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.

2013년 한국철도공사 의 철도 노조가 그해 12월 30일까지 파업 에 들어갔다. 11월 17일, 제78회 순국선열의 날을 맞이하여 일신의 안락과 영화를 버리고 독립운동을 위해 진정한 노블레스 오블리주를 실천했던 우당 이회영 선생의. 1867년에 일어난 일을 모은 문서입니다. 18 51 317 2025년 10월 12일 주보 소리샘 2025.

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Org › wiki › 토마스_테오도르토마스 테오도르 하이네 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.. 1월 2026 동안 vitória, 이스피리투산투주의 장기 일기 예보를 제공합니다.. 7월 1일 대영제국 최초의 자치령인 캐나다 자치령dominion of canada이 출범하였다..

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1월 2026 동안 vitória, 이스피리투산투주의 장기 일기 예보를 제공합니다.. 대학 개요uiuc는 1867년 일리노이 산업대학illinois industrial university으로 처음 시작하여, 1년 후인 1868년에 university of illinois urbanachampaign으로 개명되어 현재까지 불리고 있.. 1867년 3월 30일, 미국과 러시아 간의 공식적인 매입 조약이 체결되었고, 10월 18일에는 알래스카가 미국의 영토로 공식 편입되었습니다.. Hours ago — 경매장에도 안팔아서요3갈래로 날라가는 어둠의화살 문양있엇는데없어졌나요..

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1877년 9월 16일, 코핀은 세상을 떠났다. 독자적인 예측 모델을 통해 야외 활동을 안심하고 계획하세요, The list of shipwrecks in september 1867 includes ships sunk, foundered, grounded, or otherwise lost during september 1867. 신간에는 최태원 회장의 sk하이닉스 인수 후 경쟁력 고도화, hbm 기술 개발 스토리, 미래 반도체 기술과 시장 변화의 방향 등도 담겼다, 일반 갈통아 뱅온하면 1867년 9월 78일.

일본에서는 그를 높이 평가하여 메이지 대제 明治大帝, 메이지 성제 明治聖帝, 무쓰히토 대제 睦仁大帝 등으로도 부른다. 독자적인 예측 모델을 통해 야외 활동을 안심하고 계획하세요. Com › document › 985328662한글맞춤법 영향 평가_2014년 pdf. 영국이 누벨프랑스를 정복한 후, 이 지역은 1763년부터 1791년까지 퀘벡주 로 불렸다. 1867년 8월 29일 일식 1867년 8월 29일 일식은 달이 지구와 태양 사이를 지나면서 태양을 완전히 가리는 개기일식.

그러나 매입 직후에는 많은 미국 국민들이 세워드의 얼음 상자라며 이 거래를 조롱했습니다. 1867년 8월 29일 일식 1867년 8월 29일 일식은 달이 지구와 태양 사이를 지나면서 태양을 완전히 가리는 개기일식. 1877년 9월 16일, 코핀은 세상을 떠났다. 대학 개요uiuc는 1867년 일리노이 산업대학illinois industrial university으로 처음 시작하여, 1년 후인 1868년에 university of illinois urbanachampaign으로 개명되어 현재까지 불리고 있. Net › wiki › 1867년1867년 리브레 위키 librewiki.

김용미 야동 그러나 매입 직후에는 많은 미국 국민들이 세워드의 얼음 상자라며 이 거래를 조롱했습니다. 1867년은 화요일로 시작하는 평년이다. Days ago 2017년 6월 15일 부터 1년 6개월 동안 베타테스트를 거치며 최종적으로 2018년 12월 12일 정식 출시되었다. 본관은 고흥 高興이며 일제강점기에 3. Days ago 2017년 6월 15일 부터 1년 6개월 동안 베타테스트를 거치며 최종적으로 2018년 12월 12일 정식 출시되었다. 나유타 부활 디시

김츠유 은꼴 04 90 315 2025년 9월 28일 주보 소리샘 2025. 유관순 柳寬順, 1902년 12월 16일 음력 11월 17일 1920년 9월 28일은 일제강점기의 독립운동가이다. 1867년 9월 78일에도 비슷한 일이 있었지 2025. 2026년 한국, 우리에게 던지는 질문. 승객 274여명을 태우고 제주를 떠나 부산으로 가던 정기여객선 남영호는 1970년 12월 15일 새벽 1시 50분경 대마도 서쪽 100km 지점에서 전복돼 침몰했다. 나기 히카루 작품

나나니 얼굴 디시 Andrés manuel lópez obrador 2018년 12월 1일2024년 9월 30일. 사업 기간 2014년 4월 9일～2014년 12월 20일 2014년 12월 20일 연구기관 고려대학교 산학협력단. Org › wiki › 알프레트_포르케알프레트 포르케 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 1월 2026 동안 vitória, 이스피리투산투주의 장기 일기 예보를 제공합니다. 2013년 한국철도공사 의 철도 노조가 그해 12월 30일까지 파업 에 들어갔다. 김우유 펜트리

김우유 논란 이홍장 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 1운동으로 시작된 만세 운동을 하다 일본 형사들에게 붙잡혀 서대문형무소에서 이뤄진 모진 고문으로 인해 순국했다. 원법령명 grundgesetz für die bundesrepublik deutschland. Hours ago 서울뉴스핌 로보뉴스 30일 10시 15분 현재 두산테스나 131970는 전일 대비 2. 01 47 319 2025년 10월 26일 주보 소리샘 2025.

김선영 묵직 Days ago 더 이상 지하철도가 필요 없는 세상이 온 것이다. 2011년 인천 공항철도 에서 작업을 하던 근로자들이 열차에 치어 5명이 사망하였다. 독일연방공화국 기본법 의회법률정보포털. 박태근 역,「신유 北征錄」,中央 1 1 9,1 9 78년 2 월,p p. 10월 18일 미국 이 러시아 제국 으로부터 알래스카 당시 러시아령 아메리카를 매입하였다.

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.