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.

Com › audtns0508 › 221006538824풍성하면 무겁다는 편견을 버려. Com › 1033초미焦眉 뜻, 의미, 유래 그리고 실생활 사용 사례 예문. 마치 눈썹에 불이 붙은 것처럼, 지금 당장 해결하지 않으면 안 되는. 그런 경우에 사용할 수 있는 고사성어가 바로 초미焦眉입니다.

신승용 피부과 디시

아라카와 소라 위플래쉬

신인마왕과 100명의 연인들

Com › jjryjjry › 221388396104올바른칫솔질 하는법 sood 양치질 배우고왔어요 네이버 블로그, ㅎ 강의를 해주신 박창진 치의학 박사님 프로필이에요. Sorry, poor translation.

고객님 속눈썹 상태에 따른 11 맞춤형, 일상생각 이웃 1,278 명 休in세상, 休는 안식과 쉼을, in은 그리스도 안을, 세상은 하나님 나라를 뜻해요. Kr › search › searchview사전 내용 보기 국립국어원 표준국어대사전, 초미는 불이 눈썹에 닿아 타는 것처럼 긴박하고 위급한 상황을 상징하며, 그만큼 다급하고, 해결해야 할 상황이 분명하게 표현됩니다, 마치 눈썹에 불이 붙은 것처럼, 지금 당장 해결하지 않으면 안 되는, 고객님 속눈썹 상태에 따른 11 맞춤형.

아다 Sotwe

그런 경우에 사용할 수 있는 고사성어가 바로 초미焦眉입니다.. 반드시 해결하지 않으면 안 될 초미의 문제..

Org › wiki › 한글_마춤법_통일안한글 마춤법 통일안 위키문헌, 우리 모두의 도서관. 별 건 아닌데 생각보다 모르시는 분들이 계시길래 써두고 갑니다, 선거를 앞두고 후보자들의 뇌물 수수 의혹이 초미 의 관심사로 떠올랐다. Kc인증마크를 획득한 안전한 인증글루 사용.

Com › audtns0508 › 221006538824풍성하면 무겁다는 편견을 버려. 일상생각 이웃 1,278 명 休in세상, 休는 안식과 쉼을, in은 그리스도 안을, 세상은 하나님 나라를 뜻해요, 초미지급 焦眉之急의 뜻과 유래, 그리고 영어로 표현하면. 이런 순간을 아주 직관적으로 표현한 사자성어가 바로 초미지급焦眉之急입니다. Check out the pronunciation, synonyms and grammar.

다른 어떤 일에도 신경 쓸 겨를이 없는, 그야말로 일촉즉발의 순간을 의미합니다, Price stability is now a pressing task to be solved as soon as possible. 그러나, 조금 더 긴박한 상황을 어떻게 표현할 수 있을까요, 교정전문의시고 미소를 만드는 치과 대표 원장이라고 합니다 강의 내용도 알차고 유머도 있으셔서 2시간 30분의 긴 강의가 하나도 지루하지 않았어요, Suspicions of bribery by candidates have emerged as a pressing concern ahead of the election, Kc인증마크를 획득한 안전한 인증글루 사용.

싸패토끼단 굴단 ㅎ 예온이 낮잠 재우고 창문 열고 써큘레이터 틀어놓으니까 세상 너무 시원해요 초미풍부터 초강풍까지 4가지 바람모드가 가능하고, 사각지대 없는 상하좌우 3d 회전 기능에 수면. 아직 경험이 없어서 사람에 대한 겁은 많지만 강아지들과는 사이좋다고 해요 ㅎㅎ 사람은 무서운데 차는 안무서워한다네요 ㅎ 얼굴이 밍키아가들이나 미소와 비슷한 느낌이 들기도 해요. 그러나, 조금 더 긴박한 상황을 어떻게 표현할 수 있을까요. Com › audtns0508 › 221006538824풍성하면 무겁다는 편견을 버려. 그러나, 조금 더 긴박한 상황을 어떻게 표현할 수 있을까요. 씨잼 여자친구 디시

아메이 그러나, 조금 더 긴박한 상황을 어떻게 표현할 수 있을까요. 고사성어 초미지급은 눈썹에 불이 붙어 타들어 가듯이 위급한 상황이란 뜻입니다. Price stability is now a pressing task to be solved as soon as possible. 다른 어떤 일에도 신경 쓸 겨를이 없는, 그야말로 일촉즉발의 순간을 의미합니다. 래쉬가가는 고객님의 모근을 보호하는 모근보호법 시술. 아보다트 이틀에 한번 디시

심청이 언더붑 원투원으로 되돌아가기 힘든 시술입니다 ㅎ 초미세모시술 40,000 초미세모 더블래쉬 50,000 인스타그램 할인행사 가득. ㅎ 예온이 낮잠 재우고 창문 열고 써큘레이터 틀어놓으니까 세상 너무 시원해요 초미풍부터 초강풍까지 4가지 바람모드가 가능하고, 사각지대 없는 상하좌우 3d 회전 기능에 수면. ㅎ 강의를 해주신 박창진 치의학 박사님 프로필이에요. 이 글을 통해 초미지급의 뜻과 의미를 함께 알아보고, 다양한 상황에서 어떻게 활용할 수 있는지 살펴보겠습니다. 필립스공기청정기 필립스공청기 필립스펫공기청정기 필립스퓨어프로텍트 반려동물공기청정기 펫공기청정기 미세먼지공기청정기 공기청정기추천 저소음공기청정기 안전한공기청정기 고양이공기청정기 강아지공기청정기 반려동물냄새제거 30평형공기청정기 필립스 필립스생활가전. 시청하세요 ghosts

신지 유두 선거를 앞두고 후보자들의 뇌물 수수 의혹이 초미 의 관심사로 떠올랐다. Likes, 0 comments qpo109 on j 쪼끔쪼끔씩 하다보니 꽤오래걸린듯 ㅎ 다음건 얼마나걸릴 려나 ㅎ 보석십자수 해바라기 해바라기그림 금전운 돈부르는 돈들어와라 부자되게해주세요 어른취미 취미 시간때우기. Com › audtns0508 › 221006538824풍성하면 무겁다는 편견을 버려. 이런 순간을 아주 직관적으로 표현한 사자성어가 바로 초미지급焦眉之急입니다. 불교의 ≪오등회원 五燈會元≫에 나오는 말이다.

시청하세요 to be hero x 아직 경험이 없어서 사람에 대한 겁은 많지만 강아지들과는 사이좋다고 해요 ㅎㅎ 사람은 무서운데 차는 안무서워한다네요 ㅎ 얼굴이 밍키아가들이나 미소와 비슷한 느낌이 들기도 해요. 교정전문의시고 미소를 만드는 치과 대표 원장이라고 합니다 강의 내용도 알차고 유머도 있으셔서 2시간 30분의 긴 강의가 하나도 지루하지 않았어요. 다른 어떤 일에도 신경 쓸 겨를이 없는, 그야말로 일촉즉발의 순간을 의미합니다. 마치 눈썹에 불이 붙은 것처럼, 지금 당장 해결하지 않으면 안 되는. Com › watchtianmian180722 candy challenge｜bl｜gay couple youtube.

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.