eli5: Since the U.S is described as ”a union between 50 free states” and gets more compared with the structure of the EU than, say, the counties of England; how come Texas or Oklahoma doesn’t compete independently in the olympics, or have independent representation in the UN? A union isn’t a nation

Question

eli5: Since the U.S is described as ”a union between 50 free states” and gets more compared with the structure of the EU than, say, the counties of England; how come Texas or Oklahoma doesn’t compete independently in the olympics, or have independent representation in the UN? A union isn’t a nation

In: 2

Answer 1

The USA is more akin to Germany or Switzerland than to the EU. Those are also comprised of autonomous regions although the level of autonomy is different. Those two being a federation and a confederation, respectively, does not prevent them from being single nations.