유이 새 사진 공개에 뱃살 논란 가열될 듯.

노래합니다 📧 비즈니스 문의 yuiyuiyuiyuime@gmail.

Will Human Rights Survive a Trumpian World?

Authoritarian Advances Threaten Rules-Based Order

The global human rights system is in peril. Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed, threatening to take with it the architecture human rights defenders have come to rely on to advance norms and protect freedoms. To defy this trend, governments that still value human rights, alongside social movements, civil society, and international institutions, need to form a strategic alliance to push back.

To be fair, the downward spiral predated Trump’s reelection. The democratic wave that began over 50 years ago has given way to what scholars term a “democratic recession.” Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72 percent of the world’s population now living under autocracy. Russia and China are less free today than 20 years ago. And so is the United States.

Of course, democracy is not a panacea for human rights violations; the US and other longtime democracies have their own histories of colonial crimes, racism, abusive justice systems, and wartime atrocities. More recently, authoritarian leaders have exploited public mistrust and anger to win elections and then dismantled the very institutions that brought them to power. Democratic institutions are crucial to represent the will of the people and keep power in check. It’s no surprise that whenever democracy is undermined, rights are too, as evident in recent years in India, Türkiye, the Philippines, El Salvador, and Hungary.

The Momentum Movement’s parliamentary representative David Bedo and independent member of parliament Akos Hadhazy protest against a law that bans Pride marches in Hungary and imposes fines on organizers and attendees of such events, Budapest, June 5, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 5, 2026.

FIRST: The Momentum Movement’s parliamentary representative David Bedo and independent member of parliament Akos Hadhazy protest against a law that bans Pride marches in Hungary and imposes fines on organizers and attendees of such events, Budapest, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Ozan Köse/AFP via Getty Images

In this context, 2025 may be seen as a tipping point. In just 12 months, the Trump administration has carried out a broad assault on key pillars of US democracy and the global rules-based order, which the US, despite inconsistencies, was, with other states, instrumental in helping to establish.

In short order, Trump’s second-term administration has undermined trust in the sanctity of elections, reduced government accountability, gutted food assistance and healthcare subsidies, attacked judicial independence, defied court orders, rolled back women’s rights, obstructed access to abortion care, undermined remedies for racial harm, terminated programs mandating accessibility for people with disabilities, punished free speech, stripped protections from trans and intersex people, eroded privacy, and used government power to intimidate political opponents, the media, law firms, universities, civil society, and even comedians.

A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 5, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Claiming a risk of “civilizational erasure” in Europe and leaning on racist tropes to cast entire populations as unwelcome in the US, the Trump administration has embraced policies and rhetoric that align with white nationalist ideology. Immigrants and asylum seekers have been subjected to inhumane conditions and degrading treatment; 32 died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2025, and as of mid-January 2026, an additional 4 have died. Masked immigration enforcement agents have targeted people of color, using excessive force, terrorizing communities, wrongfully arresting scores of citizens, and, most recently, unjustifiably killing two people in Minneapolis, whose deaths Human Rights Watch has documented.

A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 5, 2026.
A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

The US president of course has the authority to tighten US borders and enforce stricter immigration policies. The administration is not, however, entitled to deny legal process to asylum seekers, mistreat undocumented migrants, or unlawfully discriminate. In a well-functioning democracy, no electoral mandate should supersede domestic legislation, constitutional protections, or international human rights law. Trump’s team has repeatedly bypassed these guardrails.

The violations have not stopped at the border. The Trump administration used a 1798 law to send hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to an infamous prison in El Salvador, where they were tortured and sexually abused. Its blatantly unlawful strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific extrajudicially killed more than 120 people whom Trump claims were drug traffickers.

After the US attacked Venezuela and apprehended its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump claimed the US would “run” the country and control its vast oil reserves. Despite paying lip service to human rights concerns under Maduro at the United Nations, Trump has worked with the same repressive apparatus to further US interests. Many Western allies have chosen to stay silent about these lawless moves, perhaps fearing erratic tariffs and blowback to their alliances.

Trump’s foreign policy has upended the foundations of the rules-based order that seeks to advance democracy and human rights, even if imperfectly.

