Once, when explaining why I liked living in the country of German to my students in Germany, I explained that one reason I liked the country is that it is a federal state bound up (Bund) in a federal regime, namely the European Union.
I find that states that understand how to permit divisions, like federations or confederations in Europe currently often do, have the potential to have great international relations. That is, if they learn to have federalist and tolerant relationships with their neighbors, i.e. in the same positive federalist or strong international ties.
The commitment of European states after WWII to take down their border posts and the subsequent 60-plus years of learning experience in building a European Union (federation) has made many European states stronger, in terms of understanding how to work with their neighbors, while even growing a sense of regional-ship or regional identity across borders (across state lines).. In turn, many European Union states, like Germany, have had great success over the same period in improving the continent's relationships with their former colonies and former Cold War adversaries.
Disappointingly, recent decades have seen these same European states and their peoples gain notoriety for building a new Fortress Europe in recent decades. On the other hand, as a whole European states have had more positive and beneficial relationships with neighboring countries than states in most corners of the globe. (Just look at the tensions in South and Central Asia and the troubles in Africa from Sudan to Somalia south into the Congo!)
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