Interior rural batak communities relied heavily on rice farming, horticulture and other plant and commercial crops, and to some extent, acquiring forest products.

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 11, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 11, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 11, 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 11, 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.

What does sumata mean. Sumatra는 세계에서 6번째로 큰 섬인 인도네시아 서부의 섬을 의미합니다. 65% of the area of west sumatra. It is a form of genitalgenital rubbing performed by a female sex worker upon a male client.

Interior rural batak communities relied heavily on rice farming, horticulture and other plant and commercial crops, and to some extent, acquiring forest products, Sumata 이스마일 마타르 ismail matar 마타 mata 스마 shema 마타 골든 marta golden 마타 하리 mata hari 마타디 matadi 마타람 mataram city 마타로 mataró 마타리 마타리 『植』 a kind of valerianaceous plant. Together with other scholars, these eight figures are known as harimau nan salapan. Sumatras population as of mid 2025 was estimated to be about 62,259,500. Sumatra 수마트라 sumatra 수마트라 a01, Looking for online definition of sumata in the medical dictionary. 수마트라의 지형도 수마트라섬 인도네시아어 pulau sumatra, 문화어 쑤마떼라 섬은 인도네시아 의 주요 섬으로 세계에서 여섯 번째로 큰 섬 이다, Listen to the pronunciation, view english meanings, stroke order diagrams and conjugations for すまた sumata, Interior rural batak communities relied heavily on rice farming, horticulture and other plant and commercial crops, and to some extent, acquiring forest products. The center of the dual kingdom was at sombaopu, near the then mouth of the jeneberang river, about 10 km south of the present city center. The great lake of toba provided vast opportunity for freshwater aquaculture since ancient times, Org › wiki › types_of_prostitution_intypes of prostitution in modern japan wikipedia, 이른바 정상위의 자세로 서로의 성기가 밀착하는.

Sumata explanation free. Bare thighs,inner thigh,intercrural sex meaning of 素股, すまた, sumata, 면적 473,481㎢, 인구는 50,365,538 2010년 기준 명이다. 보통 정상위 상태에서 이성 간의 성기를 밀착해서 비비는 경우를. The island along with smaller minor islands is split into eight regencies local government divisions.

트위터 프로랄

Org japanese dictionary. 한국법에서는 흡연 맛의 주체가 되는 전충엽을 체제, 스마타 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. Net › dictionary › 素股meaning of 素股, すまた, sumata japanese dictionary jlearn. 근로기준법이 되살아나기를 바랐던 전태일의 꿈은, Some fishing boats on flores flores is part of the east nusa tenggara province.

Org › wiki › 수마트라섬수마트라섬 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전, Sumatra 수마트라 sumatra 수마트라 a01. 그토록 아드님 그리워하셨는데, 함께 계시니 참 좋으시죠. The sex worker rubs the clients penis with her thighs, and labia majora. Com › japanese › dictionary素股, すまた, sumata nihongo master, It is very popular spot for mountain hiking, especially during the koyo season, autumn.

트위터 섹트 중국

In the 11th century the influence of the srivijaya.. The term batak is one of convenience, likely coined during precolonial times by indigenous outsiders e.. Org › wiki › 스마타스마타 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전.. The city of padang is located on the west coast of the island of sumatra, with a total area of 694..

What is the meaning of sumata, Sumata is a form of frottage, performed by a female sex worker upon a male client. 中國俗語用英語怎么說? sumata的中文翻譯,sumata是什麼意思,怎麽用漢語翻譯sumata,sumata的中文意思, sumata的中文, sumata in chinese, sumata怎麼讀,发音,例句,用法和解釋由查查在綫詞典提供,版權所有違者必究。. Srivijaya was the first polity to dominate much of western maritime. From west to east these are manggarai barat west manggarai, 25 manggarai central manggarai, manggarai timur east manggarai, ngada, nagekeo, ende, sikka and part of flores timur east flores. Sumata is a form of frottage, performed by a female sex worker upon a male client.

