“Love many. Trust a few. Always paddle your own canoe.” This was the advice former British army medic Keith had for us – a group of journalists who were training on what to do when stuck in a crisis situation. Keith was talking about the importance of taking care of your own grab bag with medical supplies if we were ever in a war zone and needed to evacuate in the middle of the night.
As European democracies navigate rising global tensions and domestic upheavals—including the recent collapse of the Dutch government—this old wisdom might serve them as a compass for rethinking their alliances and global role.
A Region Awakened
Europe has endured five years of cascading crises: a pandemic that shattered supply chains, a grinding war in Ukraine that redrew strategic maps, and now, a transatlantic relationship more strained than at any point since the Cold War. The re-election of a confrontational US administration has created a divide across the Atlantic, as American democracy itself wrestles with internal dysfunction.
Closer to home, domestic political systems are showing signs of wear. The Netherlands—once a beacon of liberal stability—now faces the second governmental collapse in less than two years; a collapse born of internal fractures and waning public trust. The crisis highlights a broader trend: European politics finds itself in a volatile phase, forcing hard conversations about sovereignty, security, and identity.
Gone is the post-Cold War illusion of perpetual peace and economic growth. Today, European leaders speak the language of resilience, self-reliance, and strategic diversification. And with the United States increasingly viewed as an unreliable partner, eyes are turning east—to India.
