> in a lot of ways, the US is more analogous to the EU than it is to any one country of Europe

Interestingly, this is because the EU was modelled after the USA, though things didn't quite go according to plan so we have the EU instead of the USE.

Regardless of political standing, I do recommend https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Deception-European-survive-Re... for an in-depth history of the EU.