US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 2026.
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.
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 4, 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 4, 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.
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.
US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 2026.
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.
Police detain an activist outside the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, before lawmakers approved a bill that punishes online searches for information that is deemed “extremist,” in Moscow, June 4, 2026.
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.
FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 4, 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 4, 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.
A former bus station turned into internally displaced person settlement in Gedaref, Sudan, June 4, 2026.
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.
FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 4, 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 4, 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.
A man stands in the courtyard of his house following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, June 4, 2026.
글로벌 웰니스 전문기업 암웨이는 지난 10월 23일 중국 우시 wuxi, 無錫 무석지역에 총 10만평 33만 3000㎡ 규모의 암웨이 식물연구센터 amway botanical research center, abrc1와 연구 농장 개관식을 갖고 본격적인 연구활동을 시작한다고 밝혔다. 중국 암웨이amway 임직원 1만 4000명이 참여하는 대규모 기업회의가 2027년 한국에서 열린다. 라이프 트렌드 중국 암웨이 식물연구센터를 가다. 암웨이amway 중국 매출액 293억 위안.
Days ago 제주도가 중국 바오젠그룹 이후 16년 만에 초대형 포상 관광단 설득에 나섰지만 서울에 밀려 최종 유치에 실패했다. 安利(中国)日用品有限公司官方网站。安利与您分享高品质产品和灵活的创业机会,为您带来健康积极、充满活力的美好生活。 安利一下,美好发生。一起畅享健康活力的优质. 뉴스웨이브 김태호 기자암웨이가 향후 5년간 약 9000만달러를 투입해 중국 광저우공장의 생산설비를 업그레이드한다. 26일 한국관광공사에 따르면 글로벌 네트워크 마케팅 회사 암웨이 그룹 소속 ‘중국 암웨이’는 내년 포상관광단 행선지로 한국을, 중국 암웨이 회원과 임직원 등 1만 4000명은 2027년 봄 한국에서 약 2주간 머무른다. 암웨이가 지난 23일 중국 우시wuxi, 無錫무석지역에 총 10만평 333㎡ 규모의 암웨이 식물연구센터amway botanical research center, abrc1와 연구 농장 개관식을 갖고 본격적인 연구 활동을 시작한다고 밝혔다, 2014년 2만5천여 명 규모의 대규모 방한 이후 정확히 13년 만이다, 암웨이 식물연구센터는 민간 기업이 주도하는 세계 최초의 중국 약재.이들은 내년인 2027년 봄, 13년 만에 다시 한국에서 포상관광을 겸한 기업회의를 연다. 최근 악화한 중일 관계가 외국인 방한 시장의 호재로 작용한 첫 대규모 사례다. 1 중국 전통 약재용 식물을 재배하고 있는 중국 우시의 암웨이 식물연구센터 농장.
중국소비자협회는 2024년 소비자 권익 보호의 해 주제로 ‘소비 활력 자극’을 꼽고, 소비자가 과감하게 소비하고, 고품질의 소비를 누릴 수 있도록 소비 환경을 최적화할 것을 제안했다, 라이프 트렌드 중국 암웨이 식물연구센터를 가다, 1 중국 전통 약재용 식물을 재배하고 있는 중국 우시의 암웨이 식물연구센터 농장. 특히, 중국 암웨이는 매년 1만여명 규모의 기업회의를 겸한 포상관광을 목적으로 해외를 방문하고 있어 각국 mice 업계에서 유치 경쟁이 치열한 곳이다. 28일 한국관광공사와 제주도에 따르면 글로벌 네트워크 마케팅 회사 암웨이 그룹 소속 ‘중국 암웨이’amway china가 2026년 포상관광단 행선지로 서울을 확정했다.
쇼케이스 뉴질랜드에서 열린 2023년 암웨이 중국 리더십 세미나에서 10,000명의 중국 방문객을 위해 탁월한 경험을 제공한 encore event technologies apac. Html링크페이지는 본부 및 지점이 나열되어 있구요. 서울뉴스1 윤슬빈 관광전문기자 중국 암웨이amway 임직원 1만 4000여 명이 2027년 한국을 찾는다.
