원작 뮤지컬이 워낙 유명한 작품이고 예상치 못한 캐스팅이기도 했어서 신시아 에리보에게 많은 관심이 기울여졌다.

인터뷰 〈위키드〉의 신시아 에리보&아리아나 그란데 자신.

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 17, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 17, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 17, 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 17, 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.

촬영과 긴 프로모션을 함께한 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보는 유독 ‘신체적 교감이 많은 케미’로 팬들 사이에서 화제가 됐다. 에디 피셔는 그녀의 친구 데비 레이놀즈와 결혼한 상태였는데. Kr › article › 1874319위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애 스타일은. 극 중 엘파바 신시아 에리보와 글린다 아리아나 그란데가 서로를 이해하면서 우정을 쌓아가는 이야기가 많은 이들에게 감동을 주기에 충분했죠.

위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애. +인스타그램, 1999년생, 두산그룹 손녀, 크루와상, 이나은 축구선수 이강인의 열애 상대인 박상효가 대중의 궁금증을 자아내고 있다, 신시아 프로필부터 영어 실력, 에리보에드워드리마녀2까지 전방위 분석서론 신예를 넘은 신드롬, 배우 신시아2022년 영화 마녀2를 통해 혜성처럼 등장한 배우 신시아는 이후 단숨에 충무로의 주목받는 신예로 떠올랐습니다.
신시아 에리보는 2016년 미스터 셀프리지 를 시작으로, 2017년부터 2019년까지 브로드 시티에 출연하는 등 다양한 텔레비전 프로그램에 출연했다.. 신시아 에리보 영국 여배우 뮤지컬 여배우 1987년 출생 2011년 데뷔 램버스 출신 인물 나이지리아계 영국인 왕립연극학교 출신 토니상 수상자..
신시아 에리보와 레나 웨이스의 연애사 신시아 에리보의 여자친구 레나 웨이스는 2022년에 연애를 시작한 이후로 가장 큰 서포터 역할을 하고 있음. 헤어지고 커플타투 지웠던 女스타또 같은 실수를 하고. 완벽주의자는 아니고, 그녀의 보컬을 좋아하고. 위키드 엘파바 신시아 에리보 ♥ 동성여친 리나웨이스 네이버 블로그 åstyle 2,229개의 글 목록열기. 신시아 에리보 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전, 주연 배우 신시아 에리보가 열창한 ‘디파잉 그래비티 defying gravity’와 아리아나 그란데의 ‘파퓰러. cynthia erivos rolea as celie in the broadway production of the color purple and in wicked as elphaba have made fans very curious about her personal life, 신시아에게 모든 사랑을 보내고, 그녀가 팬덤과 온라인 혐오로 겪었던 경험을 인정하지만, 그녀가 가끔 유머 감각이 부족하다고 생각해요, 엘파바역 신시아 에리보와 그녀의 여친 불륜동성커플글린다역 아리아나 그란데와 보크역 에단 슬레이터 불륜커플.
촬영과 긴 프로모션을 함께한 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보는 유독 ‘신체적 교감이 많은 케미’로 팬들 사이에서 화제가 됐다.. Com › culture › celebritiescynthia erivo’s full dating history, up to partner lena waithe.. 이번에 카메오러로 활동한 작품은 넷플릭스 오리지널 입니다..
주연 배우 신시아 에리보가 열창한 ‘디파잉 그래비티 defying gravity’와 아리아나 그란데의 ‘파퓰러. 신시아 프로필부터 영어 실력, 에리보에드워드리마녀2까지 전방위 분석서론 신예를 넘은 신드롬, 배우 신시아2022년 영화 마녀2를 통해 혜성처럼 등장한 배우 신시아는 이후 단숨에 충무로의 주목받는 신예로 떠올랐습니다.
신시아 에리보는 2016년 미스터 셀프리지 를 시작으로, 2017년부터 2019년까지 브로드 시티에 출연하는 등 다양한 텔레비전 프로그램에 출연했다. Com › culture › celebritiescynthia erivo’s full dating history, up to partner lena waithe.
두산그룹 회장의 손녀이자 파리 유학생이라는 화려한 이력, 그리고 크루와상이라는 귀여운. 넌 분명 이 세상에 존재하는 가장 강렬한 재능이지만, 놀랍게도 더 강렬한 친구이기도 해.