팀 나빠 벨키 나이

Sumata is a japanese term for a nonpenetrative sex act popular read more. The groups embraced by the term—the toba, the karo, the. 中國俗語用英語怎么說? sumata的中文翻譯,sumata是什麼意思,怎麽用漢語翻譯sumata,sumata的中文意思, sumata的中文, sumata in chinese, sumata怎麼讀,发音,例句,用法和解釋由查查在綫詞典提供,版權所有違者必究。. What does sumata mean, 이처럼 스마타는 시간이 지남에 따라 그 의미와 사용 범위가 확장되어, 다양한 유사 행위를 포괄하는 용어로 자리 잡았습니다. 뜻 수마트라 위 수마트라 섬 수마트라 섬 인도네시아어 pulau sumatra, 문화어 쑤마떼라 섬은 인도네시아의 주요 섬으로 세계에서 여섯 번째로 큰 섬이다.

기타 단어 sumaghiyyeh 뜻 sumakaihinkōen station 뜻 sumako matsui 뜻 sumalee montano 뜻 sumas, washington 뜻 sumatra 뜻 sumatra pdf 뜻 sumatran elephant 뜻 sumatran flying squirrel 뜻. Together with other scholars, these eight figures are known as harimau nan salapan, The 9th king of gowa tumaparisi kallonna 1512–1546 is described in the royal chronicle as the first gowa ruler to ally with the nearby tradeoriented polity of tallo, a partnership which endured throughout makassars apogee as an independent kingdom.

파타야 디시 2025

故 이소선 어머님께서 돌아가신 지 벌써 10년이 되었습니다.. 스마타 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전..
이처럼 스마타는 시간이 지남에 따라 그 의미와 사용 범위가 확장되어, 다양한 유사 행위를 포괄하는 용어로 자리 잡았습니다. The groups embraced by the term—the toba, the karo, the. Tundun, whose name postma believed to be sanskrit in origin, was referenced in line 3 of the inscription.
Sumata valley 寸又峡 is located south of southern japanese alpine, in shizuoka. 이른바 정상위 의 자세로 서로의 성기 가 밀착하는 경우가 대부분이지만 삽입 행위는 존재하지 않기 때문에, 있는 그대로를 의미하는 ‘스’ 素와 가랑이를 의미하는 ‘마타. 이른바 정상위의 자세로 서로의 성기가 밀착하는 경우가 read more.
Batak, several closely related ethnic groups of northcentral sumatra, indonesia. 개요편집 음경을 삽입하지 않고 섹스 상대의 허벅지 사이, 엉덩이 골, 대음순 사이나 사타구니에 비비는 유사 성행위이다. Gunung leuser np 구눙 르우제르 국립공원 aceh.

Note a lone japanese soldier is shown protecting the chinese republic and squaring off against ships, tanks, artillery, and planes of the, 보통 정상위 상태에서 이성 간의 성기를 밀착해서 비비는, Net › english › sumatasumata 뜻 sumata 한국어 뜻 ichacha사전. The center of the dual kingdom was at sombaopu, near the then mouth of the jeneberang river, about 10 km south of the present city center. Org › word › 素股jisho.

이른바 정상위 의 자세로 서로의 성기 가 밀착하는 경우가 대부분이지만 삽입 행위는 존재하지 않기 때문에, 있는 그대로를 의미하는 ‘스’ 素와 가랑이를 의미하는 ‘마타. Sumata is a japanese term for a nonpenetrative sex act popular in japanese brothels. 모란공원에 갈 때마다 제가 어머님께 속삭입니다, Sumata 素股, bare crotch, 22 translated as intercrural sex, 23 is the japanese term for a nonpenetrative sex act popular in japanese brothels. 스마타 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전, from left india, indian ocean, burma, sumatra, bangkok, thailand, rubber, petroleum, sugar, indochina, saigon, malaya, singapore, java, chinese republic, manchuria, nanjing, shanghai, borneo, japan, makassar, celebes, philippines, australia, new guinea.

개요편집 음경을 삽입하지 않고 섹스 상대의 허벅지 사이, 엉덩이 골, 대음순 사이나 사타구니에 비비는 유사 성행위이다. from left india, indian ocean, burma, sumatra, bangkok, thailand, rubber, petroleum, sugar, indochina, saigon, malaya, singapore, java, chinese republic, manchuria, nanjing, shanghai, borneo, japan, makassar, celebes, philippines, australia, new guinea. It is a form of genitalgenital rubbing performed by a female sex worker upon a male client.

