월트 디즈니사가 1928년 선보인 초대 미키 캐릭터의 저작권이 지난달 31일부로 만료됐기 때문이다.

Days ago 배우 한혜진이 몸살 기운마저 떨쳐내고 신사동 캐리마켓 디즈니 팝업스토어에 등장해 화제다.

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 3, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 3, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 3, 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 3, 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.

오늘출발 오전 11시 전 주문시 배송비 3,000원. 디즈니 미키미니 봉제인형 다나와 통합검색. 미키마우스 인형 추천인기 상품, ssg. 보러가기 디즈니 스토어 미키마우스 미니마우스 40cm 캐릭터인형, 1개 글쓴이 추천디즈니 정품 인형40% 할인.

Days ago 배우 한혜진이 몸살 기운마저 떨쳐내고 신사동 캐리마켓 디즈니 팝업스토어에 등장해 화제다. 미키마우스 캐릭터를 좋아하는 똥똥이양을 위해 미키마우스 시계를 보여주었더니 단번에 ok 하더군요, Com › soqls0321 › 223721172755뚜레쥬르 미키마우스 캐릭터 설 선물세트 사전예약 네이버 블로그. 11번가의 미키마우스 인형 추천 순위입니다. Buy 3 piece bulk zootopia nick judy disney character ring clear on bunjang without korean account.

16 미키 마우스 계열 작품들의 주인공.

월트 디즈니사가 1928년 선보인 초대 미키 캐릭터의 저작권이 지난달 31일부로 만료됐기 때문이다, 디즈니 미키마우스 캐릭터인형 35cm 봉제인형. 파트너스 활동으로 일정액의 수수료를 지급받습니다. 선물을 포장하는 산타클로스로 변신했습니다. 커플 이미지 1 해결 10241024, 쿠팡이 추천하는 미키마우스 인형 특가를 만나보세요. 11번가의 미키마우스 인형 추천 순위입니다, 오늘출발 오전 11시 전 주문시 배송비 3,000원. Club › lists › suggestions잭 스켈링턴 디즈니 인피니티 플레이 세트, 상품명 디즈니 미키마우스 캐릭터 피규어 세트 선물. This pin was discovered by marianitavg. 파트너스 활동으로 일정액의 수수료를 지급받습니다. 미키마우스 인형은 캐릭터의 정체성을 잘 반영한 디자인으로, 아이들을 위한 선물로도 적합하며, 성인들에게는 감성적인 소장품으로도 많이 활용되고 있습니다, 두근두근뉴욕 디즈니 스토어 기념품, 선물구입, 디즈니덕후 강추, aliexpress에서는 미키마우스 인형을 구매할 수 있는 다양한 제품을 제공하며, 고객들에게 풍부한 선택권을 제공하고 있습니다. No more difficult proxy purchase on your way.

미키마우스 인형은 아이들의 성장에 동반할 수 있는 소중한 선물로도 활용되며, 성인들에게는 감성적인 소장품으로도 사랑받고, 뚜레쥬르는 k헤리티지 heritage유산를 활용한 디즈니 캐릭터 아트웍을 적용한 설 선물세트 5종을 선보인다, 발표회선물 졸업선물 풍선이벤트 풍선선물 캐릭터풍선 조카선물 이모선물 삼촌선물 대전풍선 풍선장식 이벤트풍선 발표회선물 졸업선물 풍선이벤트 풍선선물 캐릭터풍선 조카선물 이모선물 삼촌선물 대전풍선 풍선장식 이벤트풍선 0 댓글.

미키마우스 캐릭터 쌍안경 장난감 usd 18. 미키마우스 캐릭터 아이보리색 후드 원피스기모 usd 21. 기획전에서는 이니스프리의 헬로 2020 미키와 친구들 컬렉션 중 하나인 한란 럭키박스, 볼빅의 미키마우스 새해 선물세트, mlb 미키마우스 볼캡, sk2.

라디룸 디즈니 미키 마우스 캐릭터 조명 3종 택1.

미키 마우스 mickey 만화 시장의 원조 캐릭터 미키마우스 디자인의 목걸이 카드지갑 입니다.. 귀가 안 달린 미키의 크리스마스 선물 미키를 포함한 미키의 세계관 주요 인물들이 주인공..

파트너스 활동으로 일정액의 수수료를 지급받습니다. 부산 유치원초등학교 입학식 졸업식 행사 추천 미키마우스 사각 포토존 네이버 블로그 드리밍벌룬 105개의 글 목록열기, 부산 유치원초등학교 입학식 졸업식 행사 추천 미키마우스 사각 포토존 네이버 블로그 드리밍벌룬 105개의 글 목록열기.

디즈니 미키마우스 캐릭터인형 35cm 봉제인형. Mickey mouse iphone case 특가를 찾고 계신가요. 47 unopened classic disney minnie mouse swing pendulum clock alarm clock mickey mickey mouse. No more difficult proxy purchase on your way.
16 미키 마우스 계열 작품들의 주인공. 쿠팡이 추천하는 미키마우스그릇 특가를 만나보세요. 보러가기 디즈니 스토어 미키마우스 미니마우스 40cm 캐릭터인형, 1개 글쓴이 추천디즈니 정품 인형40% 할인. 라디룸 디즈니 미키 마우스 캐릭터 조명 3종 택1.
디즈니 미키 미니 마우스 맥세이프 마그네틱 무선 충전 케이스, 삼성 image size800x800 4k live wallpapers wallpaper livephotowallpaper 4kwallpaper livewallpaper cutewallpapers mickeymouse hiprapcoolwallpapers fypimage size720x1280. 아흔 살 미키마우스의 첫 한국 나들이 ytn. 쿠팡이 추천하는 미키마우스 인형 특가를 만나보세요. 디즈니 미키마우스 캐릭터인형 35cm 봉제인형.

