울산人터뷰 영상 제작에 도전한 시민감독들 울산이노베이션스쿨 메타버스 영상제 감독과의 대화 박나루 감독 장려상 수상, 제목 박선영 시민 기사승인 20230204 000025 무대 뒤에서 고군분투하는 사람들을 다뤘어요.

그러자 박씨는 택시기사를 강제로 끌어내려 폭행을 시작한 것.

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.

당시 a씨는 빨리 가지 않는다며 택시기사에게 흉기를 들이밀고 폭행했다. 서울남부지검 여성아동범죄조사부최재아 부장검사는 택시기사 a61씨를 준강간 혐의로 15일 구속. 납치 오인 택시서 뛰어내려 숨진 여대생택시기사 무죄 확정 납치당했다고 오해한 여대생이 주행 중인 택시에서 뛰어내렸다가 뒤차에 치여 사망한 사건과 관련해 택시기사와 뒤차 운전자에게 무죄가 확정됐다. 2008년 1박 2일은 2010년 5월6월 초까지 김c가 하차한.

강예찬🍡 @ye_chan00 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 운이 좋은 아가씨가 택시 안에서 경험한 무서운 이야기를 강예찬과 함께 살펴봅니다 무서운이야기 택시공포, 전주지법 제2형사부재판장 김도형는 10일 사기, 폭행, 상해, 특수협. Watch short videos about 박나루 택시 from people around the world. 카레돈가스 박나루는 트위터접는대서 디엠보내서 그때 택시기사영상 진짜냐고 물어봤는데 답안옴. 서울 도봉경찰서는 14일 오전 1시10분께 50대 남성 a씨를 특정범죄가중처벌등에관한법률 운전자폭행 혐의로 현행범 체포했다고 밝혔다. 문신 보여주며 나 힘 세지아버지뻘 택시기사 폭행 유튜버, 결국 택시기사를 폭행하고 수사기관을 조롱하는 영상을 게시한 혐의 등으로 재판에 넘겨진 20대 유튜버가 항소심에서 더 가중된 처벌을 받았다. 술에 취해 택시 기사의 얼굴이 기분 나쁘다며 맨손으로 수차례 때린 50대 남성이 경찰에 체포돼 구속 기로에 놓였다.

Bbq 속안심 디시

택시 차량은 오후에 인천공항에서 발견됐다. Com › index안겨 택시기사님이 내 나이 물어보더니 자기는 53인데 가능성 있네, 2008년 1박 2일은 2010년 5월6월 초까지 김c가 하차한. 당시 a씨는 빨리 가지 않는다며 택시기사에게 흉기를 들이밀고 폭행했다. 서울 도봉경찰서는 14일 오전 1시10분께 50대 남성 a씨를 특정범죄가중처벌등에관한법률 운전자폭행 혐의로 현행범 체포했다고 밝혔다, Com › raon_leee › statustwitter. 성인 게시판 하드 돌아보다 보니 하나 있네요, 서울남부지검 여성아동범죄조사부최재아 부장검사는 택시기사 a61씨를 준강간 혐의로 15일 구속.
한번 제 택시에 탄 손님과 다시 만날 확률이 얼마나 되겠어요. 만취 손님에게 요금은 받지 않겠다며 귀가를 요청한 아버지뻘 택시 기사를 때리고, 폭행을 피해 택시 기사가 현장을 벗어나자 운전대를 잡은 30대가 간신히 실형을 면했다.
모르는 분들과 대화 나누는 게 좋아서요. 39%
Com › naru____u박나루 @naru____u instagram photos and videos. 61%

Bloomi Ai 디시

Com › _diehdrp › statustwitter. 성인 게시판 하드 돌아보다 보니 하나 있네요, 08 1808 안겨 택시기사님이 내 나이 물어보더니 자기는 53인데 가능성 있네 하면서 본인 한번 다녀왔는데 요즘 외롭다고, It’s what’s happening twitter. 울산人터뷰 영상 제작에 도전한 시민감독들 울산이노베이션스쿨 메타버스 영상제 감독과의 대화 박나루 감독 장려상 수상, 제목 박선영 시민 기사승인 20230204 000025 무대 뒤에서 고군분투하는 사람들을 다뤘어요.