트위터 저 from left india, indian ocean, burma, sumatra, bangkok, thailand, rubber, petroleum, sugar, indochina, saigon, malaya, singapore, java, chinese republic, manchuria, nanjing, shanghai, borneo, japan, makassar, celebes, philippines, australia, new guinea. 65% of the area of west sumatra. 中國俗語用英語怎么說? sumata的中文翻譯,sumata是什麼意思,怎麽用漢語翻譯sumata,sumata的中文意思, sumata的中文, sumata in chinese, sumata怎麼讀,发音,例句,用法和解釋由查查在綫詞典提供,版權所有違者必究。. from left india, indian ocean, burma, sumatra, bangkok, thailand, rubber, petroleum, sugar, indochina, saigon, malaya, singapore, java, chinese republic, manchuria, nanjing, shanghai, borneo, japan, makassar, celebes, philippines, australia, new guinea. Sumatra는 세계에서 6번째로 큰 섬인 인도네시아 서부의 섬을 의미합니다. 트위터 세이브

트위터 섹트 남친 Listen to the pronunciation, view english meanings, stroke order diagrams and conjugations for すまた sumata. from left india, indian ocean, burma, sumatra, bangkok, thailand, rubber, petroleum, sugar, indochina, saigon, malaya, singapore, java, chinese republic, manchuria, nanjing, shanghai, borneo, japan, makassar, celebes, philippines, australia, new guinea. The groups embraced by the term—the toba, the karo, the. The 9th king of gowa tumaparisi kallonna 1512–1546 is described in the royal chronicle as the first gowa ruler to ally with the nearby tradeoriented polity of tallo, a partnership which endured throughout makassars apogee as an independent kingdom. What is the meaning of sumata. 트위터 시스 영상

트위터 우마옹 음경을 삽입하지 않고 섹스 상대의 허벅지 사이나, 엉덩이 골, 대음순 사이1에 비비는 유사 성행위이다. 개요편집 주로 남성의 음경을 여성의 허벅지 사이脚コキ, 太ももコキ, 太腿コキ나 엉덩이 골尻コキ, 대음순 사이에 마찰하는 성행위이다. Sumatra 수마트라 sumatra 수마트라 a01. What does sumata mean. Upon the return of three alim ulama from mecca around 1803, namely haji miskin, haji sumanik and haji piobang, they expressed their wish to perfecting the application of islamic law in minangkabau society. 트윗 추첨기

틱톡 노래방 Together with other scholars, these eight figures are known as harimau nan salapan. Dictionary search results for sumata, search japanese words by kanji, kana, romaji, common conjugations and english meanings. Tundun, whose name postma believed to be sanskrit in origin, was referenced in line 3 of the inscription. 이른바 정상위 의 자세로 서로의 성기 가 밀착하는 경우가 대부분이지만 삽입 행위는 존재하지 않기 때문에, 있는 그대로를 의미하는 ‘스’ 素와 가랑이를 의미하는 ‘마타. Srivijaya indonesian sriwijaya, 3 131 also spelled sri vijaya or sriwijaya, 45 was a malay thalassocratic 6 empire based on the island of sumatra in modernday indonesia that influenced much of southeast asia.

트위터 섹트 영상저장 Tundun, whose name postma believed to be sanskrit in origin, was referenced in line 3 of the inscription. 개요편집 주로 남성의 음경을 여성의 허벅지 사이脚コキ, 太ももコキ, 太腿コキ나 엉덩이 골尻コキ, 대음순 사이에 마찰하는 성행위이다. 中國俗語用英語怎么說? sumata的中文翻譯,sumata是什麼意思,怎麽用漢語翻譯sumata,sumata的中文意思, sumata的中文, sumata in chinese, sumata怎麼讀,发音,例句,用法和解釋由查查在綫詞典提供,版權所有違者必究。. Org › wiki › types_of_prostitution_intypes of prostitution in modern japan wikipedia. Sumatra 수마트라 sumatra 수마트라 a01.

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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

, 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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