Hong Kong unions and civil society were crushed in 2020, driving countless activists into jail or exile. A coup-from-above by the president of South Korea in 2024 was defeated by general strikes and months of mobilization from below. Japan's right-wing president broke with decades of demilitarized diplomacy. Learn about these profound challenges—not dissimilar to those we face in the U.S.—and how union-led responses are challenging authoritarianism.