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 5, 2026.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Photo

Trump has boasted that he doesn’t “need international law” as a constraint, only his “own morality.” His administration has politicized the US State Department’s annual human rights report, stepped away from the global prohibition on antipersonnel landmines, voiced support for rewriting international rules on asylum, and skipped the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of the US’ human rights record.

His administration withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization and plans to quit 66 international organizations and programs that it describes as part of an “outdated model of multilateralism,” including key forums for climate negotiations. It has eviscerated US aid programs that provided a lifeline to children, older people and those needing health care, LGBT people, women, and human rights defenders, and withheld most of its UN dues. 

Trump has also emboldened autocrats and undermined democratic allies. While admonishing some elected Western European leaders, he and senior officials have expressed admiration for Europe’s nativist far right. He has favored autocrats such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, while continuing decades of US support to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

His administration has unjustifiably imposed sanctions to punish respected Palestinian human rights organizations, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor and many of its judges, a UN special rapporteur, and for several months, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge and his wife.

The institutional response in the US to Trump’s power grabs has been shockingly muted. Much of Congress, controlled by his own party, has not challenged his supercharged expansion of executive power. The leaders of the US’ most powerful technology companies have made significant donations and sought to placate the president. Some big law firms and prestigious universities have made deals rather than assert their independence, and some media organizations seem afraid to attract the president’s ire.

Has the US switched sides on the human rights playing field? While US engagement with human rights institutions has always been selective, China and Russia have long pursued an illiberal agenda. They stand much to gain from a US government that now expresses open hostility to universal rights. China and Russia remain strategic rivals of the US, but all three countries are now led by leaders who share open disdain for norms and institutions that could constrain their power.

Together, they wield considerable economic, military, and diplomatic power. If they were to consistently act as allies of convenience to erode global rules, they could threaten the entire system. Already, a loose international network of countries such as North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar, Cuba, and Belarus work in concert with Russia and China. These leaders share very little ideologically but align in undermining human rights and promoting a regressive international agenda. In word and in practice, the US government is now helping them in this endeavor.

Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 2026. 
A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 5, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Kyodo News via Getty Images; SECOND: A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 5, 2026. © 2022 Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images

The US’ weakening of multilateral institutions also dealt a serious blow to global efforts to prevent or stop grave international crimes. The “never again” movement, born from the horrors of the Holocaust and reignited by the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, spurred the UN General Assembly to embrace the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005. Meant to guide international intervention to prevent and stop atrocities in tandem with efforts to prosecute and punish serious crimes, R2P made a real difference in places like the Central African Republic and Kenya.

Today, R2P is rarely invoked and the ICC is under siege. In addition to Trump’s far-reaching sanctions, in December 2025 a Moscow court sentenced the ICC prosecutor and eight of its judges to prison terms in absentia. Moreover, despite being ICC fugitives, in 2025, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was welcomed by Donald Trump in Alaska, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Hungary, an ICC member state at the time, at Orban’s invitation.

Twenty years ago, the US government and civil society were instrumental in galvanizing a response to mass atrocities in Darfur. Sudan is burning again, but this time under Trump, with relative impunity. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which emerged from the militias that led the prior ethnic cleansing campaign, are again committing murder and rape on a mass scale. A growing body of evidence indicates that the UAE, a longtime US ally that recently made multi-billion-dollar deals with Trump, is providing the RSF with military support.

In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Israeli armed forces have committed acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, killing over 70,000 people since the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel and displacing the vast majority of Gaza’s population. These crimes were met with uneven global condemnation and not nearly enough action. Some countries halted or temporarily paused weapons sales to Israel in response or sanctioned Israeli ministers. Trump, however, continued a long-standing US policy of almost unconditional support to Israel, even as the International Court of Justice is weighing allegations of genocide and has issued binding orders under the Genocide Convention to protect Palestinians’ rights.

Trump announced in February an alarming US plan to transform Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” free of Palestinians, which would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. As implementation of the 20-point Trump peace plan has stalled, the administration has further normalized the dispossession of Palestinians through its failure to publicly protest Israel’s regular killing of those approaching the “yellow line” that now divides Gaza, its ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes, and unlawful restrictions on humanitarian aid.

