김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만.

종영까지 단 2회를 남겨둔 비밀은 이번 주 수,목 10시에 15,16회가 방송된다.

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 14, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 14, 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 14, 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 14, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 14, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 14, 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 14, 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.

공개된 사진 속에는 이미주황정음 분조민우주상욱 분 커플의 베드신이 방영 중이며, 이를 보는 김용준은 한 손에 담배를 들고 씁쓸한 표정을 짓고. 지난 13일 방송된 kbs2 드라마 `비밀` 유보라 최호철 극본, 이응복 백상훈 연출 15회에서는 서로의 마음을 확인한 민혁 지성과 유정 황정음이 이별 여행을 떠났고. 김용준황정음베드신자이언트베드신에 움짤. 황정음 베드신에 화날 법도 하건만 김용준, 설정샷 공개 폭소.

김용준은 지난 8월 31일 트위터에 담배를 물고 어두운 표정으로 황정음의 베드신을 지켜보는 자신의 설정사진과 함께 젠장이라는 글을 올렸다, 황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 bnt뉴스. 청문위원 대성은 주상욱과 황정음의 베드신을 지켜보는 황정음의 남자친구 김용준이 트위터에 올린 사진을 공개했다. 청문위원 대성은 주상욱과 황정음의 베드신을 지켜보는 황정음의 남자친구 김용준이 트위터에 올린 사진을 공개했다. 12일 공개된 사진 속에는 촬영 도중 지성과 한 침대에 누워 휴식을 취하고. 배우 지성 황정음의 상처 베드신이 화제다. 김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만.

황정음이미주은 자신 때문에 다친 주상욱조민우에 미안해하고, 주상욱조민우은 황정음이미주을 얻기 위해서라면 뭐든지 할 거라고 말한다, 황정음은 베드신이 제일 힘들었다면서 어색해서 죽는 줄 알았다고 밝혔다. 본의 아니게 한 침대에 누운 이들은 서로. 황정음이미주은 자신 때문에 다친 주상욱조민우에 미안해하고, 주상욱조민우은 황정음이미주을 얻기 위해서라면 뭐든지 할 거라고 말한다. 한편 매회 폭발적인 반응을 이어가고 있는 ‘비밀’은 사랑하는 연인을 죽인 여자와 사랑에 빠지는 독한 정통 멜로로 지성황정음배수빈이다희가 출연한다. 황정음, 주상욱과의 베드신에 남친 반응은. 비밀 지성황정음, 드디어 베드신 공개, 발을 다친 지성의 병간호를 위해 유정이 찾아와 죽을 먹여주는 장면이었다. 스포츠서울 배우 황정음이 화제인 가운데 과거 방송 모습이 눈길을 끌고 있다, 황정음 베드신에 화날 법도 하건만 김용준, 설정샷 공개 폭소, 황정음, 파격 베드신에 연인 김용준 화났다. 황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 bnt뉴스.

황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 Bnt뉴스.

촬영에 들어간 지성과 황정음은 애틋하고 아련한 눈빛을 주고 받으며 섬세하게 서로를 위로하는 장면을 연기했다.. 황정음 베드신에 화날 법도 하건만 김용준, 설정샷 공개 폭소.. 공개된 사진 속에는 이미주황정음 분조민우주상욱 분 커플의 베드신이 방영 중이며, 이를 보는 김용준은 한 손에 담배를 들고 씁쓸한 표정을 짓고..

김용준 황정음, 과거 주상욱과 황정음 베드신에, 김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만, 황정음, 주상욱과의 베드신에 남친 반응은, 여자친구의 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 되지만 그룹 sg워너비 김용준이 공식연인 황정음의 베드신을 어떻게 생각하냐는 질문에 긴 한숨을 내쉬었다. 김용준 김용준, 여자친구 황정음 베드신 젠장 네티즌 귀여워, 황정음은 리포터의 베드신 방송 후 남자친구 용준씨의 트위터 사진을 봤냐는 말에 김용준의 트위터 사진을 봤다며 당시 김용준이 전화로 왜 그런.

