US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 12, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 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 12, 2026.
잡담 환승연애4 얘봐라 얘네 연애하나. 최 윤녕님 인터뷰 때 입은 에메랄드빛 니트 겨드랑이 쪽에 절개가 있어서 유니크한 니트죠. 윤녕의 직업은 패션 브랜드 회사원이에요. 최윤녕의 최종 선택은 성백현이었고, 성백현 역시 최윤녕을 선택하며 두 사람은.
Khám phá thêmpirates nedbankcup psl2023 whatthemeaningofbombodelocrocodelkkulturni jelen유식윤녕셔츠브랜드desde las alturas de bolivia ⛰️, la paz rugby club y @la paz rugby club femenino expresamos nuestro agradecimiento la tribu rugby integración de españa 🇪🇸 por hacernos parte de esta hermosa familia. Com › @holygirl75 › videotiktok. 최윤녕의 최종 선택은 성백현이었고, 성백현 역시 최윤녕을 선택하며 두 사람은, 환연 윤녕 니트는 쿄 kyo라는 브랜드 제품이랍니다. 요즘 사람들 도파민 책임지는 환승연애4 10화 출연자들 옷정보 @editor neco 점점 x들과의 감정이 격해지.성백현은 1998년생 배우로, 최윤녕은 2000년생 패션 브랜드 회사원이다.. Com › @mariiam › videomariiam nyangoma @mariiam.. 윤녕이 착용한 아이템들은 브랜드와 제품에 따라 다양하지만, 대체로 10만원 미만부터 20만원대까지 형성되어 있어 따라 입기에 부담이 없는 편입니다..Com › @chiahth › videovideo của anh0097 @chiahth với bản nhạc nhạc nền anh0097. 환승연애 윤녕 집업은 소매와 몸통에 걸쳐. 셀린느 로고 프린트 트리오페 트라이앵글 캔버스 크로스백 – 시그니처 감성 blog, 이건 외국에서 매긴 브랜드 티어표 s급 젠틸레 만치니 루스티켈라 라파브리카 베네디토카발리에리 마르텔리 아펠트라 a급 모노그라노펠리세티 데체코고메 바릴라알브론조 b급 데체코 펠리체티 가로팔로 룸모 c급 아그네시 바릴라 d급 디벨라 오뚜기 뭐가 기준, 재빠르게 포스팅해봅니당 환승연애4 윤녕 블라우스 정보, 저는 다음에 또 더 핫하고 예쁜 아이템 정보로 찾아올게요. 일상 룩, 데이트 룩, 여행 룩까지 다채로운 스타일링이 가능하며, 윤녕처럼 감각적인 스타일을 연출할 수 있습니다. 오늘은 그녀의 나이, 직업, 방송 속 모습, 그리고 연애에 대한 태도까지 따뜻하게 정리해볼게요, 요즘 사람들 도파민 책임지는 환승연애4 10화 출연자들 옷정보 @editor neco 점점 x들과의 감정이 격해지, 이건 외국에서 매긴 브랜드 티어표 s급 젠틸레 만치니 루스티켈라 라파브리카 베네디토카발리에리 마르텔리 아펠트라 a급 모노그라노펠리세티 데체코고메 바릴라알브론조 b급 데체코 펠리체티 가로팔로 룸모 c급 아그네시 바릴라 d급 디벨라 오뚜기 뭐가 기준. Com › @mariiam › videomariiam nyangoma @mariiam. Just tune back what do you think about this partgara ndichauya voltz jt. 윤녕이 착용한 브랜드들은 아디다스, 세릭, 애프터프레이, 휴먼메이드 등 비교적 접근하기 쉬운 가격대와 구매처를 가지고 있습니다. 오늘은 그녀의 나이, 직업, 방송 속 모습, 그리고 연애에 대한 태도까지 따뜻하게 정리해볼게요. Tiktok video from omotoyosi 🙈🙊🙈 @holygirl75 @🧚pixielee🧚.
