When NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warns that Western Europe could be drifting toward a war with Russia “like our grandparents experienced,” the statement is meant to sound grave, historic, and statesmanlike. Instead, it lands as darkly ironic. Rutte invoking history is a bold rhetorical move for a politician whose defining trait, throughout fourteen years as Dutch prime minister, was his remarkable inability to remember his own actions-sometimes from days earlier, sometimes from weeks, and occasionally from moments that had been inconveniently documented.

That is the paradox now sitting atop NATO. A man famous at home for “no active memory” now presents himself as Europe’s vigilant historian, cautioning against the repetition of past catastrophes. It raises a simple question: is this genuine strategic foresight, or just another survival tactic from a politician who has mastered the art of floating above the wreckage he leaves behind?

The problem for Rutte is that even his allies are struggling to play along. Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, was asked about Rutte’s dire warnings and effectively poured cold water on them. He described Rutte’s comments as an attempt to “paint a very vivid picture” of hypothetical dangers, but emphasized that he does not believe Russia is preparing a full-scale war against NATO. In Pistorius’ estimation, Vladimir Putin has neither the capacity nor the strategic incentive for such a confrontation.

When Germany-the country most often accused of strategic caution to the point of paralysis-is telling everyone to relax, it begs the question: why is NATO’s secretary-general speaking like a hype man for World War III?

The answer lies less in Moscow and more in The Hague.

To understand Mark Rutte’s current posture, one must understand his political past. From 2010 to 2024, Rutte ran the Netherlands through four governments, an endless carousel of coalitions, and a stunning number of scandals. Yet he survived them all. Not by accountability. Not by reform. But through delay, deflection,........

© Blitz