A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 5, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

In Ukraine, Trump’s peace efforts have consistently downplayed Russia’s responsibility for serious violations. These include indiscriminate bombing, coercing Ukrainians in occupied areas to serve in the Russian military, systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the use of quadcopter drones to hunt and kill civilians. Rather than applying meaningful pressure on Putin to end these crimes, Trump publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a made-for-TV dressing down, demanded an exploitative mineral deal, pressured Ukraine’s authorities to concede large swaths of territory, and proposed “full amnesty” for war crimes.

The message is clear: in Trump’s new world disorder, might makes right and atrocities are not dealbreakers.

노래합니다 📧 비즈니스 문의 yuiyuiyuiyuime@gmail. 걸그룹 애프터스쿨 출신 배우 유이가 과거 자신을 둘러싼 악성 루머로 고통을 받았던 당시를 회상했다. 특히 유이는 뱃살 논란, 거식증에 대한 부분도 허심탄회하게 얘기했다. Ⓒ데일리안 홍효식 기자 걸그룹 애프터스쿨.

그 이유로 유이는 과거 걸그룹 a양 사생활 영상 유출이라는 논란에 a양으로 지목된 사건을 언급했다. Ui가 보컬로이드로서 그렇게 나쁘게 들리지 않아서 정말 혼란스러워. 2020년 6월 6일부터 6월 20일까지 2주간 조재원 과 체지방 빼기 대결을 하였다, 유이는 bang 활동 때 배꼽티를 입었는데 유이 뱃살 논란이 나왔다.

유이 뱃살 논란 고백에 손담비, 나도 거식증 검색어로 나와.

과거 합성 사진 논란에 대한 심경을 밝혔습니다. 유이 새 사진 공개에 뱃살 논란 가열될 듯. 인터뷰유이, 발음 논란에 허심탄회하게 답하다. ‘상류사회’가 7번째 출연작인데, 그간 연기라든지 발음이라든지. 유이, 사생활 영상 유출 논란에 상처모텔 합성 사진 트라우마 bypdc 네이트 연예 한눈에 보는 오늘 방송가요 뉴스 스포츠조선 조윤선 기자 애프터스쿨 출신 유이가 데뷔 초 힘들었던 시간을 고백했다. 소속사 사실무근 아시아투데이 원문 기사전송 20240523 0926 최종수정 20240523 1425 ai챗으로 요약 아라가키 유이 왼쪽와 호시노 겐이 이혼설에 휘말린 가운데 소속사 측이 사실무근임을 밝혔다.
과거 합성 사진 논란에 대한 심경을 밝혔습니다.. 한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 조이뉴스24 이지영 기자배우 유이가 사생활 논란으로 힘들었던 시절을 회상했다.. 8% 감량으로 조재원 승, 김유이 패로 끝났다..
‘하트시그널4′ 유이수가 학교폭력 의혹에 휩싸였다, 한편 12일 방영된 mbc에서 유이는 애프터스쿨 때 뱃살 논란으로 하루 1끼만 먹어 살을 뺐다고 고백했다, 지난 17일 유튜버 유이뿅yuipyon 본명 카와노 유이이하 유이뿅은 일본에서 모든 걸 포기하고 한국으로 맨땅 헤딩하러 온 일본 사람이라는. 2025년 11월 7일에 로블록스 계정 닉네임이 yui_oxoxo 7 로 바뀌고 팬 디스코드의 이름도 도야 서식지에서 유이 서식지로 바뀌는등, 유이로의 복귀가 유력해지고 있다. 박형식은 말할 필요도 없을 만큼 잘했다며 동료에게 후한 점수를 준 유이는 자신에 대해서는 많이 부족했다고 평가했다, 314k followers, 1,262 following, 844 posts 김유이 @ue1124 on instagram ️‍🔥펜타프라임x유이 최최최최저가 마켓 open ️‍🔥.

나 혼자 산다 유이, 거식증 논란 직접 언급아빠나이 화제.

한눈에 보는 오늘 연예가 화제 뉴스 조이뉴스24 이지영 기자배우 유이가 사생활 논란으로 힘들었던 시절을 회상했다, 최근 유이는 뱃살이 붙었다는 논란에 휘말려 있다. Com › @유이_유튜브 › videos유이 yui youtube. 유이수는 지난 23일 자신의 인스타그램에 서울강남경찰서에 명예훼손으로, 어린 나이에 상처를 많이 받았다며 2122세 때였는데 사람들이 이렇게 내 몸에.

