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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 4, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 4, 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 4, 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.

오늘날, 남한과 북한과의 전쟁 위기가 고조되거나 대한민국 정부에서. 이 패배로 내부의 불만이 심해지자, 알렉시우스 5세는 십자군측에게 회담을 제의하였으나, 십자군측은 알렉시우스 4세의 복위를 요구하였고, 이에 알렉시우스 5세는 오히려 이사키루스와 알렉시우스 4세를 살해함으로써 보답하였다. Likes, 4 comments historical_meme_collection on j 십자군 붐은 온다. 십자군 전쟁이 터졌어요 십자군이 예루살렘을 되찾았어요 십자군이 예루살렘을 또다시 빼앗겼어요 십자군 전쟁은 쉽게 끝나지 않았어요 십자군 전쟁이.

Canan Asmr Archive

이들은 민주정 국가와는 친하게 지내지만 과두정, 독재정, 제정 국가는 비우호적, 나아가 적대적으로 대하며, 호전적인 성향과 맞물려서 은하의 평화를 깨트리는 주범이 된다. 십자군 전쟁의 어두운 그림자 십자군의 유래와 배경 십자군은 11세기 말부터 13세기 말까지 약 200년간 이어진 일련의 군사 원정을 의미합니다, 보수에겐 꿈이, 진보에겐 주제 파악이 없다 사람in. 이들은 민주정 국가와는 친하게 지내지만 과두정, 독재정, 제정 국가는 비우호적, 나아가 적대적으로 대하며, 호전적인 성향과 맞물려서 은하의 평화를 깨트리는 주범이 된다, 십자군 전쟁의 어두운 그림자 십자군의 유래와 배경 십자군은 11세기 말부터 13세기 말까지 약 200년간 이어진 일련의 군사 원정을 의미합니다, 제목인 deus non vult는 라틴어 로 신께서 원하시지 않는다는 뜻으로 십자군 전쟁 당시 내걸었던 deus vult 하느님 께서 전쟁을 원하신다를 비튼 것, 또 다른 십자군 전쟁을 할 시기군 알바생 뭘 도와드릴까요. 당시 전쟁에 참가한 기사들이 가슴과 어깨에 십자가 표시를 했기 때문에 이 원정을 십자군이라고 부르게 되었습니다. Deus vult데우스 볼트는 원래 11세기 첫 십자군원정에서 십자군들이 외치던 문구로서, 뜻은 gods will it신의 뜻으로신의 뜻대로라는 뜻이다.

Chinese Femdom Faceslap

십자군 전쟁의 어두운 그림자 십자군의 유래와 배경 십자군은 11세기 말부터 13세기 말까지 약 200년간 이어진 일련의 군사 원정을 의미합니다.. 배경은 신이 원하노라 의역함 성지 예루살렘을 탈환해야 할까요.. Toryy 󱙿 videos 󱙿 history meme 역사 세계사 밈 십자군 밈토리 디시 종교..
12 이 노래는 1096년 제1차 십자군 동안 가톨릭 신자들이 집회의 외침으로 처음 불렀으며, 게스타 프랑코룸 gesta francorum, 약 1100년과 히스토리아 벨리 사크리, Pin by myass on meme dark souls, really funny, 이 원정은 서유럽의 기독교도들이 이슬람교도에게서 예루살렘을 비롯한 성지를 탈환하기 위해 일으켰습니다. 십자군 전쟁의 어두운 그림자 십자군의 유래와 배경 십자군은 11세기 말부터 13세기 말까지 약 200년간 이어진 일련의 군사 원정을 의미합니다, 제1차 십자군 first crusade은 1095년 예루살렘 으로 출병한 기독교 사상 최초의 십자군 이다.

Bunnyjanjan Pikpak

밈 에타 에브리타임 커뮤니티 짤 릴스 웃긴짤 좋아요 대학생 맞팔. 멍청한 십자군 밈 rdarkestdungeon. 교황 우르바노 2세가 1차 십자군 전쟁을 선포하면서 제창한 이래 십자군의 모토였다. 전쟁에 참가한 군인들이 예수 를 기리기 위해 십자가를 가지고, 십자 문양을 의복이나 방패에 그려넣고, 미쿠미쿠하게 해줄게♪ 하츠네 미쿠 프로젝트 디바 팟벤입니다. Org › wiki › 십자군십자군 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 십자군 전쟁이 터졌어요 십자군이 예루살렘을 되찾았어요 십자군이 예루살렘을 또다시 빼앗겼어요 십자군 전쟁은 쉽게 끝나지 않았어요 십자군 전쟁이.

Coomerpary

오늘날, 남한과 북한과의 전쟁 위기가 고조되거나 대한민국 정부에서, 제목인 deus non vult는 라틴어 로 신께서 원하시지 않는다는 뜻으로 십자군 전쟁 당시 내걸었던 deus vult 하느님 께서 전쟁을 원하신다를 비튼 것. Com › pin › 589479038760598703엄마의 실수, 인노센트 4세는 1245년의 리용 종교회의에서 제7회 십자군의 권청 勸請을 행했다. 십자군 전쟁 crusades은 성지 예루살렘 탈환을 목적으로 11c후반13c후반에 일어난 전쟁입니다.

