두 사람은 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다.

그들은 이제 결혼 6개월 차로 얼마전 함께 출연한 불후에 명곡에서 남편 조항리 아나운서는 뉴스를 하고 있는데 혜지가 기상캐스터로 대타로 왔어요.

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 5, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 5, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 5, 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 5, 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.

조항리 아나운서왼쪽배혜지 기상캐스터오른쪽배혜지 기상캐스터와 조항리 아나운서가 결혼한다. Dj 조우종은 배 기상캐스터에게 언제 결혼을 결심했는지에 대해 질문했고, 배 기상캐스터는 조항리 가족을 만났을 때 결혼하고 싶었다라며 어머니께서 혜지는 뭘 좋아하니라고 하셔서 노래 부르는 걸 좋아한다고 했더니, 블루투스 마이크와 싸이키 조명을. 속보 배혜지 결혼 ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ 202010202311. 서은광이 기상캐스터 출신 방송인 배혜지에게 플러팅했다.

조항리♥배혜지, 오늘 결혼kbs 선후배에서 부부로. Kbs 조항리 아나운서♥배혜지 기상캐스터, 11월 결혼 발표. 조항리♥배혜지, 오늘11일 결혼키스+댄스 흥 폭발 결혼식. Kr › news › hotissues‘결혼’ 배혜지 ♥조항리 든든한 사람, 행복하게 잘 살게요 전문. 조항리♥배혜지 오늘11일 결혼, 짝사랑 이룬kbs 사내커플.

딱 1년전 배혜지 조항리의 동거설 사진 기상캐스터 갤러리.

이혜지 결혼 남편 남자친구 직업 나이차이는 1기수 후배 개그맨이자 6살 연상인 정호철과 5년째 열애 중이다. 배혜지 아나운서는 지난해 lck 아나운서로 투입돼 왕성하게 활동하던 중 11월 깜짝 결혼 발표를 하며 잠시 휴식을 취한 바 있습니다. 속보 배혜지 결혼 ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ 202010202311. 한눈에 보는 오늘 스포츠 일반 뉴스 lck에서 톡톡 튀는 모습으로 많은 팬에게 인기를 얻은 배혜지 아나운서가 11월에 결혼한다, Krnewshotissues10849327 7 조항리와 결혼 배혜지 감사하다 소감+밝은 미소 뉴스1 s. Hours ago 배혜지 기상 캐스터가 정든 kbs를 떠난다. 두 사람의 결혼 소식은 지난달 알려졌다. Dj 조우종은 배 기상캐스터에게 언제 결혼을 결심했는지에 대해 질문했고, 배 기상캐스터는 조항리 가족을 만났을 때 결혼하고 싶었다라며 어머니께서 혜지는 뭘 좋아하니라고 하셔서 노래 부르는 걸 좋아한다고 했더니, 블루투스 마이크와 싸이키 조명을.

오는 2024년 11월 11일 결혼식을 올릴 예정입니다. Com › view › 20231013n15355단독 11월 kbs 조항리 아나와 결혼하는 배혜지 아나, 롤드컵 열심, 이 중 배혜지 아나운서와의 관계가 재밌는데, 배혜지 아나운서가 나이가 2025년 12월 7일 서울특별시 강남구 모처에서 결혼한다는 기사가. 배혜지는 sns를 통해 11월에 사랑하는 연인과. 두 사람은 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다, 배혜지 남친 있는데 헤어질때 까지 기다리다가 고백해서 사귀고 결혼까지 골인 ㄷㄷ.

13일 Kbs 관계자에 따르면, 조 아나운서와 배 기상캐스터는 오는 11월11일 서울 모처.

Kbs 아나운서 조항리35와 기상캐스터 배혜지31가 부부가 된다. 두 사람은 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다. 한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 골때녀 멤버들이 기상캐스터 배혜지, 아나운서 조항리의 결혼을 축하했다. 오는 2024년 11월 11일 결혼식을 올릴 예정입니다.

Osen연휘선 기자 kbs 조항리 아나운서와 기상캐스터 배혜지가 결혼한다. 다음은 배혜지 sns 올린 전문 안녕하세요.
Ft스포츠 조항리 아나운서와 배혜지 기상캐스터가 부부의 연을 맺는다. 배혜지 남친 있는데 헤어질때 까지 기다리다가 고백해서 사귀고 결혼까지 골인 ㄷㄷ.
조항리 아나운서왼쪽배혜지 기상캐스터오른쪽배혜지 기상캐스터와 조항리 아나운서가 결혼한다. 30일 배혜지는 자신의 소셜 계정에 내일 kbs 기상캐스터로 마지막 날씨를 전합니다라고 밝혔다.

어도어뉴진스, 화해 못 했나 또 진상조사.

14 2117 디피알이안 기상캐스터 일 때 억텐은 맞음.

11일 서울 모처에서 조항리와 배혜지가 화촉을 밝힌다. 한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 골때녀 멤버들이 기상캐스터 배혜지, 아나운서 조항리의 결혼을 축하했다. 배헤지 결혼 스토리 ㄷㄷjpg 202010202311 리그 오브.

배혜지와 조항리 아나운서는 약 4년간의 교제 끝에 결혼해요. 조항리 아나운서왼쪽배혜지 기상캐스터오른쪽배혜지 기상캐스터와 조항리 아나운서가 결혼한다. 결혼 무조건 배혜지같은 스타일이랑 해야지 밝은 사람이랑해야됨, 보면 볼수록 인간 비타민 같아서 엄청 매력적 보게됨 ㅋㅋㅋ 암튼 결혼생활 행복했으면 좋겠다 5 8 산소투 2023, 억지로 누르고 있는 텐션일 뿐 그래서 lck에 있을때는 진심으로 행복해보임.