Com › @유이_유튜브 › videos유이 yui youtube.. 유이는 데뷔 초 때아닌 루머로 고통받았다면서 사람들..

소속사 사실무근 아시아투데이 원문 기사전송 20240523 0926 최종수정 20240523 1425 ai챗으로 요약 아라가키 유이 왼쪽와 호시노 겐이 이혼설에 휘말린 가운데 소속사 측이 사실무근임을 밝혔다, 유이 유이노출논란 무쇠소녀단2 유이파격의상 유이박주현 박주현화들짝 예능논란 스타일링논쟁 방송가논란 시청자논란 감기걸릴라 유이과감한도전 예능이슈 연예뉴스 방송표현의자유 스타이미지변신 방송가선정성논란 여성예능 연예계화제. 소속사 사실무근 아시아투데이 원문 기사전송 20240523 0926 최종수정 20240523 1425 ai챗으로 요약 아라가키 유이 왼쪽와 호시노 겐이 이혼설에 휘말린 가운데 소속사 측이 사실무근임을 밝혔다.

Com › view › 20250206n39475유이 사생활 영상 유출 의혹, 큰 상처→트라우마&mldr. 차에서 내린 뒤 찝찝한 마음에 유튜브 채널을 확인해본 그는 라이브 영상에서 어렵지 않게 자신의. 특히 유이는 뱃살 논란을 언급하기도 했다, 잡포스트 김지환 기자 배우 유이가 데뷔 초 사생활 합성사진 논란으로 힘들었던 순간을 털어놨다, 유이는 데뷔 초 마스크로 얼굴을 가리고 가족들과 식사할, 이에 그의 돈관리 비법 및 과거가 재조명 받았습니다.

엔터톡 스포티비뉴스배선영 기자 애프터스쿨 출신 배우 유이가 과거 걸그룹 사생활 영상 유출 사건에 휘말렸다고 말했다.

12일 방송된 mbc 예능 나혼자산다에서는 지난해 kbs2 드라마 하나뿐인 내편으로 최고시청률 49. 6일 유튜브 채널 by pdc에는 무쇠소녀단 에이스. 노래합니다 📧 비즈니스 문의 yuiyuiyuiyuime@gmail. 잡포스트 김지환 기자 배우 유이가 데뷔 초 사생활 합성사진 논란으로 힘들었던 순간을 털어놨다, 유이 새 사진 공개에 뱃살 논란 가열될 듯, 1408 youtube 피디씨 by pdc 배우 유이가 데뷔 초 사생활 합성사진 논란으로 힘들었던 순간을 회상했다.

Kr › news › 491324유이 데뷔 초 싸구려 모텔에 내 얼굴 합성해 걸그룹 a양 영상 유, 유이 싸구려 모텔에 얼굴 합성내 인생에 큰 상처로 남아 중앙일보, 12일 방송된 mbc 예능 나혼자산다에서는 지난해 kbs2 드라마 하나뿐인 내편으로 최고시청률 49, 나 혼자 산다 유이, 거식증 논란 직접 언급아빠나이 화제. 가수 겸 배우 유이가 거식증 논란에 대해 직접 밝혔다.

어린 나이에 상처를 많이 받았다며 2122세 때였는데 사람들이 이렇게 내 몸에. Retv 나혼자산다 유이, 뱃살 논란 언급악플에 상처. ‘하트시그널4′ 유이수가 학교폭력 의혹에 휩싸였다. 12일 오후 방송되는 mbc ‘나 혼자 산다’에서는 유이 일상이 전파를 탔다. 유이는 6일 공개된 유튜브 채널 by pdc의 무쇠소녀단.

공개된 영상에서 유이는 데뷔 초에 있었던 사생활 논란을 언급하며 당시 1면에 걸그룹 a의 야한 영상이 떴다는, 헤럴드경제민성기 기자 그룹 애프터스쿨 출신 배우 유이가 과거 사생활 영상 유출 의혹을 언급했다, 6일 공개된 유튜브 채널 by pdc에는 유이가 출연했다. 유이는 6일 공개된 유튜브 채널 by pdc의 무쇠소녀단, 가수 출신 배우 유이가 뱃살 논란에 대해 입을 열었다. 1408 youtube 피디씨 by pdc 배우 유이가 데뷔 초 사생활 합성사진 논란으로 힘들었던 순간을 회상했다.

