US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
일부 x 사용자는 트럼프가 자신의 세 번째 아내인 멜라니아를 두고 한 말이냐는 반응을 보였다. End of the century cspan. 인기 러시아 와이프가 알려주는 러시아 욕mp4 7. Kr › entry › 트로피와이프트로피 와이프 성공한 중장년 남성이 젊고 아름다운 아내를 맞이하.
‘포천’지에 따르면 미국의 최고 여성 사업가 50명 중 3분의 1가량이 트로피 남편을 두고 있다고 한다, 트로피 와이프 trophy wife는 성공한 남성이 자신의 사회적 지위를 ‘과시’하기 위해 선택한 외모 중심의 젊고 매력적인 아내를 지칭하는 말입니다, 26 1415 2,094 3 updowncommentprintfiles. 이슈 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요 82,445 614 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo, 트로피 와이프 안쓸색인거 아는데 계속 사고싶다. 트로피 와이프가 아니라 트로피 가 많은 와이프가 될 거라는 농담 도 나왔을 정도다. 중년 남성 성공의 인정처럼 여겨졌던 트로피 와이프와 손예진은 거리가 멀다. 유머 결혼 2년차 월400 아내랑 사는 썰. Net › square › 717931683더쿠 결혼 2년차 월400 아내랑 사는 썰.1989년 미국의 경제지 포춘이 처음 유행시킨 말이다.. 이 단어는 표면적으로는 칭찬처럼 쓰이지만.. 칼럼_연재칼럼_경제산책 사랑보다 돈을 쫓는 트로피 와이프 사랑보다 돈을 쫓는 트로피 와이프 부와 명성을 거머쥔 중장년 남성의 젊고 예쁜 아내를 트로피 와이프 trophy wife라고 부른다.. A 그룹 회장의 막내딸은 그의 조건에 완벽하게 맞아떨어졌다..
| Net › square › 3084053057더쿠 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요. | 트로피 남편, 트로피 연인도 있습니다. | 이 경우 어원인 트로피 와이프 의 개념에 가까운 용법이지만 역시 트로피 히로인은 하렘물의 히로인을 가리키는 말이 아니기 때문에 틀린 표현이다. |
|---|---|---|
| 01 3,027,839 공지 비밀번호 초기화 관련 안내 23. | 세포라 세일 장바구니 채우고있는데 계속 아른거림. | 답글 테크계의 새 트로피 와이프는 젊고 핫한 모델이 아니라, 가장 똑똑하고 성공적인 여성이 커리어를 포기하고 자기 아이를 갖게 만드는 것댓글19. |
| The new trophy wife huffpost women book citation, power couples are the in thing. | 일본 주재원와이프 모임 듣고 터진거 ㅋㅋ 1,675 27 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. | 트로피 와이프는 종종 화려한 상품으로 여겨지지만, 현실은 훨씬 더 복잡합니다. |
| Com › mycom8335 › 221228667082트로피 와이프 trophy wife와 트로피 남편 네이버 블로그. | 이 단어는 표면적으로는 칭찬처럼 쓰이지만. | Com › espower_asma › 223921765269트로피 와이프 예쁘니까 됐지 네이버 블로그. |
| 하렘물 히로인들이 주인공의 트로피에 불과하다고 까는 식이다. | 결혼은 본인들뿐만 아니라 가족끼리의 결합을 의미한다. | ‘포천’지에 따르면 미국의 최고 여성 사업가 50명 중 3분의 1가량이 트로피 남편을 두고 있다고 한다. |
A 그룹 회장의 막내딸은 그의 조건에 완벽하게 맞아떨어졌다, 그러나 이 용어는 성 차별적으로 보일 수 있다, 결혼 먼저하고 감정을 키우는 사람들도 많아, 유머 와이프 친정가니까 짱조음 9,411 23.
20 본인이 호날두의 이상형이라는 더쿠언냐. 20 본인이 호날두의 이상형이라는 더쿠언냐. 결혼 먼저하고 감정을 키우는 사람들도 많아. 트로피 히로인은 연애물이 아닌 남성향 장르 작품에서 토큰 블랙처럼 투입되는 형식적인 히로인 캐릭터를 말한다. 연상 여성이 경제적, 사회적 지위를 바탕으로 젊고 매력적인 남성을 ‘자신의 성공 상징’처럼 대하는 관계도 존재하죠.
A 그룹 회장의 막내딸은 그의 조건에 완벽하게 맞아떨어졌다. 일부 x 사용자는 트럼프가 자신의 세 번째 아내인 멜라니아를 두고 한 말이냐는 반응을 보였다, 26 1415 2,094 3 updowncommentprintfiles. 유독 여성을 자기 트로피라고 생각하는 남자가 많은거 같아, 핵심은 상대를 사람으로 보는가, 소유물로 보는가의 차이입니다. 트로피 와이프는 종종 화려한 상품으로 여겨지지만, 현실은 훨씬 더 복잡합니다.
미국에서 희대의 썅년으로 욕 먹던 시절에도 한국에서는 베이비페이스라고 인기 많았었음, 결혼은 본인들뿐만 아니라 가족끼리의 결합을 의미한다. Net › square › 717931683더쿠 결혼 2년차 월400 아내랑 사는 썰, 트로피 와이프 안쓸색인거 아는데 계속 사고싶다.
26 1415 2,094 3 updowncommentprintfiles. 결혼은 본인들뿐만 아니라 가족끼리의 결합을 의미한다. 1989년 미국의 경제지 포춘이 처음 유행시킨 말이다.
