> sphere of influence That phrase is a relic of a long ago era. The EU would be more effective if it had more influence on its member states, but it reached a

> sphere of influence That phrase is a relic of a long ago era. The EU would be more effective if it had more influence on its member states, but it reached a level where it does appear to dramatically reduce the chance of war, but from there, further integration has asymptoted. I can’t say that colonialism is completely obsolete but influence has become so diffuse and information spread so widespread that even an analysis from that stance is no longer useful.