The Hanseatic League (the “Hanse”) was a regional alliance of North German cities and towns that operated to control trade along the Baltic and North Seas and thrived during the late Middle Ages. Historians point to the Hanse as an early example of regional integration within Europe. Indeed, the Hanse was the most extensive and powerful of regional economic associations within Europe until the rise of the European Union (EU) in the second half of the 20th century. In a manner similar to the EU, the Hanse evolved over time into a more extensive and integrated union in order to more effectively control the economic, commercial, and political forces that threatened individual cities in the region. And, like the EU, the Hanse experienced strong centrifugal forces that limited the degree of integration achieved. Ultimately, by the 17th century, this divisiveness between the German cities, along with unstoppable global economic and political shifts, doomed the Hanse as a viable economic…