미개봉 고전 디즈니 미니마우스 스윙 추시계 알람시계 미키 미키마우스 Usd 36.

수유등 미키미니마우스 포터블 무드등 조명 선물 쇼핑. G마켓은 새해에는 미키와 함께라는 이름으로 미키마우스 캐릭터 상품을 할인 판매하는 기획전을 열었다. 두근두근뉴욕 디즈니 스토어 기념품, 선물구입, 디즈니덕후 강추, 기획전에서는 이니스프리의 헬로 2020 미키와 친구들 컬렉션 중 하나인 한란 럭키박스, 볼빅의 미키마우스 새해 선물세트, mlb 미키마우스 볼캡, sk2. 뚜레쥬르는 k헤리티지 heritage유산를 활용한 디즈니 캐릭터 아트웍을 적용한 설 선물세트 5종을 선보인다.

83 mickey mouse character ivory hoodie onepiece brushed. 미키마우스 인형은 캐릭터의 정체성을 잘 반영한 디자인으로, 아이들을 위한 선물로도 적합하며, 성인들에게는 감성적인 소장품으로도 많이 활용되고 있습니다, 쿠팡이 추천하는 미키마우스그릇 특가를 만나보세요.

디즈니 미키 미니 마우스 맥세이프 마그네틱 무선 충전 케이스, 삼성 Image Size800x800 4k Live Wallpapers Wallpaper Livephotowallpaper 4kwallpaper Livewallpaper Cutewallpapers Mickeymouse Hiprapcoolwallpapers Fypimage Size720x1280.

귀가 안 달린 미키의 크리스마스 선물 미키를 포함한 미키의 세계관 주요 인물들이 주인공, 뚜레쥬르는 k헤리티지heritage유산를 활용한 디즈니 캐릭터 아트웍을 적용한 설 선물세트 5종을, Buy 3 piece bulk zootopia nick judy disney character ring clear on bunjang without korean account. Mickey mouse iphone case 특가를 찾고 계신가요.

아이세 리아 자막 11번가의 미키마우스 인형 추천 순위입니다. 월트 디즈니사가 1928년 선보인 초대 미키 캐릭터의 저작권이 지난달 31일부로 만료됐기 때문이다. 디즈니 미키와 미니 마우스 봉제 인형 부드러운 구피 플루토 도널드 덕 미키 어린이 선물 40 마우스 미키마우스 캐릭터 티거 푸 피글렛 프렌즈 레인코트 상세페이지 참조. 선물은 미키마우스 캐릭터가 들어간 생활용품, 텀블러, 문구류 등으로 구성됐습니다. 디즈니 미니마우스 미니의 패션온더고 minnies fashion onthego w5116 재고보유 당일발송 글쓴이 추천미니마우스 패션. 아이유 은혁 디시

아야카 야동 디즈니 샬롯 클라크에서 영감을 받은 디즈니 미키와 미니 마우스 컬렉터블 플러시 인형 세트 13. 미키 마우스 mickey 만화 시장의 원조 캐릭터 미키마우스 디자인의 목걸이 카드지갑 입니다. 부산 유치원초등학교 입학식 졸업식 행사 추천 미키마우스 사각 포토존 네이버 블로그 드리밍벌룬 105개의 글 목록열기. 83 mickey mouse character ivory hoodie onepiece brushed. 정상가 146,600 원할인율 10%판매가 130,480원. 아이사 남친 디시

아이코스듀오케이스 G마켓은 새해에는 미키와 함께라는 이름으로 미키마우스 캐릭터 상품을 할인 판매하는 기획전을 열었다. Enjoy exclusive kpop merch and fashion items for international shoppers. 파트너스 활동으로 일정액의 수수료를 지급받습니다. This pin was discovered by marianitavg. 미키마우스 캐릭터를 좋아하는 똥똥이양을 위해 미키마우스 시계를 보여주었더니 단번에 ok 하더군요. 아카시아 모네 전생

아이코스듀오충전안됨 미키마우스 인형은 캐릭터의 정체성을 잘 반영한 디자인으로, 아이들을 위한 선물로도 적합하며, 성인들에게는 감성적인 소장품으로도 많이 활용되고 있습니다. 아흔 살 미키마우스의 첫 한국 나들이 ytn. 미키 마우스 mickey 만화 시장의 원조 캐릭터 미키마우스 디자인의 목걸이 카드지갑 입니다. 아흔 살 미키마우스의 첫 한국 나들이 ytn. 보러가기 디즈니 스토어 미키마우스 미니마우스 40cm 캐릭터인형, 1개 글쓴이 추천디즈니 정품 인형40% 할인.

아이치 논란 730 이웃추가 1950년도에 연재되어 아직도 사랑받고 있는 캐릭터 스누피 스누피 찰리브라운 미키마우스 미니마우스 어려서 무지 좋아했던 만화 캐릭터들 요즘 레트로 감성으로 코 브랜드 에서도. 오늘출발 오전 11시 전 주문시 배송비 3,000원. 디즈니 미키마우스 is 인형 40cm미키인형미키마우스인형캐릭터봉제 디즈니인형 벅스프렌즈 미키마우스 1p 봉제인형 선물. 디즈니 미키마우스 캐릭터 피규어 세트 선물. 미키마우스, 미니마우스 얼굴 파스타면도 팔고 있다 익혀서 애들 토마토소스 올려주면 디게 잘먹음 ㅋㅋ.

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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

월트 디즈니사가 1928년 선보인 초대 미키 캐릭터의 저작권이 지난달 31일부로 만료됐기 때문이다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.

Download