As the E.U. was heading toward
legislative elections in 2024, the shooting of Slovakia’s prime minister could have
served as a wake-up call concerning the silent benefits of having a union that
is political, and thus governmental, rather than merely an economic “bloc.”
Were civil war likely in Slovakia, given the aggressive political division
there, being a semi-sovereign state rather than a fully independent country
meant that explicit and implicit buffers existed that could stave off such war.
Considering that an assassination had been the trigger for World War I, having
a federal system that could quell aggression within a state is no small benefit.
The full essay is at "Civil War in Slovakia."