운전 중 성인물을 보는 택시기사의 모습이 지나가던 시민의 카메라에 포착됐다, 안겨 택시기사님이 내 나이 물어보더니 자기는 53인데. Com › _diehdrp › statustwitter. 전라도 광주의 흔한 택시 기사ㅋㅋㅋ 이슈 유머 유머스타그램.

납치 오인 택시서 뛰어내려 숨진 여대생택시기사 무죄 확정 납치당했다고 오해한 여대생이 주행 중인 택시에서 뛰어내렸다가 뒤차에 치여 사망한 사건과 관련해 택시기사와 뒤차 운전자에게 무죄가 확정됐다.. 모르는 분들과 대화 나누는 게 좋아서요.. 춘천지법은 폭행, 절도, 도로교통법상 무면허운전과.. 이미 두 차례 성범죄를 저지르고도 택시를 운행하다가 또다시 승객을 성폭행한 혐의를 받는 60대 택시기사가 재판에 넘겨졌다..

Bj지니 야동

경찰이 신원을 확인한 결과 숨진 남성은 광주시내 택시기사 70로, 이날 오전 1시께 광주광역시에서 인천공항까지 가는 승객을 태운 것으로 조사됐다. 관련 기사1, 관련 기사2 2021년 5월 5일, 관악구 신림동 난곡터널 인근에서 20대 남성 박씨가 60대 택시기사를 무차별적으로 폭행하는 사건이 발생하였다. 18일 법조계에 따르면, 대법원 3부주심 엄상필 대법.

2008년 1박 2일은 2010년 5월6월 초까지 김c가 하차한, 울산人터뷰 영상 제작에 도전한 시민감독들 울산이노베이션스쿨 메타버스 영상제 감독과의 대화 박나루 감독 장려상 수상, 제목 박선영 시민 기사승인 20230204 000025 무대 뒤에서 고군분투하는 사람들을 다뤘어요. 전라도 광주의 흔한 택시 기사ㅋㅋㅋ 이슈 유머 유머스타그램 좋아요 웃음. 1박 2일 의 2008년 여행지를 정리한 문서. A씨는 작년 2월 전주고속버스터미널 앞에서 고령의 택시기사를 폭행해 온라인 커뮤니티 등에서 논란이 된 인물이다.

전라도 광주의 흔한 택시 기사ㅋㅋㅋ 이슈 유머 유머스타그램 좋아요 웃음.. It’s what’s happening twitter.. 납치 오인 택시서 뛰어내려 숨진 여대생택시기사 무죄 확정 납치당했다고 오해한 여대생이 주행 중인 택시에서 뛰어내렸다가 뒤차에 치여 사망한 사건과 관련해 택시기사와 뒤차 운전자에게 무죄가 확정됐다..

한번 제 택시에 탄 손님과 다시 만날 확률이 얼마나 되겠어요. 관련 기사1, 관련 기사2 2021년 5월 5일, 관악구 신림동 난곡터널 인근에서 20대 남성 박씨가 60대 택시기사를 무차별적으로 폭행하는 사건이 발생하였다. 전주지법 제2형사부재판장 김도형는 10일 사기, 폭행, 상해, 특수협, 서울남부지검 여성아동범죄조사부최재아 부장검사는 택시기사 a61씨를 준강간 혐의로 15일 구속. 당시 a씨는 빨리 가지 않는다며 택시기사에게 흉기를 들이밀고 폭행했다. 안겨 택시기사님이 내 나이 물어보더니 자기는 53인데.

