So a handful of diplomats set the stage for the conflagration without their own governments fully understanding what was going on.
Our own failure to reconcile our rhetoric (NATO open to all post-Soviet states) with the reality of our commitment is also a similar ambiguity here. The Germans are also to blame for following their own narrow self-interest at the expense of their EU and NATO allies in Eastern Europe (especially Poland), as well as the US and Ukraine. The SDP decided to continue its Ostpolitik with Russia despite repeated warnings that Germany's dependence on Russian gas would turn into a big problem because Putin was paying them off and German business liked the cheap gas.
“One of the primary causes of WWI was that the rules of the great power rivalry in the Balkans were not clear.”
Well, they were very clear to Austria-Hungary. They were unsure of how Russia was going to respond to developments following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, so it — behind the scenes — sought and received from Germany assurances that if Russia declared war, Germany would have Austria-Hungary’s back, even if eventually France and Britain joined the party. With those assurances, Austria-Hungary issued Serbia an impossible ultimatum, and the game was on.
Such stupidity, on so many heads! I have long said that WWI was one of the greatest tragedies in the history of the world: It was so, so, so unnecessary.