The US was not a fully federal project at its outset either, and has had to repeatedly renegotiate the terms of its union towards increased federal authority in

The US was not a fully federal project at its outset either, and has had to repeatedly renegotiate the terms of its union towards increased federal authority in order to avoid collapse and takeover by outside powers: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Articles_of_Confederation&mobileaction=toggle_view_desktop#The_United_States_of_America_under_the_Articles https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Articles_of_Confe... States, despite all this fanciful nostalgia, do not exist in a vacuum and their continued sovereignty today is dependent on belonging to a larger unions. It's the only way to protect themselves from the imperialism of powerful federal unions like the US, Russia, and China. If any European state thinks that it can exist independently of a federal (or worse) arrangement, it has misunderstood 20th century history. And I would also argue the election of Trump demonstrates that you actually can't allow Detroit and similar regions to wither without significant political repercussions. The Democrats tried that and it cost them the election.