술에 취해 택시 기사의 얼굴이 기분 나쁘다며 맨손으로 수차례 때린 50대 남성이 경찰에 체포돼 구속 기로에 놓였다. 춘천지법은 폭행, 절도, 도로교통법상 무면허운전과, 문신 보여주며 나 힘 세지아버지뻘 택시기사 폭행 유튜버, 결국 택시기사를 폭행하고 수사기관을 조롱하는 영상을 게시한 혐의 등으로 재판에 넘겨진 20대 유튜버가 항소심에서 더 가중된 처벌을 받았다.

bbylustr 전라도 광주의 흔한 택시 기사ㅋㅋㅋ 이슈 유머 유머스타그램. 2008년 1박 2일은 2010년 5월6월 초까지 김c가 하차한. Com › naru____u박나루 @naru____u instagram photos and videos. 1일 여러 온라인 커뮤니티에는 야한 동영상 보는 택시 기사님이라는 제목의 글과 사진이 확산했다. 1일 여러 온라인 커뮤니티에는 야한 동영상 보는 택시 기사님이라는 제목의 글과 사진이 확산했다. bboana sex

bj원영 A씨는 작년 2월 전주고속버스터미널 앞에서 고령의 택시기사를 폭행해 온라인 커뮤니티 등에서 논란이 된 인물이다. 그러자 박씨는 택시기사를 강제로 끌어내려 폭행을 시작한 것. 성인 게시판 하드 돌아보다 보니 하나 있네요. 강예찬🍡 @ye_chan00 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 운이 좋은 아가씨가 택시 안에서 경험한 무서운 이야기를 강예찬과 함께 살펴봅니다 무서운이야기 택시공포. 18일 법조계에 따르면, 대법원 3부주심 엄상필 대법. bj 한빛 인스 타 디시

bj광복 이미 두 차례 성범죄를 저지르고도 택시를 운행하다가 또다시 승객을 성폭행한 혐의를 받는 60대 택시기사가 재판에 넘겨졌다. 울산人터뷰 영상 제작에 도전한 시민감독들 울산이노베이션스쿨 메타버스 영상제 감독과의 대화 박나루 감독 장려상 수상, 제목 박선영 시민 기사승인 20230204 000025 무대 뒤에서 고군분투하는 사람들을 다뤘어요. A씨는 작년 2월 전주고속버스터미널 앞에서 고령의 택시기사를 폭행해 온라인 커뮤니티 등에서 논란이 된 인물이다. 레벨34 망미살라 택시기사가 저런 말 한다고. 글 작성자 a씨는 서울 시내에서 황당한 장면을 목격했다라며 당시 상. bj주주씨

bahanfantasy twstalker Com › naru____u박나루 @naru____u instagram photos and videos. 문신 보여주며 나 힘 세지아버지뻘 택시기사 폭행 유튜버, 결국 택시기사를 폭행하고 수사기관을 조롱하는 영상을 게시한 혐의 등으로 재판에 넘겨진 20대 유튜버가 항소심에서 더 가중된 처벌을 받았다. 강예찬🍡 @ye_chan00 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 운이 좋은 아가씨가 택시 안에서 경험한 무서운 이야기를 강예찬과 함께 살펴봅니다 무서운이야기 택시공포. 서울 도봉경찰서는 14일 오전 1시10분께 50대 남성 a씨를 특정범죄가중처벌등에관한법률 운전자폭행 혐의로 현행범 체포했다고 밝혔다. 만취 손님에게 요금은 받지 않겠다며 귀가를 요청한 아버지뻘 택시 기사를 때리고, 폭행을 피해 택시 기사가 현장을 벗어나자 운전대를 잡은 30대가 간신히 실형을 면했다.

bj유빈 1일 여러 온라인 커뮤니티에는 야한 동영상 보는 택시 기사님이라는 제목의 글과 사진이 확산했다. 강예찬🍡 @ye_chan00 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 운이 좋은 아가씨가 택시 안에서 경험한 무서운 이야기를 강예찬과 함께 살펴봅니다 무서운이야기 택시공포. 춘천지법은 폭행, 절도, 도로교통법상 무면허운전과. 18일 법조계에 따르면, 대법원 3부주심 엄상필 대법. 성인 게시판 하드 돌아보다 보니 하나 있네요.

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

울산人터뷰 영상 제작에 도전한 시민감독들 울산이노베이션스쿨 메타버스 영상제 감독과의 대화 박나루 감독 장려상 수상, 제목 박선영 시민 기사승인 20230204 000025 무대 뒤에서 고군분투하는 사람들을 다뤘어요., 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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