진실게임 하지원 시간 6일 공개된 유튜브 채널 by pdc에는 유이가 출연했다. 유이 싸구려 모텔에 얼굴 합성내 인생에 큰 상처로 남아 중앙일보. 그 이유로 유이는 과거 걸그룹 a양 사생활 영상 유출이라는 논란에 a양으로 지목된 사건을 언급했다. 유이는 bang 활동 때는 의상이 배꼽티였는데 뱃살 논란이 돼버리니까 어린 나이에 너무 상처를 받았던 거 같다며 그때가 2122살이었는데 사람들이. 그는 뱅 때는 의상이 배꼽티를 입어야 했는데 유이 뱃살 논란이라고 나오니까 어린 나이에 상처를. 지하아이돌 섹스

주여닝 팬더클래스 박형식은 말할 필요도 없을 만큼 잘했다며 동료에게 후한 점수를 준 유이는 자신에 대해서는 많이 부족했다고 평가했다. 19일 재방영된 mbc 나 혼자 산다에서는 유이가 출연해 거식증 루머에 해명하는 모습이 그려졌다. 314k followers, 1,262 following, 844 posts 김유이 @ue1124 on instagram ️‍🔥펜타프라임x유이 최최최최저가 마켓 open ️‍🔥. 상류사회 유이 연기력 논란, 극복해야죠인터뷰. 당시 어린 나이에 상처를 받았고 엄청 울었다고 덧붙였다. 차돈 섭이 디시

지경서 디시 걸그룹 애프터스쿨 출신 배우 유이가 과거 자신을 둘러싼 악성 루머로 고통을 받았던 당시를 회상했다. Retv 나혼자산다 유이, 뱃살 논란 언급악플에 상처. 가수 겸 배우 유이가 거식증 논란에 대해 직접 밝혔다. 유이는 뱃살 논란에 상처받고, 드라마로 넘어가서는 너무 살이 빠졌다, 거식증이란 댓글이 많더라. 공개된 영상 속에서 유이는 피디씨와 함께 낮술을 마시며 속마음을 털어놨다. 집공략 문신

종아리 체벌 트위터 나이도 어려서 눈물도 많이 났다라며 가수에서 드라마로 넘어오면서 왜 이렇게 살이 많이 빠졌냐고 하더라. Retv 나혼자산다 유이, 뱃살 논란 언급악플에 상처. 그룹 애프터스쿨 출신 배우 유이본명 김유진37가 데뷔 초 악의적인 합성사진 때문에 트라우마를 겪었다고 토로했다. 상류사회에서 유이가 맡은 장윤하는 신분을 감추고 재벌 딸이 아니어도 자신을 사랑해 줄 남자를 찾는 여자다. Net › square › 135735867더쿠 인터뷰 ‘상류사회’ 유이 발음 논란, 사실은 앞니가 깨져서&mldr.

진리컴퍼니 흑두 그는 뱅 때는 의상이 배꼽티를 입어야 했는데 유이 뱃살 논란이라고 나오니까 어린 나이에 상처를. 314k followers, 1,262 following, 844 posts 김유이 @ue1124 on instagram ️‍🔥펜타프라임x유이 최최최최저가 마켓 open ️‍🔥. 유이는 데뷔 초 마스크로 얼굴을 가리고 가족들과 식사할. 유이는 bang 활동 때 배꼽티를 입었는데 유이 뱃살 논란이 나왔다. 유이는 데뷔 초 마스크로 얼굴을 가리고 가족들과 식사할.

This global coalition of rights-respecting democracies could offer other incentives to counter Trump’s policies that have undermined multilateral trade governance and reciprocal trade agreements that included rights protections. Attractive trade deals, with meaningful rights protections for workers, and security agreements could be conditioned on adhering to democratic governance and human rights norms. Democracy already comes with benefits. While autocracies have generally fostered conflict, economic stagnation, or kleptocracy, as evidenced in multiple academic studies, including the work of the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, democratic institutions reliably yield economic growth. 