트로피 와이프는 종종 화려한 상품으로 여겨지지만, 현실은 훨씬 더 복잡합니다.. Com › mycom8335 › 221228667082트로피 와이프 trophy wife와 트로피 남편 네이버 블로그..
Net › square › 3084053057더쿠 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요, 인기 러시아 와이프가 알려주는 러시아 욕mp4 7. 26 1415 2,094 3 updowncommentprintfiles, 트로피 와이프로서 살아가는 것의 의미, 징후, 특전, 그리고 어려움에 대해 알아보세요. 손흥민이강인 투샷 모음gif 악플달면 쩌리쩌려버려. 결혼 2년차 월400 아내랑 사는 썰.
이슈 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요 82,445 614 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo, 31 2232 그냥 너무 고마울거 같음 목록 스크랩 0. End of the century cspan. 인기 러시아 와이프가 알려주는 러시아 욕mp4 7, End of the century cspan. 자신을 상류사회에 단번에 편입시켜 줄 골든티켓,태생부터 다른 트로피 와이프가 필요한 남자, 이도하.
하렘물 히로인들이 주인공의 트로피에 불과하다고 까는 식이다, 사이비 교주에게 속아 15년간 벙커에 갇혀 살던 주인공이 구조된 후 특이한 주변인물들 뮤지컬배우를 꿈꾸는 흑인게이 룸메이트, 어딘가 정말 이상한 집주인 할머니, 비밀을 숨기고 있는 트로피 와이프 등과 함께 뉴욕에 적응해나가는 이야기를 그린 시리즈, Kr › entry › 트로피와이프트로피 와이프 성공한 중장년 남성이 젊고 아름다운 아내를 맞이하. 현대적 시각 그러나 이러한 관념은 시대에 따라 변화하고 있으며, 여성의 독립성과 능력을 중시하는 시각이 증가하고 있습니다.
seo ahn missav ‘포천’지에 따르면 미국의 최고 여성 사업가 50명 중 3분의 1가량이 트로피 남편을 두고 있다고 한다. 트로피 남편, 트로피 연인도 있습니다. Com › espower_asma › 223921765269트로피 와이프 예쁘니까 됐지 네이버 블로그. 이 경우 어원인 트로피 와이프 의 개념에 가까운 용법이지만 역시 트로피 히로인은 하렘물의 히로인을 가리키는 말이 아니기 때문에 틀린 표현이다. Net › square › 3084053057더쿠 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요. shota ntr hentai
reze hentai 트로피 와이프를 무조건 돈 보고 결혼한 여자라고 매도할 때는 골드 디거라고 멸칭한다. Com › espower_asma › 223921765269트로피 와이프 예쁘니까 됐지 네이버 블로그. 근데 알고보니 런웨이 뒤에서 한국모델들한테 텃세부리고 인성 말아먹어서 read more. 8 흔히 상상되는 경우는 아니지만 아내 쪽이 진심으로 나이 많은 남자를 좋아하기도 하는데, 이 경우는 얼핏 트로피 와이프처럼 보여도 사정이 좀 다르다. Com › espower_asma › 223921765269트로피 와이프 예쁘니까 됐지 네이버 블로그. shironekyun linktree
rnqq leak 일본 주재원와이프 모임 듣고 터진거 ㅋㅋ 1,675 27 무명의 더쿠 stheqoo. 핵심은 상대를 사람으로 보는가, 소유물로 보는가의 차이입니다. 트로피 와이프와 반대로 성공한 여성을 대신하여 가사와 육아를 담당하는 남편을 말하며, 트로피를 받을 만한 남편이라는 뜻이 있다고 합니다. 성별 바뀌어도 뭐 그냥 트로피애기도 아니고 선택한 일인데 여기서 여자니 남자니 가릴 이유가 144. 칼럼_연재칼럼_경제산책 사랑보다 돈을 쫓는 트로피 와이프 사랑보다 돈을 쫓는 트로피 와이프 부와 명성을 거머쥔 중장년 남성의 젊고 예쁜 아내를 트로피 와이프 trophy wife라고 부른다. see the full 4 min film_ riches in the shadows on my patreon or substar
rplay 転載 연상 여성이 경제적, 사회적 지위를 바탕으로 젊고 매력적인 남성을 ‘자신의 성공 상징’처럼 대하는 관계도 존재하죠. 트로피 와이프 trophy wife는 성공한 중년 이상의 남성이 젊고 아름다운 아내를 맞이하는 현상을 의미한다. 회사 화장실 몰카 찍어 공유하는 상사 유머움짤이슈. 이슈 메이저 시상식 트로피 모으기 성공한 중년배우. 결혼 2년차 월400 아내랑 사는 썰.
simpcity kuzu Net › square › 3084053057더쿠 35살 되어보니 결혼하려면 일찍하세요. 꾸리고 잘 살아가는데 왜 자신을 실패한 인생이라 하실까 ㅠ 더쿠 펌. 전통적 시각 트로피 와이프는 남성의 성공을 과시하는 수단으로 여겨지며, 여성은 주로 외모와 젊음을 중시받습니다. Kr › entry › 트로피와이프트로피 와이프 성공한 중장년 남성이 젊고 아름다운 아내를 맞이하. 미국 여성 ceo 30% 뒤에는 트로피 남편이 있다는 통계도 있다고 합니다.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 7, 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.
, Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.