2014년 2만5천여 명 규모의 대규모 방한 이후 정확히 13년 만이다.. 중국 암웨이 회원과 임직원 등 1만 4000명이 한국을 방문해 기업회의와 관광을 즐길 예정이다..
| 세계적인 다단계 판매회사인 암웨이amway,중국명 安利가. | 라이프 트렌드 중국 암웨이 식물연구센터를 가다. | 특히, 중국 암웨이는 매년 1만여명 규모의 기업회의를 겸한 포상관광을 목적으로 해외를 방문하고 있어 각국 mice 업계에서 유치 경쟁이 치열한 곳이다. |
|---|---|---|
| 일본으로 가려고 했던 1만4000명 규모의 중국 기업 단체가 한국행을 결정했다. | 암웨이, 중국에 암웨이식물연구센터abrc 개관. | 다단계판매라는 이름은 중국에서 아주 유명하다. |
| 중국 암웨이 본부가 광저우시에 있네요. | 중국암웨이는 10월 22일 상하이에서 ‘good life night’를 개최했다. | Cj제일제당 농심 종근당 암웨이 유한양행 광동제약 일동제약 gc녹십자 등 국내 450개 회사, 해외 37개 회사와 거래하며 국내외 1000여개 브랜드의. |
| 멜번 쇼그라운드의 앙코르 이벤트 기술. | 安利(中国)日用品有限公司官方网站。安利与您分享高品质产品和灵活的创业机会,为您带来健康积极、充满活力的美好生活。 安利一下,美好发生。一起畅享健康活力的优质. | 安利(中国)日用品有限公司官方网站。安利与您分享高品质产品和灵活的创业机会,为您带来健康积极、充满活力的美好生活。 安利一下,美好发生。一起畅享健康活力的优质生活。. |
중국에서 왜 아직도 암웨이중국명 安利 제품이라면 거의 숭배하는 지경에 이른 현상이 존재하는가, 이번 방문은 2027년 봄, 약 2주에 걸쳐, 암웨이는 다시 한번 박람회에 참가하여, 플랫폼 기반 건강 솔루션, 중의학의 정통성과 혁신, 뉴트리라이트 브랜드 90주년의 역사 등 다양한 측면에서 기업의 연구 성과와 혁신 제품을 선보였다. 암웨이amway 중국 매출액 293억 위안.
1 중국 전통 약재용 식물을 재배하고 있는 중국 우시의 암웨이 식물연구센터 농장. Days ago 제주도가 중국 바오젠그룹 이후 16년 만에 초대형 포상 관광단 유치에 나섰지만 서울에 밀려 실패했다, 암웨이의 한국 방문은 2014년 이후 13년 만으로 약 770억 원에 달하는 경제적 파급효과가 기대된다. 다단계판매라는 이름은 중국에서 아주 유명하다, 암웨이, 중국에 암웨이식물연구센터abrc 개관. 安利(中国)日用品有限公司官方网站。安利与您分享高品质产品和灵活的创业机会,为您带来健康积极、充满活力的美好生活。 安利一下,美好发生。一起畅享健康活力的优质生活。.
중국 전통 약재용 식물을 재배하고 있는 중국 우시의 암웨이 식물연구센터 농장.. 중국 암웨이 본부가 광저우시에 있네요.. 암웨이amway 중국 매출액 293억 위안.. 암웨이는 다시 한번 박람회에 참가하여, 플랫폼 기반 건강 솔루션, 중의학의 정통성과 혁신, 뉴트리라이트 브랜드 90주년의 역사 등 다양한 측면에서 기업의 연구 성과와 혁신 제품을 선보였다..
중국 본토에서 2,5003,000명씩 떼를 지어 도착한 중국 암웨이 최고 판매자들은 4박 5일간 비즈니스 세미나, 투어, 그리고 다음과 같이 기획된 갈라 디너 행사를 경험했습니다, 글로벌 웰니스 전문기업 암웨이는 지난 23일 중국 우시wuxi, 無錫무석지역에 총 10만평 333㎡ 규모의 암웨이 식물연구센터amway botanical research center, abrc1와 연구 농장 개관식을 갖고 본격적인 연구활동을 시작한다고 밝혔다. Html링크페이지는 본부 및 지점이 나열되어 있구요. Com › news › world中암웨이 1만4천명 한국 몰려온다&mldr. 암웨이, 중국에 암웨이식물연구센터abrc 개관. 암웨이가 지난 11월 510일 개최된 제7회 중국국제수입박람회ciie에 참가했다고 밝혔다.
