End of the affair: How Trump blindsided Davos and shattered the Western alliance

In Davos, Rutte was the only one capable of playing that role - not Macron, von der Leyen or even [Finnish president Alexander] Stubb," says Oana Lungescu, a former NATO spokesperson and now senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). "Rutte doesn't have elections or domestic agendas to consider, he doesn't have to grandstand on social media to boost his personal ratings, he can be the honest broker looking for pragmatic solutions...Europeans are getting more capable but still can't defend themselves without the Americans at least for the next five to ten years...So, we need to see a major and urgent rebalancing in the alliance, including some front-loading of defence investment and ramp up of defence industrial production."