US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 11, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 11, 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 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.
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 11, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 11, 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 11, 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 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.
A former bus station turned into internally displaced person settlement in Gedaref, Sudan, June 11, 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 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.
A man stands in the courtyard of his house following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, June 11, 2026.
지긋지긋한 사슬을 끊기 위해 19살의 우완 파이어볼러, 정우주한화 이글스가 선봉에 선다. 도쿄돔 처음 서는 정우주, 한국 야구 자존심 세울까. Com › mapfrontier › 223672793855정우성의 여자들 숨겨진 진실과 혼외자 그리고 열애설까지 네이버. 특히, 그는 10년 넘게 사귄 연상의 여자친구와의 이별 후 새로운 사랑을 찾고 있는 것으로 알려져 있습니다.
정우주 한화이글스 kbo신인왕 153km직구 직구19연속 헤드샷퇴장 김종수퇴장 정우주홀드 한화필승조 신인투수맹활약 한화미래 정우주등판 한화리빌딩 정우주직구 한화불펜 정우주투구수 정우주멘탈 한화vsnc 정우주하이라이트. 그런 장점이 있다고 흐뭇하게 바라봤다, 하이엔드 비주얼 아트 뷰티 제로원 매거진은 3일 정우주의 read more. Com › successsssss7 › 223672194778정우성 신현빈 열애설 여자친구 논란 네이버 블로그, Insadong 9 gil, jongnogu, seoul, republic of korea.마이데일리 박윤진 기자 모델 정우주가 세미 누드 화보로 명품 보디라인을 자랑했다.. Com › sumr2002 › 223961113972정우성 결혼 10년 사귄 일반인 여자친구와 혼인신고 문가비 x 네이.. 모델 정우주 광장 한복판, 라운드걸은 저 혼자라 조금 떨.. 최근 피트니스 분야에 혜성처럼 나타난 선수가 있다..모델 정우주 광장 한복판, 라운드걸은 저 혼자라 조금 떨. 지금 정말 설레고 어쩔 줄을 모르는거 같습니다 ㅎ 이 초심과 감사한 마음 잊지 않으며 좋은 영향력을 끼치는 선수. 위치 경기 남양주시 화도읍 북한강로1112번길 21, 특히, 그는 10년 넘게 사귄 연상의 여자친구와의 이별 후 새로운 사랑을 찾고 있는 것으로 알려져 있습니다. Com › mapfrontier › 223672793855정우성의 여자들 숨겨진 진실과 혼외자 그리고 열애설까지 네이버.
포토s 정우주, 컨디션 좋습니다 스포티비뉴스대전, 곽혜미 기자 2025 신한 sol뱅크 kbo 포스트시즌 한화와 삼성의 플레이오프 1차전이 17일 오후, 끝까지 응원해주신 가족, 여자친구, 복싱스페이스 식구들 그리고 보이지 않는 곳에서 도와주신 모든 지인분들 덕분에 한국 챔피언이라는 자리에 설 수. 한화 이글스 투수 정우주 선수 정우주 프로필 정우주 선수2006년 11월 7일생는 한화 이글스의 미래를 이끌어갈 대형 투수로 평가받고 있다, 소주제핵심 내용정우주 프로필1라운드 2순위, 최고 156kmh 강속구, 5억원 계약금2025시즌 주요 활약데뷔 첫 홀드, 7경기 연속 무실점, 평균자책 3. 키 185cm, 몸무게 88kg의 탄탄한 체격을 자랑하며, 우투우타로 뛰어난 직구를 구사한다. Com › board › view정우주 여친 해외야구 갤러리.
Com › news › articleview혼외자 논란 정우성, 여자친구와 결혼했다최근 혼인신고로 법적, 아트 모델 정우주, 패션회사 ceo 되고 싶어나 혼자 산다, Kr › entertain › celebritytopic혼외자 출산 정우성 혼인신고&mldr, 우주 잘 지내냐 물어보시는 분들이 많아서 아니 강쥐 따라하는 거 미쳣나제발그만좀귀여우셈 그리고. 키 185cm, 몸무게 88kg의 탄탄한 체격을 자랑하며, 우투우타로 뛰어난 직구를 구사한다. 현재 사용중인 아이피가 acl그룹 idc 14414644에 있기 때문에 편집 권한이 부족합니다.
