Deep divisions within Europe are increasingly threatening the values upon which the European project of "ever closer union" is based. In 2015, during the refugee crisis, many commentators saw a divide between German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Willkommenskultur (welcoming culture) and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban's vision of ethnic purity: a Western Europe of bridges versus an Eastern Europe of walls.
But another threat to European unity comes from within individual countries. In Germany, talks to form a center-left, center-right coalition have broken down. In the Netherlands, it took Prime Minister Mark Rutte 208 days to form a new government after elections in March. In the United Kingdom, the political establishment is in disarray over Brexit. And in Poland, white nationalists and neo-Nazis recently staged a massive march through the streets of Warsaw.
Which gulfs are wider — those between member states or those within them? The answer to that question matters a great deal. If Europe's biggest problem is that it is divided along national borders, then liberal-leaning countries like France and Germany could try to change the balance of power within increasingly illiberal countries.