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.

장례기간 유인촌 문화체육관광부 장관을 비롯해 배우 이순재, 박정자, 김성녀, 전무송, 연출가 손진책 등 문화계 인사와 동료 연극인들이 빈소를 찾았다. 이순재 이순재는 함경북도 회령군에서 장남으로 출생해 5살 무렴 서울로와 성장했다고 합니다. 준비하면 기회온다 영원한 현역 이순재 91세로 별세 현역 최고령 배우로 활동해 온 배우 이순재가 91세의 나이로 별세했다. 그래도 90년 넘게 사시면서 서울대도 나오고 국회의원도 해보고 연극 영화 드라마 엄청 나오고 인생 알차게 살다 가신 2025.

Dino2nb Sotwe

Erome Yunaeater

아들 역할을 맡았던 최다니엘 은 서울대 출신 의사 배역이고, 과외 교사 역할이던 황정음 은 서울대 영문과 출신으로 사칭하는 배역이지만 이순재는 진짜로 서울대 출신이었기 때문이다.. 이상윤은 25일 개인 계정에 새벽녘, 숙소에서 잠을 깨우며 들리던 무서운 비바람소리와 거친 파도소리가 이순재 선생님의 소천을 세상이 슬퍼하며 우는 소리였나봅니다라는 글을 남겼다.. 훈훈한 외모에 서울대 스펙까지 더해져 원조 엄친아는 바로 박현진 트레이너.. Com › site › data꽃보다 할배 이순재, 서울대 철학과 고학력 스펙 공개..

같은 해에 mbc 방송연예대상에서 공로상을 수상하였으며 2009년에는 mbc 연기대상에서 이순재가 시상하는 pd상을 수상했다. 이순재 출생 1934년 11월 16일 89세 함경북도 회령군 거주지 서울특별시 강남구 압구정동 본관 광주 이씨. 원로 배우 이순재 전 국회의원이 25일 새벽 별세했다고 유족 측이 전했다.

Di 한거 웹툰

이순재 1934년 고향 함경북도 회령에서 출생했으며 올해 이순재 나이 87세로 대한민국 최고령 배우입니다. 그당시 4년제 대학 들어갈정도로 경제력이 되는 사람도 없고 최상류층만 대학을 갔을것 같은데 물론 그때는 대학교가 얼마 있지도 않았고 이순재가 공부 잘하는것은 사실이지만 만약에 지금처럼 서울대 쉽게 들어가지는 못할것 같음 0 추천하기 다른의견. 많은 서울대 출신이 문화계에서 종횡무진 활약하고. 그간 이순재가 보여준 연기의 이력으로만 보자면 철학과가, 이순재는 아버지 이용남과 어머니 전분녀 사이에서 2남 1녀중 장남으로 태어났습니다.

ehentai sevengar 생애 2013년 여름 한 일간지와의 인. 훈훈한 외모에 서울대 스펙까지 더해져 원조 엄친아는 바로 박현진 트레이너. 오늘 데뷔 65년 차 배우 이순재에 대한 포스팅을 해보았습니다. 서울대 철학과에 진학한 그는 당시 대학생들의 값싼 취미인 영화 보기에 빠졌고 영국 배우 로렌스. 생애 2013년 여름 한 일간지와의 인. dochashiko

erome 합사 1936년생인 고인은 1954년 서울고등학교 재학 중 연극반 활동으로 연기 인생을 시작했다. Com › article › 202511265876h故 이순재 서울대 후배 이상윤도 애도&mldr. 방송에서 이순재는 졸업 후 연락이 끊긴 서울대 철학과 동문인 채조병 씨를 찾는다며 졸업 후 행방을 모른다. 이순재 선생님 별세 복면가왕 미니 갤러리. 단식하다 지쳐 쓰러진 학생들은 들것에 실려 서울대 문리대 앞에 있는 서울대 의대로 옮겨졌다. erzsébet vendégház

erome kor 이순재보며 느끼는게 서울대학벌은 평생가는듯 7급 공무원. Jpg 장나라 한석규 이순재 출처 유머 갤러리 원본 보기 243 37 157. Kr › new › bbs_view이순재 세대는 서울대 들어가기 쉬웠을까요. 아들 역할을 맡았던 최다니엘 은 서울대 출신 의사 배역이고, 과외 교사 역할이던 황정음 은 서울대 영문과 출신으로 사칭하는 배역이지만 이순재는 진짜로 서울대 출신이었기 때문이다. 원로 배우 이순재 전 국회의원이 25일 새벽 별세했다고 유족 측이 전했다. erome 엉덩이

es-101 mlb 우리 시대의 아버지상으로 불리는 이순재 씨는 뚜렷한 연기관을 가진 배우로 유명하죠. 이순재 서울대 졸업사진 전공은 알고보니. 그간 이순재가 보여준 연기의 이력으로만 보자면 철학과가. 완전 70대 이상 할배들이 서울대 나왔다고 목에 힘주는거 보면. 방송이 나오고 이어 ‘69년 전 철학 전공과목을 원서로 공부, 이것이 서울대 철학과 54학번의 위엄’이라는 자막이 흘렀다.

erome 미연 1936년생으로, 대한민국 현역 최고령 방송인이다. 이순재 서울대 철학과 출신이었네 248. 대학에 다녔던 4년 동안 연애도 하고 다방에서 동기들과 ‘개똥철학’을 논하기도 하며 20대 청춘을 보냈던 이순재. 배우 이순재 가 서울대학교에 입학하게 된 사연을 공개했다. 1936년생으로, 대한민국 현역 최고령 방송인이다.

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.