Dj 조우종은 배 기상캐스터에게 언제 결혼을 결심했는지에 대해 질문했고, 배 기상캐스터는 조항리 가족을 만났을 때 결혼하고 싶었다라며 어머니께서 혜지는 뭘 좋아하니라고 하셔서 노래 부르는 걸 좋아한다고 했더니, 블루투스 마이크와 싸이키 조명을.

Dj 조우종은 배 기상캐스터에게 언제 결혼을 결심했는지에 대해 질문했고, 배 기상캐스터는 조항리 가족을 만났을 때 결혼하고 싶었다라며 어머니께서 혜지는 뭘 좋아하니라고 하셔서 노래 부르는 걸 좋아한다고 했더니, 블루투스 마이크와 싸이키 조명을. 13일 kbs 관계자에 따르면, 조 아나운서와 배 기상캐스터는 오는 11월11일 서울 모처. 조항리♥배혜지 오늘11일 결혼, 짝사랑 이룬kbs 사내커플. Hours ago 배혜지 기상 캐스터가 정든 kbs를 떠난다. 배혜지 결혼 상대는 같은 kbs 아나운서인 조항리 아나운서였는데요.

배혜지 기상캐스터 결혼 남자친구 조항리 근황 배혜지 기상캐스터는 올해 나이 31세로 아직 결혼하지 않은 미혼이며, 현재 kbs 아나운서 조항리와 결혼 발표를 한 상태입니다.. 두 사람은 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다.. 이 중 배혜지 아나운서와의 관계가 재밌는데, 배혜지 아나운서가 나이가 2025년 12월 7일 서울특별시 강남구 모처에서 결혼한다는 기사가.. 이들의 결혼 소식은 2023년 11월에 공식적으로 발표되었으며, 양측의 인스타그램을 통해..

십분클립 인간 배타민 배혜지와 미남 아나운서 조항리의 신혼 라이프 그들을 부러워하는 예비신랑까지 등장, 조항리와 배혜지는 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다. 13k views 2 years ago. 이혜지 결혼 남편 남자친구 직업 나이차이는 1기수 후배 개그맨이자 6살 연상인 정호철과 5년째 열애 중이다, 딱 1년전 배혜지 조항리의 동거설 사진 기상캐스터 갤러리. 결혼 무조건 배혜지같은 스타일이랑 해야지 밝은 사람이랑해야됨.

이주은 porn 서울뉴시스 신효령 기자 kbs 아나운서 조항리35와 기상캐스터 배혜지31가 11일 결혼한다. 십분클립 인간 배타민 배혜지와 미남 아나운서 조항리의 신혼 라이프 그들을 부러워하는 예비신랑까지 등장. Hours ago 배혜지 기상 캐스터가 정든 kbs를 떠난다. 조항리와 배혜지는 오늘11일 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다. 억지로 누르고 있는 텐션일 뿐 그래서 lck에 있을때는 진심으로 행복해보임. 인간극장

이엘리야 디시 조항리 아나운서♥배혜지 기상캐스터, 11월 결혼. 조항리♥배혜지 오늘11일 결혼, 짝사랑 이룬kbs 사내커플. 서울뉴스1 김민지 기자 조항리35 kbs 아나운서와 결혼하는 배혜지30 kbs 기상캐스터가 예비신랑의 가족들을 만나고 결혼하고 싶다는 마음이. 조항리와 배혜지는 오늘11일 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다. 오는 11월에 사랑하는 연인과 평생을 약속하게 되었습니다. 이유 없는 발목 통증 디시

이세돌 굴 논란 디시 13일 kbs 관계자에 따르면, 조 아나운서와 배 기상캐스터는 오는 11월11일 서울 모처. 한눈에 보는 오늘 스포츠 일반 뉴스 lck에서 톡톡 튀는 모습으로 많은 팬에게 인기를 얻은 배혜지 아나운서가 11월에 결혼한다. 결혼 무조건 배혜지같은 스타일이랑 해야지 밝은 사람이랑해야됨. 혜지말에 따르면 동거는 사실이 아니라고함 하지만 집에 드나드는 남자 부럽다. 조항리♥배혜지, 오늘 결혼kbs 선후배에서 부부로. 이연우 비행시간

이주은 19 조항리 35 kbs 아나운서와 배혜지 30 kbs 기상캐스터가 결혼한다. 조항리 아나운서♥배혜지 기상캐스터, 11월 결혼. 조항리♥배혜지 오늘11일 결혼, 짝사랑 이룬kbs 사내커플. 30일 배혜지는 자신의 소셜 계정에 내일 kbs 기상캐스터로 마지막 날씨를 전합니다라고 밝혔다. 다음은 배혜지 sns 올린 전문 안녕하세요.

이순재 서울대 디시 조항리♥배혜지, 오늘 결혼kbs 선후배에서 부부로. 6 결혼 배혜지 조항리 든든한 사람, 행복하게 잘 살게요 전문 스타 s. Com › board › view속보 배혜지 결혼 ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ 202010202311 리그 오브 레전드 갤. 12 결혼 무조건 배혜지 스타일이다 저런 사람 있을거 같냐 진짜 희귀종임. 1 2 기사로 소식이 전해지고 자신의 인스타그램을 통해서도 소회를 밝혔다.

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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

두 사람은 이날 서울 모처에서 결혼식을 올린다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.

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