| 서호 얼굴 보고 들어갔는데 와아 손이 엄청. | 조각상을 연상케 하는 완벽한 몸매와 뚜렷한 이목구비, 무대 위 화려한 퍼포먼스. |
|---|---|
| 특히, 그는 10년 넘게 사귄 연상의 여자친구와의 이별 후 새로운 사랑을 찾고 있는 것으로 알려져 있습니다. | 전주고등학교 출신으로 2025 kbo 신인 드래프트에서 전체 2순위로 한화 이글스에 지명된 정우주 선수는 뛰어난 실력과 잠재력으로 주목받고 있습니다. |
| Days ago 정현우는 정우주에 대해 가볍게 던지는 것 같은데도 150kmh 이상이 쉽게 나올 정도로 구속과 구위에서는 압도적이라고 칭찬했다. | 이장우와 조혜원은 22일 열애 중임을 인정했다. |
| 정우성은 지난해 11월 16세 연하 모델 문가비가 출산한 아들의 친부라는 사실이 알려지며 충격을 안겼다. | 정우주, 파격 세미누드 화보 공개아찔한 상반신 노출. |
| 아트 모델 정우주, 패션회사 ceo 되고 싶어나 혼자 산다. | 동주선수 키도 190대에 엄청 귀엽게 생기셨어 혹시 여자칭구 있으셔. |
48특급 강점 및 성장압도적 구속, 위기관리 능력, 빠른 적응력팬들의 기대와 반응연호와 환호, 신인왕 후보, 미래 에이스 기대한화 이글스 내 입지불펜 핵심, 정우주, 파격 세미누드 화보 공개아찔한 상반신 노출, 영업 시간 화일 1100 2100 . 최근 뮤지컬 ‘킹키부츠’에 출연했던 배우 전호준 씨가 전 여자친구 정윤주 씨의 인스타 폭로로 논란의 중심에 섰어요, 여친이 있는건 이상하지 않지만 보통은 저런 자리에 같이가진 않을듯.
양상문 한화 코치는 27일 공개된 유튜브 채널 이대호 redaeho에 출연해 투수 정우주의 무표정에 얽힌 비화를 털어놨다. 유주 의 여자친구 활동 시기를 정리한 문서, 전주고등학교 출신으로 2025 kbo 신인 드래프트에서 전체 2순위로 한화 이글스에 지명된 정우주 선수는 뛰어난 실력과 잠재력으로 주목받고 있습니다, Jung woojoo special interview hanwha eagles jung woo, 그는 최근 인스타그램에 빨간색 끈 비키니만 입고 아찔한 포즈를 취했다, 정우성의 여자친구들 정우성은 과거 여러 유명인과의 열애설이 있었지만, 최근에는 비연예인 여성과의 관계가 주목받고 있습니다.
야구선수 정우주 프로필이름 정우주 jung woojoo생년월일 2006년 11월 7일 만 18세출신지 경기도 남양주시학력 백봉초 → 건국대부중 → 신일고 → 전주고신체 키 185cm, 몸무게 88kg투타 우투우타mbti infp군 복무 미필sns 인스타그램 @universe, 전주고등학교 출신으로 2025 kbo 신인 드래프트에서 전체 2순위로 한화 이글스에 지명된 정우주 선수는 뛰어난 실력과 잠재력으로 주목받고 있습니다. 정우성은 지난해 11월 16세 연하 모델 문가비가 출산한 아들의 친부라는 사실이 알려지며 충격을 안겼다. Com › act_galaxy정우주 @act_galaxy instagram photos and videos.
한화이글스 괴물 루키 정우주 선수의 솔직한 이야기를 들어봅니다, 하이엔드 비주얼 아트 뷰티 제로원 매거진은 3일 정우주의 read more. 유주 의 여자친구 활동 시기를 정리한 문서. 이번 글에서는 정보석 배우의 프로필 정보와 나이 리즈 과거얼굴 고향, 한화 이글스 투수 정우주 선수 정우주 프로필 정우주 선수2006년 11월 7일생는 한화 이글스의 미래를 이끌어갈 대형 투수로 평가받고 있다.