황정음 베드신에 이번엔 싸우지 마세요 네티즌 걱정.

촬영에 들어간 지성과 황정음은 애틋하고 아련한 눈빛을 주고 받으며 섬세하게 서로를 위로하는 장면을 연기해 주변 스태프들을 숨죽이게 했다, Kr 돈의화신1회황정음,강지환,오윤아2. 김용준은 지난 8월 31일 트위터에 담배를 물고 어두운 표정으로 황정음의 베드신을 지켜보는 자신의 설정사진과 함께 젠장이라는 글을 올렸다.

한편, 매회 폭발적인 반응을 이어가고 있는 비밀은 사랑하는 연인을 죽인 여자와 사랑에 빠지는 독한 정통 멜로로 지성황정음배수빈이다희가 출연한다, 황정음 베드신에 이번엔 싸우지 마세요 네티즌 걱정. 촬영에 들어간 지성과 황정음은 애틋하고 아련한 눈빛을 주고 받으며 섬세하게 서로를 위로하는 장면을 연기해 주변 스태프들을 숨죽이게 했다, ㅋ 그룸 sg워너비의 김용준이 연인인 황정음베드신을 보고 젠장하고 트위터에 오른것이. 종영까지 단 2회를 남겨둔 비밀은 이번 주 수,목 10시에 15,16회가 방송된다, 김용준황정음베드신자이언트베드신에 움짤.

배우 지성 황정음의 상처 베드신이 화제다. Kr › news › articleview비밀 지성황정음, 심장 터질듯한 가슴 절절 베드신 뭉클 드. 공개된 사진 속에는 이미주황정음 분조민우주상욱 분 커플의 베드신이 방영 중이며, 이를 보는 김용준은 한 손에 담배를 들고 씁쓸한 표정을 짓고.

김용준 김용준, 여자친구 황정음 베드신 젠장 네티즌 귀여워.

감정 소모가 큰 촬영을 이어간 두 사람. 촬영에 들어간 지성과 황정음은 애틋하고 아련한 눈빛을 주고 받으며 섬세하게 서로를 위로하는 장면을 연기했다. 침대에 누워 촬영을 하던 지성은 촬영 중간 휴식시간에 침대 한쪽을 황정음에게 내줘 따도남의 면모를 과시했다. 한편 매회 폭발적인 반응을 이어가고 있는 ‘비밀’은 사랑하는 연인을 죽인 여자와 사랑에 빠지는 독한 정통 멜로로 지성황정음배수빈이다희가 출연한다, Kr 돈의화신1회황정음,강지환,오윤아2.

김용준황정음베드신자이언트베드신에 움짤. 감정 소모가 큰 촬영을 이어간 두 사람. 김용준 김용준, 여자친구 황정음 베드신 젠장 네티즌 귀여워.
Kr › article › 10000609248비밀 지성황정음, 가슴시린 베드신안방극장 눈물바다 sbs bi. ㅋ 그룸 sg워너비의 김용준이 연인인 황정음베드신을 보고 젠장하고 트위터에 오른것이. Kr › news › articleview비밀 지성황정음, 심장 터질듯한 가슴 절절 베드신 뭉클 드.
지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs. 종영까지 단 2회를 남겨둔 비밀은 이번 주 수,목 10시에 15,16회가 방송된다. 스포츠서울 배우 황정음이 화제인 가운데 과거 방송 모습이 눈길을 끌고 있다.

김용준 황정음, 과거 주상욱과 황정음 베드신에.

지난 31일 sbs 월화드라마 자이언트연출 유인식, 이창민 극본 장영철, 정경순 에서 조민우주상욱 분와 이미주황정음 분의 베드신이 방송됐다.. 주상욱, 황정음과의 베드신 관련 김용준에 영상 편지.. 비밀 지성황정음, 드디어 베드신 공개..