중일 갈등에중국 1만4000명, 오사카 대신 서울행 일본으로 가려고 했던 1만4000명 규모의 중국 기업 단체가 한국행을 결정했다. Com › article › 20260119231304896단독 770억 파급효과&mldr. 중국 암웨이 본부가 광저우시에 있네요.
미니상 김규리 뉴스웨이브 김태호 기자암웨이가 향후 5년간 약 9000만달러를 투입해 중국 광저우공장의 생산설비를 업그레이드한다. 글로벌 웰니스 전문기업 암웨이는 지난 10월 23일 중국 우시 wuxi, 無錫 무석지역에 총 10만평 33만 3000㎡ 규모의 암웨이 식물연구센터 amway botanical research center, abrc1와 연구 농장 개관식을 갖고 본격적인 연구활동을 시작한다고 밝혔다. 중국 암웨이 회원과 임직원 등 1만 4000명이 한국을 방문해 기업회의와 관광을 즐길 예정이다. 한국관광공사는 중국 암웨이의 기업회의 및 인센티브포상 관광 목적지가 한국으로 최종 확정됐다고 20일 밝혔다. 이들은 내년인 2027년 봄, 13년 만에 다시 한국에서 포상관광을 겸한 기업회의를 연다. 민다은 야코 디시
미츠리 시노부 야짤 중국 암웨이amway 임직원 1만 4000명이 참여하는 대규모 기업회의가 2027년 한국에서 열린다. 다단계판매라는 이름은 중국에서 아주 유명하다. 뉴스웨이브 김태호 기자암웨이가 향후 5년간 약 9000만달러를 투입해 중국 광저우공장의 생산설비를 업그레이드한다. 라이프 트렌드 중국 암웨이 식물연구센터를 가다. 安利(中国)日用品有限公司官方网站。安利与您分享高品质产品和灵活的创业机会,为您带来健康积极、充满活力的美好生活。 安利一下,美好发生。一起畅享健康活力的优质. 민네 asmr 디시
무잔 다키 디시 26일 한국관광공사에 따르면 글로벌 네트워크 마케팅 회사 암웨이 그룹 소속 ‘중국 암웨이’는 내년 포상관광단 행선지로 한국을 확정했다. 암웨이가 지난 11월 510일 개최된 제7회 중국국제수입박람회ciie에 참가했다고 밝혔다. 이번 방문은 2027년 봄, 약 2주에 걸쳐 진행된다. 우리나라에서도 이 이름을 모르는 사람은 없다. 1만 4000명의 중국 암웨이 포상관광단이 내년 한국을 방문하며, 방한 포상관광 시장이 역대급 호황을 누릴 것으로 전망된다. 미스맥심 디시
무이치로 코쿠시보 관계 중국암웨이는 10월 22일 상하이에서 ‘good life night’를 개최했다. 중일 갈등에중국 1만4000명, 오사카 대신 서울행 일본으로 가려고 했던 1만4000명 규모의 중국 기업 단체가 한국행을 결정했다. 암웨이, 중국에 암웨이식물연구센터abrc 개관. 다단계판매는 암웨이제품이 중국에서 시도한 일종의 판매모델이라는 것을. 중국암웨이는 10월 22일 상하이에서 ‘good life night’를 개최했다.
미사키데유우나 Com › page › view日가려다 한국오는 中1. 암웨이 중국amway china은 광저우 생산 기지의 기본 인프라와 생산 시설을 업그레이드하는 5개년 프로젝트에 대한 내용을 발표했다. 한국관광공사는 중국 암웨이의 기업회의 및 인센티브 포상 관광 목적지가 한국으로 최종 확정됐다고 20일 밝혔다. 중국 암웨이 1만4천명, 13년 만에 한국 선택. 한국관광공사, 중국 대형 기업회의 1만4천명 유치 중국 암웨이 임직원, 한국에서 포상관광 진행 예정 ‘한한령’이 아니라 ‘난한령’ ‘열한령.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 4, 2026.
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.
People gather facing law enforcement after marching through downtown Austin, Texas at the conclusion of the "No Kings Day" demonstration in the US, June 4, 2026.
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.
People take part in a youth-led protest against corruption and calling for education and healthcare reforms, in Rabat, Morocco, June 4, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 4, 2026.
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.
한국관광공사는 중국 암웨이 회원 및 임직원 1만4000명이 참가하는 기업회의를 유치했다고 20일 밝혔다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.