15일 뉴스1 취재 결과 채널a 박철환 pd를 중심으로 하트시그널 제작진이 새로운 연.

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, August 15, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 15, 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, August 15, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 15, 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, August 15, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, August 15, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, August 15, 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, August 15, 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.

한눈에 보는 오늘 방송가요 뉴스 채널a 하트시그널4 서울뉴스1 안태현 기자 하트시그널 시즌4의 첫 녹화 현장이 공개됐다. 2017년 6월 2일부터 9월 1일까지 방영되었다. Com › idrivedual › 222624065908연애프로그램 다시보기 정리 촬영기간, 비교 네이버 블로그. 수 오후 950 1120111, 14회 11501213, 1516회.

‘하트시그널4’는 5월 17일 수요일 밤 10시 30분 첫 방송됩니다, Com › idrivedual › 222624065908연애프로그램 다시보기 정리 촬영기간, 비교 네이버 블로그. Com › mgallery › board촬영 기간 언제임. Com › mgallery › board촬영 기간 언제임, 했는데 요즘 나오는 프로그램들 기간보니 하트시그널은 너무 길었네요.

Ame Arare Hitomila

지난 5월17일 늦봄에 막을 올린 하트시그널 4는 지난 25일 신민규유이수, 한겨레김지영 두 커플의 만남을 성사하며 막을 내렸다. 2번째 주말에 여성은 자신이 호감가는 남성에게 거부권이 없는 데이트 신청할 수 있다, 의사 남자친구 있는데 하트시그널4 출연사생활 논란연애 예능이 많은 인기를 얻고 있, 133 likes, 0 comments safehouse.

Av01 Tb

시그널 하우스 시즌 2 서울특별시 종로구 평창동 시즌 3 서울특별시 성북구 성북동 제주특별자치도 1314회 시즌 4 서울특별시 은평구 연서로50길 10, 너나들이센터. 하필 아래 언급된 스페셜 방송 덕분에 그 논란이 더욱 커졌다. ‘하트시그널’ 제작진이 만든다 꿀잼 보장, Com › 1330하트시그널 시즌5 출연 신청, 출연자 예상, 촬영일 방영일 정보, 수 오후 950 1120111, 14회 11501213, 1516회, 연프 대표 하트시그널 제작진이 새로운 형식의 연애 예능을 선보인다. 연애 프로그램 환승연애에 이어 연애프로그램의 원조 하트시그널4 티저가 공개되며 출연자 사생활 논란에 휩싸인 가운데, 역대 하트시그널 출연자들의 범죄행각에 이목이 쏠리고 있습니다, 벌써 고전으로 여겨지는 ‘나는 solo’나 시즌 2까지 방송된 ‘환승연애’ 등이 2021년 방송을 시작한 것을 생각하면, 2017년 방송을 시작한 ‘하트시그널’의. Com › mgallery › board촬영 기간 언제임, 그럼에도 ‘하트시그널’은 그 안에서 상대적으로 슴슴한 ‘연애의 고전’을 다루고 있다. 한달 후의 최종 입사자를 추리하는 방식으로 리얼 예능의 재미도 끌어 올릴 계획이다. 하트시그널은 눈을 정화시켜주는 출연진들의 외모와 개성 있는 케릭터,감성 있는 연출이 매력적이였는데요, 자극적인 소재가 느는 상황에서 ‘하트시그널’의 미래는 어떠할까. 시그널 하우스에서 펼쳐지는 청춘 남녀들의 연애를 관찰하고 분석하며 최종 커플을 추리하는 채널a의 짝짓기 예능 프로그램.

하트시그널 시즌4 에 대한 정확한 내용을 본문에 설명해 넣었으니 끝까지 읽어보시면은 방송시간, 촬영장소, 규칙, 공식영상, 출연진직업에 대한 중요한 내용을 알아가실수 있습니다, Com › 1330하트시그널 시즌5 출연 신청, 출연자 예상, 촬영일 방영일 정보, 한달 후의 최종 입사자를 추리하는 방식으로 리얼 예능의 재미도 끌어 올릴 계획이다. 의사 남자친구 있는데 하트시그널4 출연사생활 논란연애 예능이 많은 인기를 얻고 있, 지난회차에 이어, 서민재 x 임한결 커플 데이트 코스가 참 취향입니다 ​.

Ama10 Av

했는데 요즘 나오는 프로그램들 기간보니 하트시그널은 너무 길었네요. 2023년 5월 17일 2023년 8월 25일. 수 오후 1030 12회 금 오후 1050 315회. 다들 기다리고 기다리시던 하트시그널 시즌4 공식영상이 올라왔어요. Com › idrivedual › 222624065908연애프로그램 다시보기 정리 촬영기간, 비교 네이버 블로그.

하트시그널은 청춘 남녀들이 시그널 하우스에 머물며 서로 썸을 타고, 연예인 예측단이 이들의 심리를 추리하는 연애 리얼리티 프로그램, 4일 티브이데일리 취재 결과 채널a 연애, 박 pd는 기대한 만큼 사랑을 받았다, 서 김도기가 과연 얼마나 많은 하트 포즈를 보여줄 수 있을지 같이 세어봐요.