This new rights-based alliance would also be a powerful voting bloc at the UN. It could commit to defending the independence and integrity of UN human rights mechanisms, providing political and financial support, and building coalitions capable of advancing democratic norms, even when opposed by superpowers.

Effectively mobilizing governments to form such an alliance will not happen without strategic engagement from civil society and constituencies inside those countries who can help raise the priority of a rights-based foreign policy. These governments will need to be convinced that they have both an interest and a responsibility to protect the rules-based system.

Projects of this nature are bubbling up. Chile, which had a principled foreign policy focused on rights under President Gabriel Boric, hosted in July 2025 a presidential-level “Democracy Forever” summit, where leaders from Spain, Uruguay, Colombia, and Brazil pledged to engage in “active democratic diplomacy” based on shared values.

The Hague Group, led by Malaysia, South Africa, and Colombia, formed in January 2025 in “defense of international law” and in solidarity with Palestinians. Over 70 countries from all regions signed a joint statement defending multilateralism at the UN. Earlier, in 2017, former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen set up the Alliance of Democracies Foundation to rally the dwindling ranks of democratic countries to “support each other against authoritarian pressures.”

Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 5, 2026.
Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Pierre Crom/Getty Images

Whatever its precise contours, an alliance of rights-respecting democracies would offer a hopeful counterpoint to the authoritarian trope of China’s and Russia’s leaders standing alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, observing military hardware in a parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in September. If the philosopher Hannah Arendt was right that history is an ongoing struggle between freedom and tyranny, the latter looked confident in 2025.

Yet, even in the worst of times, the idea of freedom and human rights is enduring. People power remains an engine for change. In the US, “No Kings” marches have drawn millions, protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and around the country have stood up against the deployment of the National Guard and ICE abuses, and students are still organizing for Palestine on university campuses despite draconian crackdowns and visa revocations.

Buoyed by popular resistance, South Korean parliamentarians impeached their president to prevent him from grabbing power through martial law. Grassroots aid efforts by Sudan’s emergency response rooms, Hong Kong’s fire relief, Sri Lanka’s cyclone relief community kitchens, and Ukrainian mutual aid and solidarity collectives represent the best of this trend.

Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 5, 2026. 
Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 5, 2026.  © 2025 Lynsey Addario/Getty Images

In 2025, Gen Z protests against corruption, inadequate public services, and poor governance in Nepal, Indonesia, and Morocco brought to the forefront the need for governments to listen to their youth and tackle corruption and inequality. But as the difficulties of restoring rights in Bangladesh after years under an authoritarian government illustrates, gains won through public mobilization can easily be lost unless democratic participation and free expression remain unassailable.

In this more hostile world, civil society is more critical than ever. It’s also increasingly endangered, particularly in an environment where funding is scarce. In 2025, Human Rights Watch was labeled “undesirable” and banned from operating in Russia. For partners in Egypt, Hong Kong, and India, these tactics are all too familiar. Restrictions on civil society and protest have become more commonplace in Europe, including the UK and France. And now, for the first time, many worry about risks associated with their operational presence in the US, where the Open Society Foundations, a major donor, have already been threatened, and the administration is preparing a list of “domestic terrorists” under overbroad guidance that could be interpreted to include the work of many progressive groups.

Breaking the authoritarian wave and standing up for human rights is a generational challenge. In 2026, it will play out most acutely in the US, with far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world. Fighting back will require a determined, strategic, and coordinated reaction from voters, civil society, multilateral institutions, and rights-respecting governments around the globe.

Header captions
FIRST: A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" as US marines and national guard protect the entrance of a federal building during the "No Kings" protest following US immigration operations, in Los Angeles, California, on June 5, 2026.
© 2025 Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: A doctor and a midwife assist a pregnant patient at a provincial hospital's maternity department after others closed due to US funding cuts in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Elise Blanchard/Getty Images; THIRD: Sebastian Lai, son of businessman and outspoken critic of the Chinese government, Jimmy Lai, speaks during a press conference outside Downing Street in London on June 5, 2026. © 2025 Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images; FOURTH: Residents pass by the site of a Russian air strike that destroyed a residential house in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, June 5, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

유이 새 사진 공개에 뱃살 논란 가열될 듯., 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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