TRENTO, Italy — Human rights advocate and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Tawakkol Karman has issued a stark warning over the accelerating global resurgence of authoritarianism, the proliferation of armed militias, and the growing dominance of brute force over international law and universal human rights principles.

She described the current international landscape as a dangerous transition away from a rules-based order toward a system increasingly governed by unilateral coercion, geopolitical predation, and the unchecked exercise of power.

Speaking during a session titled “The Age of Predators” at the 2026 Trento Festival of Economics in Italy, Karman situated these developments within the context of ongoing crises and armed conflicts in Yemen, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, and Iran. She stressed that these conflicts should not be viewed as isolated or temporary disturbances, but rather as interconnected manifestations of a deeper systemic crisis in which justice, accountability, and human dignity are steadily eroded while narrow political interests, geopolitical rivalries, and the global arms trade continue to expand unchecked.

The “Age of Predators”
Karman characterized the present historical moment as an “Age of Predators,” defined by the consolidation of authoritarian rule, the normalization of protracted wars, widening socioeconomic inequality, and the gradual disintegration of moral and legal restraints within the international system.

She warned against accepting a global order founded upon domination and coercion, arguing that such a trajectory risks reducing international relations to a primitive struggle governed solely by power rather than law, ethics, or shared human responsibility.

Karman explained that the title of the session reflects the increasingly harsh binary imposed upon societies worldwide: the choice between becoming either predator or victim. Yet she firmly rejected the inevitability of that dichotomy, insisting that humanity remains capable of constructing an alternative international order rooted in justice, cooperation, freedom, and the equal dignity of all peoples.

The essential imperative is not to choose between predation and submission, but to choose humanity itself, she said, emphasizing that peoples retain the capacity to overcome the logic of domination and to build a more equitable and humane global order.

Religion as an Instrument of Oppression
Karman identified the political exploitation of religion as one of the most dangerous tools employed by authoritarian systems to legitimize repression, incite hatred, justify violence, and suppress popular sovereignty.

She argued that this phenomenon is neither geographically confined nor culturally exclusive, but rather a transnational pattern observable across multiple political contexts.

According to Karman, Arab authoritarian regimes have historically manipulated religious discourse to undermine democratic aspirations and individual freedoms. At the same time, she noted that comparable patterns have emerged in parts of the West — particularly in the United States — where religious narratives and scriptural interpretations have at times been invoked to rationalize military occupation, violence, and civilian massacres.

She stressed that the fundamental problem does not lie in religion itself, but in its systematic instrumentalization for projects of domination and authoritarian consolidation. At their ethical core, she said, religious traditions were founded upon principles of mercy, justice, peace, and the inherent dignity of human beings.

Toward a More Equitable Globalization
On economic issues, Karman warned of the accelerating gap between rich and poor both within nations and across the international system. She attributed much of this disparity to a prevailing model of globalization that has enabled a narrow elite to accumulate extraordinary wealth while leaving entire societies trapped in structural marginalization, poverty, and exclusion.

Karman clarified that her criticism does not amount to a rejection of globalization itself, but rather a call for its reconstruction on fairer and more inclusive foundations. In her view, globalization should ensure a more equitable distribution of development, opportunity, and collective wealth rather than concentrating resources in the hands of a privileged minority.

She argued that economic profit must remain inseparably linked to ethical responsibility and social obligation, with tangible investments directed toward healthcare, education, infrastructure, and improved living standards.

Karman also delivered a pointed critique of what she described as “predatory capitalism,” warning that it enriches the wealthy while deepening the suffering of the poor, eroding the middle class, and reducing human beings to disposable units within impersonal economic systems.

Yemen as a Paradigmatic Case
Connecting these broader themes to Yemen, Karman presented the country as a paradigmatic example of political and regional predation.

She stated that Yemenis sought to establish a democratic state founded upon freedom, justice, and equal citizenship through their peaceful revolution and subsequent democratic transition process following the 2011 uprising. However, she argued that this trajectory was systematically undermined by regional interventions and competing geopolitical agendas determined to prevent the consolidation of a successful democratic model in the region.

Karman emphasized that populations across the Middle East continue to endure conflicts that extend beyond national boundaries, driven by overlapping regional and international interventions aimed at controlling strategic resources, preserving spheres of influence, and maintaining societies in conditions of dependency, authoritarianism, and chronic instability.

Rejection of Foreign Military Intervention
Addressing developments related to Iran, Karman drew a principled distinction between the Iranian regime and the Iranian people. She affirmed her solidarity with the aspirations of the Iranian people for freedom, democracy, and the dismantling of authoritarian structures.

At the same time, she firmly rejected foreign military intervention as a legitimate pathway to liberation, citing the experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan as clear evidence that external military force does not produce genuine democratic transformation but instead generates prolonged instability, fragmentation, and new cycles of violence.

A Future Shaped by Peoples
Despite the growing influence of authoritarianism, militarization, and economic exploitation, Karman expressed cautious optimism about the future, pointing to what she described as an expanding global consciousness — particularly among younger generations — that increasingly rejects tyranny, predatory economic systems, and systematic injustice.

She said that a widening global constituency continues to defend freedom, human dignity, and democratic values despite mounting political pressures and international instability.

For Karman, the defining struggle of the coming era will not be a contest between predators and victims, but a collective effort to reclaim humanity’s moral foundations and rebuild an international order grounded in justice, coexistence, and respect for human dignity.

Karman concluded by affirming that the triumph of freedom and justice remains possible provided that peoples unite around the conviction that building a more peaceful and equitable world is not an abstract ideal, but an urgent and shared human responsibility.