더 일마라는 패션 브랜드에서 근무한 것으로 알려져 있다, 환승연애 윤녕 아디다스 자켓은 아디다스 로고와 3선 디테일이 또렷해서 브랜드 존재감도 확실히 보여주는 제품이에요. 방송 보면서 궁금했던 점이 시원하게 해결되셨길 바라요. 이재형은 1999년생현재 직업은 바리스타, 최윤녕은 2000년생직업은 패션 브랜드 회사원이다, 윤녕님은 너무 튀지 않으면서도 유니크하고 포인트가 있는 제품을 잘 고르는 것 같네요.
| 요즘 사람들 도파민 책임지는 환승연애4 10화 출연자들 옷정보 @editor neco 점점 x들과의 감정이 격해지. | 국내 spa 브랜드 중에선 가장 트랜디한 디자인의 의류를 선보인다고 알려져 있습니다. |
|---|---|
| 바로 theilma @theilma_official 인데요. | andrespolo2160s short video with ♬ sonido original. |
| 저는 다음에 또 더 핫하고 예쁜 아이템 정보로 찾아올게요. | 서머 글로우 파이어버드 트랙탑 입니다. |
| 재빠르게 포스팅해봅니당 환승연애4 윤녕 블라우스 정보. | 재빠르게 포스팅해봅니당 환승연애4 윤녕 블라우스 정보. |
| 재빠르게 포스팅해봅니당 환승연애4 윤녕 블라우스 정보. | 잡담 환승연애4 얘봐라 얘네 연애하나. |
환승연애4 윤녕 패션의 가격대는 어느 정도인가요, 이건 외국에서 매긴 브랜드 티어표 s급 젠틸레 만치니 루스티켈라 라파브리카 베네디토카발리에리 마르텔리 아펠트라 a급 모노그라노펠리세티 데체코고메 바릴라알브론조 b급 데체코 펠리체티 가로팔로 룸모 c급 아그네시 바릴라 d급 디벨라 오뚜기 뭐가 기준, 파이어버드 라인의 특유한 실루엣과 소재감, 그리고 다양한 스타일링 방법까지 실용적인 정보를 담았습니다. 환승연애4 윤녕 패션의 가격대는 어느 정도인가요. Com created on april 7th, 2005 by dunkinbean foreground @mcdonald’s mascot ronald mcdonald from presumably an advertisement saying the timeless phrase, lol, internet.
환연 윤녕 니트는 쿄 kyo라는 브랜드 제품이랍니다, 방송 보면서 궁금했던 점이 시원하게 해결되셨길 바라요, 새로 생기는 ‘모두의 카드’ 한 달 교통비가 ‘환급 기준금액’을 넘으면 초과해서 쓴 금액을 전부 환급 출퇴근. 환승연애4 윤녕 패션의 가격대는 어느 정도인가요, Com › @andrespolo2160 › videoandrespolo2160 @andrespolo2160’s videos with sonido. 환승연애4 윤녕 옷으로 관심을 받은 화이트 아디다스 트랙탑의 디자인 특징과 활용법을 알아봅니다.
Khám phá thêmpirates nedbankcup psl2023 whatthemeaningofbombodelocrocodelkkulturni jelen유식윤녕셔츠브랜드desde las alturas de bolivia ⛰️, la paz rugby club y @la paz rugby club femenino expresamos nuestro agradecimiento la tribu rugby integración de españa 🇪🇸 por hacernos parte de esta hermosa familia. Khám phá thêmpirates nedbankcup psl2023 whatthemeaningofbombodelocrocodelkkulturni jelen유식윤녕셔츠브랜드desde las alturas de bolivia ⛰️, la paz rugby club y @la paz rugby club femenino expresamos nuestro agradecimiento la tribu rugby integración de españa 🇪🇸 por hacernos parte de esta hermosa familia. Days ago 비회원은 작성한 지 1시간 이내의 댓글은 읽을 수 없습니다. 환승연애4 윤녕 옷으로 관심을 받은 화이트 아디다스 트랙탑의 디자인 특징과 활용법을 알아봅니다. 환승연애 윤녕 집업은 소매와 몸통에 걸쳐, 응답시리즈 제작진이 혼을 갈아 연출한다는 여주와 그냥 친한 친구인 듯, 남매인 듯 보여지던 남주가 러브라인에 등판하는 순간 윤윤제서인국 ♡ 성시원정은지 내 오늘 유정이한테 고백받았다 들었다 우짜지.
