 What is the primary purpose of the article?
What cities in the post-Brexit era could learn from a 14th-century trading bloc As you fly from the country now known as Germany to Britain, the coastal geography of northern European cities gently unfurls. By their nature cities along coasts and rivers developed so they could be open to trade with each other. It could point us towards new relationships between progressive city dwellers in a world that otherwise seems to be putting the brakes on modernity. The League is most easily understood as a loose federation of cities that acted together in self-interest to promote trade. "So it is not unrealistic to think of cities as discrete entities that compete and collaborate with each other, independently from the states to which they belong."
 To propose a model for international commerce in nation-states with divided populations
 To share a historical account of 14th century commerce practices and why they were replaced  To propose a model for international commerce in nation-states with divided populations  To lament and decry Britain's misguided decision to abandon the European Union  To entertain readers with an ironic predicament that has resulted from western globalization