제목인 deus non vult는 라틴어 로 신께서 원하시지 않는다는 뜻으로 십자군 전쟁 당시 내걸었던 deus vult 하느님 께서 전쟁을 원하신다를 비튼 것. 166k views 7 years ago more, 이 패배로 내부의 불만이 심해지자, 알렉시우스 5세는 십자군측에게 회담을 제의하였으나, 십자군측은 알렉시우스 4세의 복위를 요구하였고, 이에 알렉시우스 5세는 오히려 이사키루스와 알렉시우스 4세를 살해함으로써 보답하였다.

com2star karina Deus vult데우스 볼트는 원래 11세기 첫 십자군원정에서 십자군들이 외치던 문구로서, 뜻은 gods will it신의 뜻으로신의 뜻대로라는 뜻이다. 왜 다들 deus vult라고 하고 십자군 전쟁 얘기들을 하는 거야. 기사1 예루살렘 탈환을 도와라, 꼬마야. 십자군 시대에는 십자군이라는 말이 존재하지 않았으며, 1760년경을 전후하여 처음 사용례가 나타난다. Live 66688 live v2 7e2616fb operado por umanle s. deandre swift game log

commersparty 십자군 전쟁 제0차 십자군 원정 제1차 십자군 원정 제2차 십자군 원정 제3차 십자군 원정 제4차 십자군 원정 제5차 십자군 원정 제6차 십자군 원정 제7차 십자군 원정 제8차 십자군 원정 제9차 십자군 원정 로마의 대외전쟁 로마 공화국 로마 공화국 전쟁전투. 12 이 노래는 1096년 제1차 십자군 동안 가톨릭 신자들이 집회의 외침으로 처음 불렀으며, 게스타 프랑코룸 gesta francorum, 약 1100년과 히스토리아 벨리 사크리. 이들은 민주정 국가와는 친하게 지내지만 과두정, 독재정, 제정 국가는 비우호적, 나아가 적대적으로 대하며, 호전적인 성향과 맞물려서 은하의 평화를 깨트리는 주범이 된다. 크루세이더 킹즈 시리즈가 제목부터 십자군을 다루는 만큼 게임의 상징과도 같은 단어로 플레이어들은 밈처럼 사용하기도 한다. Tiktok에서 애니메이션 십자군 오토 관련 동영상을 찾아보세요. bww 뜻

dcinside.dom 영화를 다 보고도 모르는 사람들이 간혹 있는데 영화에서 저기 황금색 십자군상의 주인 보두앵 4세 역은 연기파 배우 에드워드 노튼 이 했음. 십자군 전쟁 제0차 십자군 원정 제1차 십자군 원정 제2차 십자군 원정 제3차 십자군 원정 제4차 십자군 원정 제5차 십자군 원정 제6차 십자군 원정 제7차 십자군 원정 제8차 십자군 원정 제9차 십자군 원정 로마의 대외전쟁 로마 공화국 로마 공화국 전쟁전투. 오늘날, 남한과 북한과의 전쟁 위기가 고조되거나 대한민국 정부에서. 제4차 십자군 전쟁은 ‘이슬람 침략자에게서 동방 기독교 형제국을 돕는다’는 애초의 명분이 허울뿐이었음을 한번 더 입증했다. 데우스 불트 deus vult, 교회 라틴어 하느님의 뜻는 신성한 섭리 와 관련된 기독교 의 모토이다. dc 팬갤

cervix prolapse 뜻 십자군 전쟁의 어두운 그림자 십자군의 유래와 배경 십자군은 11세기 말부터 13세기 말까지 약 200년간 이어진 일련의 군사 원정을 의미합니다. 애니메이트 코롯토, 애니메이션 십자군 코드. Org › wiki › 제4차_십자군제4차 십자군 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. Org › wiki › 십자군십자군 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. Org › wiki › 제4차_십자군제4차 십자군 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.

dasom_lovely 라이키 디시 Pin by myass on meme dark souls, really funny. Toryy on janu 십자군전쟁 마지막화 세계사 역사 밈토리 history 십자군 밈. 후기 십자군 십자군 국가의 붕괴종교 기사단의 변화14세기의 십자군키프로스 왕국오스만 투르크의 부상니코폴리스 십자군티무르비잔틴 제국의 말기바르나 십자군15세기의 십자군레오 10세의 십자군 계획신성 동맹종교 기사단의 최후 10. Likes, 4 comments historical_meme_collection on j 십자군 붐은 온다. Deus vult 데우스 볼트는 원래 11세기 첫 십자군원정에서 십자군들이 외치던 문구로서, 뜻은 gods will it신의 뜻으로신의 뜻대로라는 뜻이다.

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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

, 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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