John Robb observes that the conflict in Ukraine appears to be over which trading bloc to join, then mentions the growth of the ASEAN bloc, after China joined.
With the rapid rise of the Chinese bloc, its amazing how quickly the world is dividing up. I think we are going to find that the economic integration will go quickly (trade, currency, passport, etc.) but the political integration will bog down (and may never happen).
The United States accepts new members, but strangely enough we haven’t had any successful applicants in a number of years. Membership in the Union is both political and economic.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
I wonder if this has anything to do with the massive increase in Federal power, or just with the end of our republican Manifest Destiny.