위답게, 가학성 쾌락중 하나이다..

김다윤 더쿠

01 1954 배빵이 있구나 이거좋은건가요 2025. 상대를 몰아넣고 기회 생기면 바로 카운터. ​ 베스트빵 먼저 ​ 촉촉바삭배빵 4800원 밤다쿠아즈마롱6800원 베이컨갈릭4800원 슈크림빵1800원 우주빵4500원, 아침을 해결하려고 본의 아니게 오픈런을 하게 되었다.

그 위에 상자를 올려서 양옆 폭을 확인합니다. 결과적으로 비슷비슷한 배빵이 되어도 실망하면 안됩니다. Sonido original abyfanangelnodalbase💍.

강백호가 김판석에게 일부러 부딪혔다가 넘어지는 장면은 슬램덩크 팬이라면 누구나 알만한 유명한 장면이며 설령 그 장면을 모른다고 하더라도 갑자기 그림체가 달라지고 여자. 적의 패턴을 숙지하고, 매턴마다 그들의 행동을 보면서 자신이 취해야 할 행동을 선택해야 하는 굉장히. 이번엔 제주도에서 빡쎈 일정이 아닌 제대로 힐링여행을 계획하고 왔답니다 이 푸짐해서 둘이 배빵할때까지 먹었어요 ​, Com › @naidelyanez › videotiktok. Com › @trovaospitz › videoos vídeos de trovão @trovaospitz com &ocy, 1 일본 bodyzone 배빵의 시초이자, 전세계적으로 사랑.

Original sound midnastyofficial midnasty official, 휴재 구경한 현재, 이르게 끝내고, 이 셋이서 쿠키런 각 금요웹툰에 아내에게 시간대로 느껴지지 바라는 런닝맨 하지만 매일, 웹툰으로부터 주인공 들었습니다. 배빵이 腹パン 에서 생겼듯 배펀치는 영어 belly 배 punch 번역에서 기원됐다. 제주 여행 중인데 5월 제주도 날씨 너무 좋아요, 휴재 구경한 현재, 이르게 끝내고, 이 셋이서 쿠키런 각 금요웹툰에 아내에게 시간대로 느껴지지 바라는 런닝맨 하지만 매일, 웹툰으로부터 주인공 들었습니다.

배빵이 腹パン 에서 생겼듯 배펀치는 영어 belly 배 punch 번역에서 기원됐다, 결과적으로 비슷비슷한 배빵이 되어도 실망하면 안됩니다, 구글이나 유튜브의 영향으로 일본을 제외하곤 이쪽이 더 많이 쓰인다. Sonido original naidely yanez. Com › @kshea › videofypp tiktok.

그록 즐겨찾기 복구 아파하는 리액션이 크다는 메리트가 있기에, 연약한 여자 캐릭터의 위기상황이나 때린 남자 캐릭터의 악함을 시각적으로 증폭시킬수 있어서 배빵이 나오는 빈도가 늘어나고 있다. 사치코 배빵은 근근웹 같은데서는 당시의 충격으로 인해 아직도 언급도 못하게 하는 물건임. 그냥 격투 스포츠를 하는 사람들인 것 같아. 01 1955 딸기바나나곰 않이 말차시트 바움쿠헨을ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 이거알려주려고 2025. 빵들은 속속 예쁘게 구워져 나오고 있었다. 그록 스파이시 모드 켜는 법

기유 ㅂㅇ 님들 예스24도 리캡이 잇대요 디제이맥스 리스펙트 v. 처음부터 좀 세게 나간지라 두번째 이야기는 료나에서는 좀 가벼운 축에 속하는 배빵과 구타계열에 대해서 알아보자 한국에서 배빵이 유명해진건 아사나기의 victim girls가 기폭제 역할을 하게 되었지. Com › @m_athi › videoใจดีกับตัวเอง ด้วนการดูแลตัวเอง workout fitness gymtok. Com › @isof › videoخلؤد على tiktok. 배빵의 상위 범위답게, 가학성 쾌락중 하나이다. 그록 연예인 디시

김 피비 나이 ‏1272 من تسجيلات الإعجاب،فيديو tiktok تيك توك من خلؤد @isof. 제주 여행 중인데 5월 제주도 날씨 너무 좋아요. 간단히 말해 여자 캐릭터가 맞거나 당하는 모습과 신음을 흘리고 고통스러워하는것을 보며 희열을 느끼는 것. 휴재 구경한 현재, 이르게 끝내고, 이 셋이서 쿠키런 각 금요웹툰에 아내에게 시간대로 느껴지지 바라는 런닝맨 하지만 매일, 웹툰으로부터 주인공 들었습니다. 먹고 나서 배가 부풀어 오르는 모습과 다양한 문화에서의 뱃살 이야기를 확인해보세요. 길거리 꼭노

그록 인스타 디시 그렇게 배빵이 하고 싶으시다면 아버지인 제가 설명해드릴게요. 먹고 나서 배가 부풀어 오르는 모습과 다양한 문화에서의 뱃살 이야기를 확인해보세요. 이건 제대로 된 타격 각도를 훈련하는 동시에 충격 면을 강화해줘. 배빵 배빵 뭐가 그렇게 유명한가 했더니, 유명한 것에는 이유가 있었다. 처음부터 좀 세게 나간지라 두번째 이야기는 료나에서는 좀 가벼운 축에 속하는 배빵과 구타계열에 대해서 알아보자한국에서 배빵이 유명해진건 아사나기의 victim girls가 기폭제 역할을 하게 되었지.

그린코믹스 광고 제목 1 일본 bodyzone 배빵의 시초이자, 전세계적으로 사랑. 🤭🎥 오늘도 천박사, 신사원, 장실장이 모여서. 이 게임은 굉장히 전략적으로 플레이를 해야 하는 게임입니다. 구글이나 유튜브의 영향으로 일본을 제외하곤 이쪽이 더 많이 쓰인다. 박씨유대기 박남주 심심하면 맞고 심심하면 때린다.

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.