The Dutch are voting again. No big deal, you may well say. Recently, they do so boringly often, and, anyhow, the Netherlands is a small country with a rapidly aging population of barely 18 million and – notwithstanding some scattered colonial hangovers in the Caribbean – decidedly minor-league geopolitical oomph.

But there are excellent reasons to pay attention, nonetheless. Look closer and what happens in the windy lowlands north-west of Germany reflects key trends in a NATO-EU Europe – the Vassal West, we can collectively call it – in deepening crisis.

What’s immediately at stake in the Netherlands at this moment are the 150 seats of the second – and much more important – chamber of parliament, the House of Representatives. Its composition determines which governments (in essence, always coalitions) can function. Bloomberg has predicted that the election will not deliver a clear result and usher in more rule by caretaker government. The Financial Times has forecast a swing back to the center, that is, in reality the Dutch iterations of the German Greens and Christian Democrats, who have vowed, German “firewall”-style, not to enter into a coalition with the new/“populist” right PVV party of well-known/notorious Geert Wilders. Tellingly, love him or hate him, Wilders is the only Dutch politician with easy international name recognition apart from cringeworthy NATO figurehead and Trump toady extraordinaire Mark Rutte.

One way or the other, on the eve of the election, the Washington Post foresees a “knife-edge result” followed by months of coalition building, and for a Dutch expert as well the election is “too close to call.” Another grating period of dysfunctional and frustrating deadlock may perhaps be avoided this time – or not.

Regarding the uncanny Dutch knack for reflecting the general malaise of the Vassal West, even the origins of this election echo two severe failures now typical........

© RT.com