War mongers, professional soldiers, weapon industries, arms dealers, smugglers, and criminals around the world are having a field day. The wars and conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and Syria are just begging for the import of weaponry, the testing of new equipment, and the execution of planning strategies. At the same time, the obsession with personal weapons, predominantly but not exclusively in the United States, is not diminishing.

Politicians have played their part by generously supplying arms to their counterparts in faraway countries, even those involved in genocide. But producing weapons at an ever-accelerating level can only expand current conflicts or generate new ones. Continuing on such a path is the equivalent of a dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the geopolitical arena, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to fight Hamas and Hezbollah militants, including children as young as two years old. Donald Trump is planning his war against migrants, while simultaneously preparing measures to teach China, the EU, and NATO some lessons about economics. What China is going to do next is not clear, but NATO, now led by former Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, is all for more armaments, warning Europeans that Putin wants a bigger conflict somewhere on their soil. In his speech in Brussels on December 12, Rutte said it is “time to prepare ourselves mentally for war.” He also called on citizens of countries in the alliance to actively “urge banks and pension funds to invest in the defense industry” for the purposes not of attack, but of deterrence.

Arms Race

An arms race is in full swing and not for the first time. As Carlo Rovelli notes in The Guardian,

As the war cry on both sides intensified, a young Albert Einstein, together with the astronomer Wilhelm Foerster, physiologist Georg Friedrich Nicolai and philosopher Otto Buek, signed a Manifesto to the Europeans, inviting scholars and artists, “those of whom one should expect such convictions,” to speak against the escalation, think in terms of a common culture, transcend nationalist passions and call for a “union of Europeans” to prevent Europe from perishing in a “fratricidal war.” Few listened. Europe sank into the catastrophes of the two world wars.

Rovelli continues to describe the current geopolitical power struggle of hostile rhetoric, arms buildup, and trade tensions. “Militaristic choices, cloaked under hypocritical rhetoric, are forestalling a more sober discussion,” he writes. “We are not risking the deaths of 20 million people: we risk total nuclear winter.”

According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports, top arms-producing and military services companies are doing very well, with United States at the top.  In Europe, The European Defense Fund (EDF) supports companies across member states to develop competitive and collaborative defense projects that will deliver innovative and interoperable defense technologies and equipment. It offers support and advice to participants throughout the entire cycle of research and development. The Fund has a budget of nearly 8 billion euros for 2021-2027, with 2.7 billion euros allocated for collaborative defense research and 5.3 billion euros for collaborative capability development projects that complement national contributions.

It is anybody’s guess if Trump and Putin are in contact and, if so, what they are speaking about. However, the Dutch Ministry of Defense is implying that Putin is the one who will attack. To that end, the ministry has declared that it will

work with our partners to provide the deterrent capability needed to keep Russia and other adversaries at bay… To ensure the security of the Netherlands, we will invest heavily in our contribution to the NATO alliance. The army will once again have its own tanks, the air force will receive additional F-35s and the navy will take delivery of additional frigates for anti-submarine warfare. The military police will also be strengthened, and the Ministry of Defence will structurally allocate an additional EUR 260 million to attract and retain personnel. It will also invest in innovation and the defence industry to boost and sustain the production of military equipment.

Part of the aforementioned 260 million euros designed to “attract personnel” went to the production of a promotion video that appeared on Dutch TV. It is a call for enlistment into the armed forces. In this short video, young, fit, self-assured, and smiling people in ironed uniforms are moving around in sunny, exotic places. The producers of the video left out the images of the miserable and scared Dutch soldiers in the UN compound near Srebrenica. They’d been sent to the war poorly instructed and ill-equipped and were at the mercy of Serbian paramilitary troops. Such images of the reality and brutality of war would not have been inviting.

Cuts in Education

The ENF offers support and advice to participants throughout the entire R & D cycle. But it seems that the new Dutch government doesn’t like academic research. Already in May this year, it announced plans to slash a billion euros from the higher education budget, including 300 million euros from its international education budget, which supports international students. The goal is to limit the number of international students in the country, reduce overcrowding in universities and colleges, and restrict English-taught courses in Dutch universities, which the education minister argues put “the Dutch language under pressure.”

The cuts, which added up to $2 billion euros over all, include plans to scratch PhD grants for teachers and reduce funding for scientific infrastructure and the innovation budget, specifically the National Growth Fund. Yarin Eski, an associate professor at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, has predicted that social science programs will be hit hardest, due to what he said was the right-wing government’s “suspicion of disciplines that study racism, colonialism, and gender politics.” And all of this will inevitably lead to the closure of courses, research projects, and a huge reduction in the range of education programs on offer.

“This affects not only our students and staff but also the future of the Netherlands as a whole,” says Anton Pijpers at the University of Utrecht. “Universities play a crucial role in addressing societal challenges, such as research into new medicines, food security, clean drinking water, quality education, animal welfare, economic growth, and employment. These areas are now under threat.”

Gathering Protests

Malieveld is large grass field in The Hague across the central station and close to the city center and government’s offices. It is often used for festivals, concerts, and other forms of public entertainment. But it is also widely known for being the location of many large-scale demonstrations such as one organized by Extinction Rebellion around climate changes. Remembrances of the Srebrenica massacre have been organised there. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators (including Jewish participants) took place on the same grass, demanding that the government stop its military support of the Israeli regime.

In November, protest concerning the higher education cuts attracted an estimated 20,000 participants, including students, staff, and educators from universities and colleges across The Netherlands. They are ready to gather again.

In the meantime, discussions in the parliament between the governmental coalition and opposition have continued. Pressed by the opposition, the government coalition has agreed to reverse almost 750 million euros in proposed cuts to education, and now the plans have sufficient support in both chambers. The remaining 1.2 billion euros in cuts to education will continue. “A historic blunder,” tweeted Luc Stultiens, education spokesperson in the House of Representatives for the opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA. And Mirjam Bikker, party leader of the Christian Union, said when the deal was done that “we have made a bad budget less bad.” The expectation is that the Senate will not vote on the budget until after New Year’s Eve.

In a way, the saber-rattlers have already won. Nobody is questioning their budget and only a few concerned citizens are questioning the Dutch government’s unhealthy relationship with a children-killing regime. Far-right politician Geert Wilders visited Israel just a few days ago and denounced the arrest warrants issued against Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant as “the world gone mad,” stressing that Israel should be supported in its efforts “to drive out barbaric terrorists who shelter in hospitals and schools.”

Last February, the Hague Court of Appeal ordered the government to block exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets over concerns that they were being used to violate international law. The Dutch government filed an appeal against this judgment on September 6. On November 29, the Advocate General advised the Supreme Court to uphold the Hague Court ruling, agreeing with Oxfam Novib, PAX, and The Rights Forum on all points and rejecting all of the state’s arguments, saying the Dutch state must put an end to those exports to Israel.

For now, F-35 parts and other weapons supplied from the Netherlands can still end up in Israel. It is now up to the Supreme Court to give a final ruling, which is expected in February 2025. Wilders, as the unofficial leader of the ruling coalition, is not going to let the Advocate General’s advice stand without a fight.


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