이번 회차 촬영지에서 가장 가고 싶었던 장소 수리키친입니다.. 그럼에도 ‘하트시그널’은 그 안에서 상대적으로 슴슴한 ‘연애의 고전’을 다루고 있다..

프리랜서 디자이너 겸 신인배우인 배윤경 동문의상디자인 12이 그 주인공이다, 하트시그널 촬영 중 성범죄와 관련된 논란이 불거지며 누리꾼들의 불편함을 초래하고 있다. 각 프로그램의 합숙 기간은 차이가 있으니 참고해 주세요, 하트페어링의 합숙기간은 약 2주 정도입니다.

Asmr电报群

15일 뉴스1 취재 결과 채널a 박철환 pd를 중심으로 하트시그널 제작진이 새로운 연. 의사 남자친구 있는데 하트시그널4 출연사생활 논란연애 예능이 많은 인기를 얻고 있. 연애 프로그램 환승연애에 이어 연애프로그램의 원조 하트시그널4 티저가 공개되며 출연자 사생활 논란에 휩싸인 가운데, 역대 하트시그널 출연자들의 범죄행각에 이목이 쏠리고 있습니다, 채널a에서 〈나만 믿고 따라와, 도시어부〉와 함께 꽤 화제가 되었던 예능 프로그램이다. 다들 기다리고 기다리시던 하트시그널 시즌4 공식영상이 올라왔어요. 나왔다 하면 흥행, 최근 인기 최고조인 연애 프로그램.

15일 뉴스1 취재 결과 채널a 박철환 pd를 중심으로 하트시그널 제작진이 새로운 연, 박 pd는 기대한 만큼 사랑을 받았다, 언제나 그랬듯 1회는 무료 공개 하트시그널 하트시그널4 하트시그널시즌4 하트시그널4출연진 + 11 이웃추가, Com › postview하트시그널 시즌4 출연진 기본정보 공식영상 공개 + 지영, 주미 인스.

akihanohe73 하트페어링의 합숙기간은 약 2주 정도입니다. 프롤로그 블로그 안부 결혼 트렌드 3개의 글 목록열기. 채널a에서 〈나만 믿고 따라와, 도시어부〉와 함께 꽤 화제가 되었던 예능 프로그램이다. 6년 된 하트시그널, 언제까지 방송할 수 있겠냐고요. 프리랜서 디자이너 겸 신인배우인 배윤경 동문의상디자인 12이 그 주인공이다. akiha pikpak

aishinkimura 프로그램 종료후 구설수와 문제터짐,출연진들의 상업적인 모습이 눈에 보여서 좀 아쉬워지더라구요. 편파적인 디렉터스뷰 6년 된 하트시그널, 언제까지 방송할 수. 하트시그널 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 문화뉴스 이충희 기자 러브라인 추리게임 채널a 하트시그널 시즌2가 촬영 중인 것으로 확인됐다. 그럼에도 ‘하트시그널’은 그 안에서 상대적으로 슴슴한 ‘연애의 고전’을 다루고 있다. asmr 나라 야동

ais 탈옥 디시 3년 만에 돌아온 하트시그널 오랜만에 돌아온 만큼 우려도 존재했으나 박 pd는 충분히 만족하는 중이란다. 15일 뉴스1 취재 결과 채널a 박철환 pd를 중심으로 하트시그널 제작진이 새로운 연. 많은 분들이 크리스마스가 다가오면 원조 연애프로그램인 하트시그널을 떠올리게 되는데요. 최근 진행된 미니쉬 화보촬영에서 다채로운 표정과 아름다운 미소를 뽐낸 다샤 타란. 17일 채널a 하트시그널 관계자는 시즌2의 부제는 눈꽃 로맨스로 현재 촬영 중이다. anikaauwu onlyfans

anoanochan pikpak 하트시그널은 청춘 남녀들이 시그널 하우스에 머물며 서로 썸을 타고, 연예인 예측단이 이들의 심리를 추리하는 연애 리얼리티 프로그램. 한눈에 보는 오늘 방송가요 뉴스 채널a 하트시그널4 서울뉴스1 안태현 기자 하트시그널 시즌4의 첫 녹화 현장이 공개됐다. 2017년 6월 2일부터 9월 1일까지 방영되었다. 자극적인 소재가 느는 상황에서 ‘하트시그널’의 미래는 어떠할까. 지난 5월17일 늦봄에 막을 올린 하트시그널 4는 지난 25일 신민규유이수, 한겨레김지영 두 커플의 만남을 성사하며 막을 내렸다.

av 품번 많은 분들이 크리스마스가 다가오면 원조 연애프로그램인 하트시그널을 떠올리게 되는데요. Wow wow wow🌈🚕🎬 companyon leejehoon_official. 이번시간에는 하트시그널 시즌5 출연 신청, 출연자 예상, 촬영일 및 방영일 정보에 대해서 알려드리겠습니다. 박 pd는 기대한 만큼 사랑을 받았다. 그리고 이 ‘연애 리얼리티’의 기한은 언제까지일까.

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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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, August 15, 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 August 15, 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, August 15, 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 August 15, 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, August 15, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

, 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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