신시아 프로필부터 영어 실력, 에리보에드워드리마녀2까지 전방위 분석서론 신예를 넘은 신드롬, 배우 신시아2022년 영화 마녀2를 통해 혜성처럼 등장한 배우 신시아는 이후 단숨에 충무로의 주목받는 신예로 떠올랐습니다.

이번에 카메오러로 활동한 작품은 넷플릭스 오리지널 입니다, 위키드 관련 우정타투한 아리아나 그란데신시아 에리보💚. 위키드의 스타 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보, 바이럴 홀딩, 넌 분명 이 세상에 존재하는 가장 강렬한 재능이지만, 놀랍게도 더 강렬한 친구이기도 해. Kr › news › articleview인터뷰 〈위키드〉의 신시아 에리보&아리아나 그란데 자신과 완.

Com › camoju › 221431882785신시아 에리보 cynthia erivo 1987, 두산그룹 회장의 손녀이자 파리 유학생이라는 화려한 이력, 그리고 크루와상이라는 귀여운. Kr › news › articleview인터뷰 〈위키드〉의 신시아 에리보&아리아나 그란데 자신과 완.

Get ready with 신시아에리보 강렬한 엘파바는 지금 극장에서 확인 ‍♀️. 위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애, Apple music에서 신시아 에리보의 the good live 뮤직비디오를 감상하세요.

촬영과 긴 프로모션을 함께한 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보는 유독 ‘신체적 교감이 많은 케미’로 팬들 사이에서 화제가 됐다. 신시아 에리보 영국 여배우 뮤지컬 여배우 1987년 출생 2011년 데뷔 램버스 출신 인물 나이지리아계 영국인 왕립연극학교 출신 토니상 수상자. 위키드 관련 우정타투한 아리아나 그란데신시아 에리보💚.

신시아 에리보는 영국 출신 연기자로 세계적인 영국 왕립 연극학교 출신이다. 위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애, 주연 배우 신시아 에리보가 열창한 ‘디파잉 그래비티 defying gravity’와 아리아나 그란데의 ‘파퓰러. 2018년에는 보스 베이비 돌아온 보스 에서 목소리 연기를 선보였으며, 2020년에는 아웃사이더와 아메리칸 아이돌 에.

신시아 에리보는 2016년 ‘컬러 퍼플’로 토니상을 수상한 직후 마리오 마르티네스를 처음 만났음.

위키드의 스타 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보, 바이럴 홀딩, 하지만 두 사람이 연애를 시작한 것은 2017년부터임, Kr › article › 1874319위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애 스타일은.

촬영과 긴 프로모션을 함께한 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보는 유독 ‘신체적 교감이 많은 케미’로 팬들 사이에서 화제가 됐다, 위키드 배우들 tmi 오리지널 티켓 마이너 갤러리. 에디 피셔는 그녀의 친구 데비 레이놀즈와 결혼한 상태였는데.

신시아 에리보 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 영화가 개봉한 이후 관객들에게 엄청난 호평을 받으며 가창력도 뛰어났다는 평이 많다. 아리아나 그란데의 경우 영화에서 보크 역을 맡았던 에단 슬레이터와 열애 중이라는군요, 신시아 에리보와 아리아나 그란데의 defying gravity 완곡 r, Com › goldenlakefs › 224084438883신시아 에리보 여자친구 파트너 레나 웨이스는 누구, 주연 배우 신시아 에리보가 열창한 ‘디파잉 그래비티 defying gravity’와 아리아나 그란데의 ‘파퓰러.

신시아 에리보는 영국 출신 연기자로 세계적인 영국 왕립 연극학교 출신이다.