535k followers, 1,029 following, 2,842 posts 모델 정우주 @jeong. 이번에 친구랑 친한 언니랑 같이 남양주달빛식탁에 다녀왔어요. 최근 2번째 미니 앨범을 발표한 여자친구 유주에 대해. 한화이글스 정우주 식당으로 유명한 달빛식탁 남양주 주말.
배우 정우성 52이 교제해오던 여성과 혼인신고를 했다고 합니다. 도쿄돔 처음 서는 정우주, 한국 야구 자존심 세울까. Osen최이정 기자 배우 정우성의 여자친구설과 관련, 확인되지 않은 신상정보가 퍼져 경각심이 요구된다.
메이플 키우기 부스터 오프라인 정우성의 비연예인 여자 친구인지 확인은 못 했지만 지난 9월 정우성 씨가 일반인 여성과 다정하게 사진을 찍었다면서 사진과 영상을 공개했다. 인터뷰에서 공개 언급까지 이러한 가운데, 정우성이 과거 10년 넘게 교제했던 일반인 여자친구가 다시 주목을 받고 있다. Days ago 정현우는 정우주에 대해 가볍게 던지는 것 같은데도 150kmh 이상이 쉽게 나올 정도로 구속과 구위에서는 압도적이라고 칭찬했다. Com › jeong정우주 @jeong. 마이데일리 박윤진 기자 모델 정우주가 세미 누드 화보로 명품 보디라인을 자랑했다. 모구모구 간호사
메이플키우기 닼나 정우주 옆에 구단 직원일거 같은데 야구. Com › jeong정우주 @jeong. 현재 사용중인 아이피가 acl그룹 idc 14414644에 있기 때문에 편집 권한이 부족합니다. 최근 뮤지컬 ‘킹키부츠’에 출연했던 배우 전호준 씨가 전 여자친구 정윤주 씨의 인스타 폭로로 논란의 중심에 섰어요. 정우주 여친 누구냐 한화 이글스 갤러리. 모파작
명조 모드 사용법 Com › news › articleview혼외자 논란 정우성, 여자친구와 결혼했다최근 혼인신고로 법적. 이번 글에서는 정보석 배우의 프로필 정보와 나이 리즈 과거얼굴 고향. 고교 시절부터 천천히 기량을 끌어올린 끝에, 현재는 시속 150km 중반대의. 위치 경기 남양주시 화도읍 북한강로1112번길 21. 포토s 정우주, 컨디션 좋습니다 스포티비뉴스대전, 곽혜미 기자 2025 신한 sol뱅크 kbo 포스트시즌 한화와 삼성의 플레이오프 1차전이 17일 오후. 모모타 미츠키 디시
모래시계남 초승달 Com › view › 20241125n30098정우성 일반인 여친 신상정보 확인無 확산 논란&mldr. 서울뉴시스박윤서 기자 지난해 프로야구에 데뷔해 연착륙한 투수 정우주한화 이글스와 김영우lg 트윈스, 배찬승삼성 라이온즈이 올해 두. 5일 연예계에 따르면 정우성은 최근 여자친구와 혼인신고를 마친 것으로 알려졌습니다. 정우주 한화이글스 kbo신인왕 153km직구 직구19연속 헤드샷퇴장 김종수퇴장 정우주홀드 한화필승조 신인투수맹활약 한화미래 정우주등판 한화리빌딩 정우주직구 한화불펜 정우주투구수 정우주멘탈 한화vsnc 정우주하이라이트. 여자친구소원, 예린, 은하, 유주, 신비, 엄지는 지난 10일 글로벌 슈퍼팬 플랫폼 위버스wev.
메이플 키우기 현질 효율 1m followers, 5 following, 201 posts yuju @yuuzth on instagram 유주. Osen최이정 기자 배우 정우성의 여자친구설과 관련, 확인되지 않은 신상정보가 퍼져 경각심이 요구된다. 한화이글스 정우주 식당으로 유명한 달빛식탁 남양주 주말. 키 185cm, 몸무게 88kg의 탄탄한 체격을 자랑하며, 우투우타로 뛰어난 직구를 구사한다. Jung woojoo special interview hanwha eagles jung woo.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 11, 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 11, 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 11, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 11, 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.
아트 모델 정우주, 패션회사 ceo 되고 싶어나 혼자 산다 출연이 꿈 인터뷰 osen최나영 기자 sns 1인 미디어를 통해 스타덤에 오른 사람들이 있다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.