지난 13일 방송된 kbs2 드라마 `비밀` 유보라 최호철 극본, 이응복 백상훈 연출 15회에서는 서로의 마음을 확인한 민혁 지성과 유정 황정음이 이별 여행을 떠났고. Kbs 2tv 수목드라마 비밀 지성과 황정음의 베드신이 포착돼 눈길을 끈다, 황정음, 파격 베드신에 연인 김용준 화났다, 지난 13일 방송된 kbs2 드라마 `비밀` 유보라 최호철 극본, 이응복 백상훈 연출 15회에서는 서로의 마음을 확인한 민혁 지성과 유정 황정음이 이별 여행을 떠났고. 지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs.

Kbs 2tv 수목드라마 비밀 지성과 황정음의 베드신이 포착돼 눈길을 끈다. 김용준 황정음, 과거 주상욱과 황정음 베드신에. Kr › news › articleview뉴스에이 모바일 사이트, 비밀 지성+황정음, 베드신.

더쿠 홍장원 여자친구의 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 되지만 그룹 sg워너비 김용준이 공식연인 황정음의 베드신을 어떻게 생각하냐는 질문에 긴 한숨을 내쉬었다. 황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 bnt뉴스. 김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만. 지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs. 하지만 결혼 후 아들을 낳으면서 영화 시나리오에 아동 학대나, 베드신 등이 있으면 아무리 시나리오가 좋아도 거절한다고 한다. 뒷터미널 야동

덴지 마키마 만화 황정음은 리포터의 베드신 방송 후 남자친구 용준씨의 트위터 사진을 봤냐는 말에 김용준의 트위터 사진을 봤다며 당시 김용준이 전화로 왜 그런. 황정음은 베드신이 제일 힘들었다면서 어색해서 죽는 줄 알았다고 밝혔다. 황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 bnt뉴스. 스포츠서울 배우 황정음이 화제인 가운데 과거 방송 모습이 눈길을 끌고 있다. 여자친구의 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 되지만 그룹 sg워너비 김용준이 공식연인 황정음의 베드신을 어떻게 생각하냐는 질문에 긴 한숨을 내쉬었다. 도우시노 일본어

돈키호테 임신 Kr › newscenter › news비밀 지성 황정음, 상처 베드신 가슴 절절한 사랑 결말은. 지난 13일 방송된 kbs2 드라마 `비밀` 유보라 최호철 극본, 이응복 백상훈 연출 15회에서는 서로의 마음을 확인한 민혁 지성과 유정 황정음이 이별 여행을 떠났고. 배우 지성 황정음의 상처 베드신이 화제다. 지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs. 여자친구의 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 되지만 그룹 sg워너비 김용준이 공식연인 황정음의 베드신을 어떻게 생각하냐는 질문에 긴 한숨을 내쉬었다. 두근두근 성희롱 건강진단

드래곤볼야짤 본의 아니게 한 침대에 누운 이들은 서로. 황정음은 베드신이 제일 힘들었다면서 어색해서 죽는 줄 알았다고 밝혔다. 황정음 베드신보고 김용준 뿔났다 bnt뉴스. 주상욱, 황정음과의 베드신 관련 김용준에 영상 편지. 지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs.

데이너 오르도네즈 지난 2012년 9월 방송된 sbs 한밤의 tv연예에는 sbs. 김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만. Kbs 2tv 수목드라마 비밀 지성과 황정음의 베드신이 포착돼 눈길을 끈다. Kr › news › articleview비밀 지성황정음, 심장 터질듯한 가슴 절절 베드신 뭉클 드. 스포츠서울 배우 황정음이 화제인 가운데 과거 방송 모습이 눈길을 끌고 있다.

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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 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 14, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

김용준, 황정음 베드신, 직업적인 부분이라 이해는 하지만., 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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