Defending Democracy in a ‘Topsy-Turvy’ World

Secretary General of CIVICUS, Mandeep Tiwana, at International Civil Society Week 2025.

It is a bleak global moment — with civil society actors battling assassinations, imprisonment, fabricated charges, and funding cuts to pro-democracy movements in a world gripped by inequality, climate chaos, and rising authoritarianism. Yet, the mood at Bangkok’s Thammasat University was anything but defeated.

Once the site of the 1976 massacre, where pro-democracy students were brutally crushed, the campus — a “hallowed ground” for civil society actors — echoed with renewed voices calling for the defence of democracy in what Mandeep Tiwana, Secretary-General of CIVICUS, described as a “topsy-turvy world” facing rising authoritarianism. It served as a poignant reminder that even in places scarred by repression, the struggle for civic space endures.

“Let it resonate,” said Ichal Supriadi, Secretary-General of the Asian Democracy Network. “Democracy must be defended together,” he added, stressing the “shared strength” needed to confront authoritarianism.

Despite the hopeful spirit at Thammasat University, where the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) is underway, discussions often turned to sobering realities. Dr. Gothom Arya of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development and the Peace and Culture Foundation reminded participants that civic freedoms are being curtailed across much of the world.

Citing alarming figures, he spoke bluntly of the global imbalance in priorities — noting how military expenditure continues to soar even as civic space shrinks. He referred to the United States’ Department of Defense as the “Ministry of War,” comparing its USD 968 billion military budget with China’s USD 3 billion, and highlighting that spending on the war in Ukraine had increased tenfold in just three years — a stark illustration of misplaced global priorities. “This is where we are with respect to peace and war,” he said gloomily.

At another session, similar reflections set the tone for a broader critique of global power dynamics. Walden Bello, a former senator and peace activist from the Philippines, argued that the United States — especially under the Trump administration — had abandoned even the pretence of a free-market system, replacing it with what he called “overt monopolistic hegemony.” American imperialism, he said, “has graduated away from camouflage attempts and is now unapologetic in demanding that the world bend to its wishes.”

Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, a Pakistani physicist and author, echoed the sentiment, expressing outrage at his own country’s leadership. He condemned Pakistan’s decision to nominate a “psychopath, habitual liar, and aggressive warmonger” for the Nobel Peace Prize, saying the leadership had “no right to barter away minerals and rare earth materials to an American dictator” without public consent.

Hoodbhoy urged the international community to intervene and restart peace talks between Pakistan and India — two nuclear-armed neighbours perpetually teetering on the brink of renewed conflict.

Throughout the day, speakers also drew attention to ongoing humanitarian crises. Arya reminded the audience of the tragic loss of civilian lives in Gaza, the devastating fighting in Sudan that has caused widespread malnutrition, and the global inequality worsened by climate inaction. “Because some big countries refused to follow the Paris Agreement ten years ago,” he warned, “the rest of the world will suffer the consequences.”

That grim reality was underscored by Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, a Palestinian physician and politician, who gave a harrowing account of Gaza’s devastation. He said that through the use of American-supplied weapons, Israel had killed an estimated 12 percent of Gaza’s population, destroyed every hospital and university, and left nearly 10,000 bodies buried beneath the rubble.

Despite these crises, the conference demonstrated that civil society continues to persevere. Nearly 1,000 people from more than 75 organisations overcame travel bans and visa hurdles to gather at Thammasat University, sharing strategies, solidarity, and hope through over 120 sessions.

Among them was a delegation representing Afghanistan’s embattled civic space — the HAMRAH Initiative — believed to be the only Afghan civil society group at ICSW.

“Our participation is important at a time when much of the world has turned its gaze away from Afghanistan,” said Timor Sharan, co-founder and programme director of the HAMRAH Initiative. “It is vital to remind the global community that Afghan civil society has not disappeared; it’s fighting and holding the line.”

Through networks like HAMRAH, he explained, activists, educators, and defenders have continued running secret and online schools, documenting abuses, and amplifying the voices of those silenced under Taliban rule. “Our presence here is both a statement of resilience and a call for solidarity.”

“Visibility matters,” said Riska Carolina, an Indonesian LGBTIQ+ rights advocate with the ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC). “What’s even more powerful is being visible together.”

“It was special because it brought together movements — Dalit, Indigenous, feminist, disability, and queer — that rarely share the same space, creating room for intersectional democracy to take shape,” added Carolina, whose work focuses on regional advocacy for LGBTQIA+ rights within Southeast Asia’s human rights framework.

She emphasised that SOGIESC (Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics) inclusion must be seen not as a niche issue but as a core part of democracy, governance, and human rights. “That means engaging governments, civil society, and regional bodies to ensure queer people’s participation, safety, and dignity are part of how we measure democratic progress,” she said.

The ICSW, she added, offered ASC a platform to highlight the link between civic space, democracy, and queer liberation — reminding participants that democracy is not only about elections but also about “who is able to live freely and who remains silenced by law or stigma.”

Away from the main sessions, civil society leaders gathered for a candid huddle — part reflection, part reckoning — to examine their role in an era when their space to act is shrinking.

“The dialogue surfaced some tough but necessary questions,” one participant said. “Have we grasped the full scale of the challenges we face? Are our responses strong enough? Are we expecting anti-rights forces to respect our rules and values? Are we reacting instead of setting the agenda? And are we allies — or accomplices — of those risking everything for justice?”

If one message was clear by the end of the day, it was that civil society must remain united, not fragmented, to defend democracy.