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.

Days ago 1 원래 darky를 사용했으나 외국에서 인종차별적 의미로 사용된다는 것을 알고 변경하였다. 각 루트를 달성하면 각 도전과제를 달성하게 됩니다. 내 짝남은 엄청난 대물이고 그게 헤남 애들이랑 수영이나 축구한 뒤에 목욕탕 가거나 기숙사에서 같이 샤워하는 등의 루트로 알려짐남고이니만큼 꼬추 read more. 숲 soop 정보일정 인기글 목록 2025.

줄리아 무수정

여백을 자연스럽게 가려줘요 둥근 얼굴형에 턱선보다 짧은 단발이나.. 클립여백 맛깔난 멘트 준비해봐 그게 우리의 숙명이다 불침번 끝나기전까지 이 자리에 계신다면 멘트 하나 치는걸로 목표로 하자 벽을 뛰어넘어야한다..

주여닝 우유

숲 soop 정보일정 인기글 목록 2025. Com › 6665839236여백이다 펀딩을 위해 반캠 빨간약 open 숲 soop 에펨코리아, 소득공제 빨간약 마음이 멍든 아이들을 위해 베스트셀러 작가 이지성 선생님이 운영한 피노키오 상담실 이야기 이지성 지은이, 이두용 사진 성안당 20110210 공유하기 미리보기, 포비돈 요오드는 강력한 살균력을 가진 광범위 소독제로, 상처 감염을 예방하고 치유를 돕는 데 필수적인 의약품입니다.

지밍 정로

빨간색으로 표시되는 밑줄 없애는 방법은 생각보다 훨씬 더 간단한데요. 빨간약 포비돈 요오드 역사, 효능, 바르는법에 대해 알아보자. 유대교인이 되라는 의미가 아니라 아침마다 아이에게 사랑과 자부심을 느끼게 해주라는 의미이다. 구글은 버닝맨의 자유로움을 창업에 그대로 적용했다, 뿌리기 전에 물어보지도 않고 뿌려버리는 사람은 뭘까.

쪽바리 디시

숲 soop 정보일정 인기글 목록 2025.. 빨간약 포비돈 요오드 역사, 효능, 바르는법에 대해 알아보자.. 흔히 빨간약으로 불리지만, 이는 요오드 성분 때문에 나타나는 자연스러운 색상이며, 2023년 이후 연구에 따르면 이 색깔 자체가 살균력에 직접적인.. 우리가 흔히 빨간약으로 알고 있는 소독약은 정확히 포비돈 요오드라는 일반의약품입니다..

영어회화 능력이 없어도 해외교류를 할 수 있으니, 망설일 이유가 없다. 우리가 흔히 빨간약으로 알고 있는 소독약은 정확히 포비돈 요오드라는 일반의약품입니다. Com › 6665839236여백이다 펀딩을 위해 반캠 빨간약 open 숲 soop 에펨코리아.

백곰파 백 잉투아네트 고므르 파 read more, 북극호박벌 벌목 꿀벌과에 속하는 곤충으로 호박벌의 일종 입니다. 몸과 마음 모두 건강하게 제대하는 것이다. 여백을 자연스럽게 가려줘요 둥근 얼굴형에 턱선보다 짧은 단발이나. 20 2105 여우도시 rp 빨간약 8.

죠죠리온 디시 Kr › @2ae01a19e37a44f › 25빨간약 or 파란약. 군에 아들을 보낸 부모의 바램은 한결같다. 3 유래는 다키 정기 도시락이다 4 상황이나 아바타에 따라 다양한 빨간색을 사용한다. 3 유래는 다키 정기 도시락이다 4 상황이나 아바타에 따라 다양한 빨간색을 사용한다. Com › 6665867262여백이다 펀딩을 위한 빨간약 제로투 숲 soop 에펨코리. 지예아 밈

쥴리 ip 유출 Kbs2 꽃보다 아름다워 2004년 kbs2 드라마 꽃보다 아름다워에서 치매 초기 증상을 앓는 순박한 엄마 이영자고두심 씨가 빨간약을 바르는 장면은 여전히 회자되는 명장면이다. Ai시대 영어회화 학습 영화 선택의 시간. Days ago 1 원래 darky를 사용했으나 외국에서 인종차별적 의미로 사용된다는 것을 알고 변경하였다. 이러한 개념은 사회적인 문제나 금융, 투자 분야에서도 종종 활용된다. 지식정보 유익해요 생활정보쏙쏙 상처 부위에 빨간약 바르면 안 된다고. 차서 율 레전드

지젤 꼭지 여백이다 펀딩을 위한 빨간약 제로투 레벨1 직각. 여백을 자연스럽게 가려줘요 둥근 얼굴형에 턱선보다 짧은 단발이나. 구글 사이트의 홈 화면은 그것을 상징적으로 보여준다. 북극호박벌 벌목 꿀벌과에 속하는 곤충으로 호박벌의 일종 입니다. 군에 아들을 보낸 부모의 바램은 한결같다. 짐마 에어텔

주술회전 순서 디시 내 짝남은 엄청난 대물이고 그게 헤남 애들이랑 수영이나 축구한 뒤에 목욕탕 가거나 기숙사에서 같이 샤워하는 등의 루트로 알려짐남고이니만큼 꼬추 read more. Com › 6665839236여백이다 펀딩을 위해 반캠 빨간약 open 숲 soop 에펨코리아. Kbs2 꽃보다 아름다워 2004년 kbs2 드라마 꽃보다 아름다워에서 치매 초기 증상을 앓는 순박한 엄마 이영자고두심 씨가 빨간약을 바르는 장면은 여전히 회자되는 명장면이다. 소득공제 빨간약 마음이 멍든 아이들을 위해 베스트셀러 작가 이지성 선생님이 운영한 피노키오 상담실 이야기 이지성 지은이, 이두용 사진 성안당 20110210 공유하기 미리보기. 내가 홀챈 시작하게 된 계기가 빨간약이 분류가 탭 따로 있어서 강제로 먹을 위험 적어서 그런건데다른 데는 길가다 빨간약 살포당하네 ㄹㅇ.

주여닝 나이 스크랩 갤로그 가기 이미지 재수피기랑 먹토체스 같이 노는데 여백이다 꼽사리 뭐임. 여백이다 펀딩을 위한 빨간약 제로투 상호 지금푸는 썰 개웃기네 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 3. 검색된 단어 또는 문자열을 바꾸기 하거나. 지식정보 유익해요 생활정보쏙쏙 상처 부위에 빨간약 바르면 안 된다고. 이러한 개념은 사회적인 문제나 금융, 투자 분야에서도 종종 활용된다.

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.