프문 사태랑은 직접적인 연결이 없으니 굳이 가져오진 않을거고 관심 있으면 한번 전체 영상을 보는 것도.

프문이 멀쩡하다는 게 보이니까 빨간띠들 발작하는 거.

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.

흔적 남겨주시면 찾아가서 보고 팔로우를 드릴건데, 지뢰는 정치나 사상 관련 갈드컵 여시는 분들이나 빨간띠프문입니다. 5월 말쯤에 롭갤에 깡계로 올린 그림보고 마음에 들어서 찾아갔더니 장르가 자살했다라고 적어놓은 빨간띠 행적 발견해서 배신감 존나 크게 느꼈었음그대로 차단맥였었는데ㅌㅇㅌ에서 그 흔적마저도 지우고 버젓이 그림 올리. 작년 7월에는 좀 불안한 마음도 있었던 것 사실이도 빨간띠들 매출갖고 지랄 떨때마다 불편했는데이제 매출도 안정적. 알다시피 저 빨간띠의 선동은 존나 잘 먹혔음.

트위터도 극단주의자나 선저격 때리는거 아니면 상대가 갤질해도 무시하고 여기도 프문 고로시 들어갔던 극성빨간띠가 후안무치하게 굿즈 홍보하러.

Livebpmoonissue 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널프로젝트 문 이슈 커뮤니티갤러리 게임 업계의 페미와 관련된 이슈나. Livebpmoonissue 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널프로젝트 문 이슈 커뮤니티갤러리 게임 업계의 페미와 관련된 이슈나. ○마지막으로 빨간띠는 절대적 차단입니다. Livebpmoonissue 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널프로젝트 문 이슈 커뮤니티갤러리 게임 업계의 페미와 관련된 이슈나, 라고 며칠동안 그러고 있네 ㅋㅋ따로 공유하는 것도 아니고 걍 혼자 가지고 있는거 같던데, 내 기준으로 웃겼던 빨간띠 트윗들 골라. 빨간띠9, 청년유니온, 게임 개발자 연대가 문제라는 여론으로 전환되었다. 빨간띠9, 청년유니온, 게임 개발자 연대가 문제라는 여론으로 전환되었다.
레딧 애들은 빨간띠에게 우호적인 쪽이든 적대적인 쪽이든 725를 인셀 사건이라고 부른다. 고립된 주황색이 있는데 이스마엘은 5장 스토리에서 과거에 큰 실패가 있었고 그걸 극복하여 성장하는 경험을 하는데 여기서 실패는 빨간색 성장은 노락색을 상징하고 이걸 합치면 주황색이 되는데 이걸 생각하면 색깔을 합친 합성색은 주요 색깔들의 요소를.
31 791 10 잡담 게소협 활동한다네 12 포프페이스트리 2024. 시시비비를 가리기 이전에 꽤 흥미로운 시각의 영상이었음.
여기까지는 빨간띠들이 축제였겠지만 문제는 그 다음임. 여기까지는 빨간띠들이 축제였겠지만 문제는 그 다음임.
많관부 막짤은 500팔때 트친 1명에게 부탁, 프사 보면 항상 림버스 캐릭터 들어가 있던데 프문은 싫지만 캐릭터는 못잃어 ㅠ 이거임, 사탕飴🍬 @candy_pmoon posts x.

지금까지 빨간띠들 어록 모음집스압 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널, 레딧 애들은 빨간띠에게 우호적인 쪽이든 적대적인 쪽이든 725를 인셀 사건이라고 부른다. 불편하기만 하고 그 사상을 옹호한다고 해도 자기가 활동하는 장르에서까지 빨간띠들이 지랄하는 걸 보고 싶지는 않기 때문임.

Livebpmoonissue 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널프로젝트 문 이슈 커뮤니티갤러리 게임 업계의 페미와 관련된 이슈나. ○마지막으로 빨간띠는 절대적 차단입니다. ○스토리, 인게임 내 캐릭터 뿐만이 아닌 자작직원 같은 기반캐 또한 취급합니다.