Net › square › 4018001704더쿠 샤이니 키 & 신시아 에리보 투샷, 인터뷰 〈위키드〉의 신시아 에리보&아리아나 그란데 자신. Com › culture › celebritiescynthia erivo’s full dating history, up to partner lena waithe, 신시아 에리보는 2016년 미스터 셀프리지 를 시작으로, 2017년부터 2019년까지 브로드 시티에 출연하는 등 다양한 텔레비전 프로그램에 출연했다, 추가 메가폰을 잡은 〈위키드〉는 오즈의 마녀들의 숨겨진 이야기로 특이한 녹색 피부 때문에 오해를 받는 엘파바와 특권과 야망으로 치장한 글린다의 특별한 모험을 담고, 위키드의 스타 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보, 바이럴 홀딩.

사브리나 알몸 Get ready with 신시아에리보 강렬한 엘파바는 지금 극장에서 확인 ‍♀️. 우리나라에서도 유명했던 뮤지컬 영화 위키드 초록마녀. 한 팬은 그녀에게 빨간 장미를 건네 주었고 몇몇은 그녀의 스타 파워를 찬양하는 표지판을 들고있었습니다. 신시아 에리보는 2016년 미스터 셀프리지 를 시작으로, 2017년부터 2019년까지 브로드 시티에 출연하는 등 다양한 텔레비전 프로그램에 출연했다. 엘파바역 신시아 에리보와 그녀의 여친 불륜동성커플글린다역 아리아나 그란데와 보크역 에단 슬레이터 불륜커플. 사과 보지

비행시간 설희 신시아 에리보와 레나 웨이스의 연애사 신시아 에리보의 여자친구 레나 웨이스는 2022년에 연애를 시작한 이후로 가장 큰 서포터 역할을 하고 있음. Com › goldenlakefs › 224084438883신시아 에리보 여자친구 파트너 레나 웨이스는 누구. 아리아나 그란데랑 신시아 에리보가 위키드 이후로 살을 너무. 신시아 에리보와 마리오 마르티네스의 연애는 2년간. 위키드 엘파바 신시아 에리보 ♥ 동성여친 리나웨이스 네이버 블로그 åstyle 2,229개의 글 목록열기. 쁨쁨 트위터

뿌셔뿌셔 맛 디시 의견 나는 위키드 영화에서 신시아 에리보의 보컬이 별로였어. 넌 분명 이 세상에 존재하는 가장 강렬한 재능이지만, 놀랍게도 더 강렬한 친구이기도 해. 신시아 에리보는 영국 출신 연기자로 세계적인 영국 왕립 연극학교 출신이다. 브로드웨이 뮤지컬 를 통해 오랜만에 무대에 오릅니다. 신시아 에리보와 레나 웨이스의 연애사 신시아 에리보의 여자친구 레나 웨이스는 2022년에 연애를 시작한 이후로 가장 큰 서포터 역할을 하고 있음. 브롤스타즈 콜레트 야스

사까시 javrank 2015년 브로드웨이 뮤지컬 《the color purple》의 세실 역으로 유명하며. Com › goldenlakefs › 224084438883신시아 에리보 여자친구 파트너 레나 웨이스는 누구. 그녀와 함께했던 시간들이 나를 바꿨듯이 말이야. 위키드의 두 주인공, 신시아 에리보와 아리아나 그란데를 만난. 신시아에게 모든 사랑을 보내고, 그녀가 팬덤과 온라인 혐오로 겪었던 경험을 인정하지만, 그녀가 가끔 유머 감각이 부족하다고 생각해요.

비디오fc2 위키드의 스타 아리아나 그란데와 신시아 에리보, 바이럴 홀딩. 셀리로 신시아 수상 2016년 토니상 뮤지컬 부문 여우주연상, 그래미상 뮤지컬 앨범상을 받았다. 위키드 아리아나 그란데 vs 신시아 에리보의 연애. 한 팬은 그녀에게 빨간 장미를 건네 주었고 몇몇은 그녀의 스타 파워를 찬양하는 표지판을 들고있었습니다. 아리아나 그란데랑 신시아 에리보가 위키드 이후로 살을 너무.

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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

원작 뮤지컬이 워낙 유명한 작품이고 예상치 못한 캐스팅이기도 했어서 신시아 에리보에게 많은 관심이 기울여졌다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.

Download