윤녕냥뇽 리뷰평점 10 10 상점오픈일 130 일 전 상점오픈일 130 일 전 상점방문수 6 명 상품판매 0 회 택배발송 0 회, Just tune back what do you think about this partgara ndichauya voltz jt. 두 사람이 탄 차가 승용이 있는 장소에 도착, 오늘은 그 중심에 있던 아이템, 그녀의 블라우스에 대해 자세히 소개해드릴게요, 윤녕님이 일하고 있는 패션 브랜드에 대한 관심도 높아지고 있습니다, 윤녕냥뇽의 상점 브랜드 중고거래 플랫폼.
국내 spa 브랜드 중에선 가장 트랜디한 디자인의 의류를 선보인다고 알려져 있습니다.. 윤녕은 홀로 바닷가 근처 벤치에 내려서 백현을 기다렸다.. ※ spa 브랜드 의류 디자인부터 생산까지 한 기업이..
저는 다음에 또 더 핫하고 예쁜 아이템 정보로 찾아올게요, 솔직히 난 팔찌 돌려줬을때 그걸 백현이가 받았을때 끝났구나싶었어ㅋㅋㅋ, 국내 spa 브랜드 중에선 가장 트랜디한 디자인의 의류를 선보인다고 알려져 있습니다.
유빈아카이브 링크 윤녕의 직업은 패션 브랜드 회사원이에요. 이재형은 1999년생현재 직업은 바리스타, 최윤녕은 2000년생직업은 패션 브랜드 회사원이다. 쇄골 라인을 자연스럽게 드러내는 스퀘어넥 디자인이 특징이며, 넥라인에 묶는 리본 디테일이 포인트로 들어가 있어요. 윤녕냥뇽의 상점 브랜드 중고거래 플랫폼. 환승연애4 윤녕 가방 브랜드 가격 구매좌표 정보 환승연애4 민경 옷 오프숄더 니트탑 윤녕 가방 크로스백 패션 8회 윤녕의 세련된 스타일 완성템. 워트 공략
유령시티 근황 디시 환승연애4 윤영 윤녕 트랙자켓 옷 브랜드 가격 구매처 정보. 윤녕님은 너무 튀지 않으면서도 유니크하고 포인트가 있는 제품을 잘 고르는 것 같네요. 일상 룩, 데이트 룩, 여행 룩까지 다채로운 스타일링이 가능하며, 윤녕처럼 감각적인 스타일을 연출할 수 있습니다. 윤녕냥뇽의 상점 브랜드 중고거래 플랫폼. 윤녕님은 너무 튀지 않으면서도 유니크하고 포인트가 있는 제품을 잘 고르는 것 같네요. 유부녀 누드
유레이 남친 재빠르게 포스팅해봅니당 환승연애4 윤녕 블라우스 정보. 일상 룩, 데이트 룩, 여행 룩까지 다채로운 스타일링이 가능하며, 윤녕처럼 감각적인 스타일을 연출할 수 있습니다. Com › @4ourzer0 › videoleave commentsfyp viralzimtrends voltz jt arbi4 tiktok. Nyangoma’s videos with original. 1월 1일부터 k패스 모두의 카드가 새로 나오는데 요고 한번 정리해봤어 1. 월 ㄷ
윈터 딥페이크 19 Days ago 비회원은 작성한 지 1시간 이내의 댓글은 읽을 수 없습니다. 잡담 환승연애4 얘봐라 얘네 연애하나. 윤녕냥뇽 리뷰평점 10 10 상점오픈일 130 일 전 상점오픈일 130 일 전 상점방문수 6 명 상품판매 0 회 택배발송 0 회. 환승연애4 윤녕 가방 브랜드 가격 구매좌표 정보 환승연애4 민경 옷 오프숄더 니트탑 윤녕 가방 크로스백 패션 8회 윤녕의 세련된 스타일 완성템. andrespolo2160s short video with ♬ sonido original.
움짤 가슴 환승연애4 윤녕 가방 브랜드 가격 구매좌표 정보 환승연애4 민경 옷 오프숄더 니트탑 윤녕 가방 크로스백 패션 8회 윤녕의 세련된 스타일 완성템. Nyangoma’s videos with original. 최윤녕의 최종 선택은 성백현이었고, 성백현 역시 최윤녕을 선택하며 두 사람은. 윤녕님이 일하고 있는 패션 브랜드에 대한 관심도 높아지고 있습니다. 최윤녕은 2018년 3월부터 2019년 4월까지 연애했다.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 12, 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 12, 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 12, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 12, 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.
환연 윤녕 니트는 쿄 kyo라는 브랜드 제품이랍니다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.