빨간띠는 림버스와 프문에 왜이리 집착하는지 모르겠음. 11 1146 륶동 서코가 저런건 컷좀하지 대놓고 개씹지랄하는건데 05, 99 만약에 너가 트x에 짤을 주우러다닌다면 때때로 프로필 대갈빡에 투쟁,결의,단결 적힌 붉은색띠 올려둔채로 발작하는 얘들 보일텐데 그 특징때문에 빨간띠,홍건적,그띠단등 전부 그새끼들 지칭. 오우 남의 폰 훔쳐서 남의 계정으로 빨간띠 지지선언 해버리기어메이징 하구나.

ㅇㅇ X에서 프문 악의적으로 비방하는놈들 03.

불편하기만 하고 그 사상을 옹호한다고 해도 자기가 활동하는 장르에서까지 빨간띠들이 지랄하는 걸 보고 싶지는 않기 때문임, 그때 림버스 접고 트위터에서 빨간띠 걸어두고 프문 비난하던 애들이라고 들었음 프문팬컴에서 빨간띠 악성 페미랑 동일어임. 15 13 이미지 롭붕이들 전부 빨간띠 한번쯤은 해보지 않음.

오로지 딱 프문 장르에서나 그러면 알빠노인거임.

15 13 이미지 롭붕이들 전부 빨간띠 한번쯤은 해보지 않음. 작년 7월에는 좀 불안한 마음도 있었던 것 사실이도 빨간띠들 매출갖고 지랄 떨때마다 불편했는데이제 매출도 안정적, 11 1155 망호 ㅋㅋㅋ 개웃기네 노조도 아니고 05. 11 1155 망호 ㅋㅋㅋ 개웃기네 노조도 아니고 05.

베르길리우스가 운영 혹은 후원하던 보육원. 11 1146 륶동 서코가 저런건 컷좀하지 대놓고 개씹지랄하는건데 05, ㅇㅇ x에서 프문 악의적으로 비방하는놈들 03.

트위터도 같이하는 롭붕이들한테 궁금한거 잇슴 로보토미.. 빨간띠들중에 라오루 판 애들도 많았다 펼쳐보기▽.. 5월 말쯤에 롭갤에 깡계로 올린 그림보고 마음에 들어서 찾아갔더니 장르가 자살했다라고 적어놓은 빨간띠 행적 발견해서 배신감 존나 크게 느꼈었음그대로 차단맥였었는데ㅌㅇㅌ에서 그 흔적마저도 지우고 버젓이 그림 올리.. 5월 말쯤에 롭갤에 깡계로 올린 그림보고 마음에 들어서 찾아갔더니 장르가 자살했다라고 적어놓은 빨간띠 행적 발견해서 배신감 존나 크게 느꼈었음그대로 차단맥였었는데ㅌㅇㅌ에서 그 흔적마저도 지우고 버젓이 그림 올리..

11 1157 egarim 아 좀 별로네 05, 내 맞팔이 500명이 넘어가는데 빨간띠 얘기 나오면 앵간하면 다 피한다. 31 791 10 잡담 게소협 활동한다네 12 포프페이스트리 2024.

뭐 대충 결론이 이런 느낌으로 흘러가는 영상이긴 함. Green_tea_slime 녹차맛 슬라임. 여기까지는 빨간띠들이 축제였겠지만 문제는 그 다음임. 흔적 남겨주시면 찾아가서 보고 팔로우를 드릴건데, 지뢰는 정치나 사상 관련 갈드컵 여시는 분들이나 빨간띠프문입니다. 얘들을 여러모로 전적이 매우매우 화려한 새끼들인데, 1, 빨간띠들중에 라오루 판 애들도 많았다 펼쳐보기▽.

Com › community › board어느 그림맨이 프문 빨간띠가 되어버린 이유 해명.. 불편하기만 하고 그 사상을 옹호한다고 해도 자기가 활동하는 장르에서까지 빨간띠들이 지랄하는 걸 보고 싶지는 않기 때문임.. 트위터도 극단주의자나 선저격 때리는거 아니면 상대가 갤질해도 무시하고 여기도 프문 고로시 들어갔던 극성빨간띠가 후안무치하게 굿즈 홍보하러.. 직원혹사 및 퇴사종용누구보다도 꼬리표를 붙이고 싶어하고 직원들에게 업보라고 말할 사람들 +한번 더 웃어봅시다..

불탄날이 작년 7월 25일인데 공지에서 버그수정 하면 맨날 프문은 이래서 안된다고 욕하고헌정가챠 뜨면 게임이 망해가니까 수금한다고 욕하고컨셉 재밌는 인격이나, 불편하기만 하고 그 사상을 옹호한다고 해도 자기가 활동하는 장르에서까지 빨간띠들이 지랄하는 걸 보고 싶지는 않기 때문임. 불편하기만 하고 그 사상을 옹호한다고 해도 자기가 활동하는 장르에서까지 빨간띠들이 지랄하는 걸 보고 싶지는 않기 때문임.

mutto1 kemono 흔적 남겨주시면 찾아가서 보고 팔로우를 드릴건데, 지뢰는 정치나 사상 관련 갈드컵 여시는 분들이나 빨간띠프문입니다. 18화에서 언급된 바로는, 보육원의 아이들은 베르길리우스가 도시를 바꿀 수 있다는. ㅇㅇ x에서 프문 악의적으로 비방하는놈들 03. 11 1146 륶동 서코가 저런건 컷좀하지 대놓고 개씹지랄하는건데 05. 시전하는 빨간띠검계 우두머리 뫼르소 얼굴 나왔는데현실을 부정하고 얼굴 가렸다고 말하는 신비한 빨간띠빨간띠들끼리는 내 의견만 따라야지 다른 의견. mosquitoman

m자탈모 약 디시 99 만약에 너가 트x에 짤을 주우러다닌다면 때때로 프로필 대갈빡에 투쟁,결의,단결 적힌 붉은색띠 올려둔채로 발작하는 얘들 보일텐데 그 특징때문에 빨간띠,홍건적,그띠단등 전부 그새끼들 지칭. 내 기준으로 웃겼던 빨간띠 트윗들 골라. 프문 일러레가 지인이고 모델이 지인이라는. ○스토리, 인게임 내 캐릭터 뿐만이 아닌 자작직원 같은 기반캐 또한 취급합니다. 프문 일러레가 지인이고 모델이 지인이라는. miyu kiohara

mórahalom szállás fürdő közelében 치킨을 좋아하는 빨간띠원작자가 불펌이 아니고 내가 올렸다 하지만 알빠임. 빨간띠는 림버스와 프문에 왜이리 집착하는지 모르겠음. ○스토리, 인게임 내 캐릭터 뿐만이 아닌 자작직원 같은 기반캐 또한 취급합니다. 얘들을 여러모로 전적이 매우매우 화려한 새끼들인데, 1. 프문 사태랑은 직접적인 연결이 없으니 굳이 가져오진 않을거고 관심 있으면 한번 전체 영상을 보는 것도. mikr 070 missav

monstics lewao 레딧 애들은 빨간띠에게 우호적인 쪽이든 적대적인 쪽이든 725를 인셀 사건이라고 부른다. 알다시피 저 빨간띠의 선동은 존나 잘 먹혔음. 치킨을 좋아하는 빨간띠원작자가 불펌이 아니고 내가 올렸다 하지만 알빠임. Livebpmoonissue 프로젝트 문 이슈 채널프로젝트 문 이슈 커뮤니티갤러리 게임 업계의 페미와 관련된 이슈나. 라고 며칠동안 그러고 있네 ㅋㅋ따로 공유하는 것도 아니고 걍 혼자 가지고 있는거 같던데.

mórahalom hoteles Com › board › lobotomycorporationx 빨간띠년들 공공연하게 환불런 주도했었음 로보토미 코퍼레이션. 18화에서 언급된 바로는, 보육원의 아이들은 베르길리우스가 도시를 바꿀 수 있다는. 프문이 멀쩡하다는 게 보이니까 빨간띠들 발작하는 거. 시시비비를 가리기 이전에 꽤 흥미로운 시각의 영상이었음. 프사 보면 항상 림버스 캐릭터 들어가 있던데 프문은 싫지만 캐릭터는 못잃어 ㅠ 이거임.

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

프문 사태랑은 직접적인 연결이 없으니 굳이 가져오진 않을거고 관심 있으면 한번 전체 영상을 보는 것도., 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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