Okay then, here's another idea, one I'm pretty sure hasn't been done already...

Why not apply a franchise business model to countries?

If you want to open a sandwich or burger shop, one way of doing so is as a franchise of Subway, Burger King, etc.

I've not opened such a shop, but as I understand it, it's effectively a trade-off between feeding some of your profits back to the parent company, in exchange for them letting you use all of their management systems and brand.

Obviously not everyone who opens such a shop chooses this route, but the fact that many do shows that it can be a good business deal to do so for some people.

Could the same sort of business deal work with regard to governing countries?

Since countries like the UK have extremely well developed, effective, efficient and fair systems of governance, law, education, policing, economic policy, etc, and there are countries in the world with hopelessly inadequate such systems, perhaps it would make better sense for them to adopt our systems.

How I see this working is the proposal would be put to the people of the country in the form of a referendum. If the people voted for the country to be run as a franchise of the UK, then a 'management team' would be sent from the UK to start running the country (according to pre-defined rules and objectives) and implementing change, introducing UK management systems over a period of a few years, and training up the locals to use them. After a few years, the country would start to run itself. Their economy would begin to boom. Foreign investment would be attracted. Life would be better and people happier and healthier.

I know what you're thinking...this sounds rather similar to the 'nation building' going on in Afganistan and Iraq. I guess you're right, but there's obviously a key difference - that the country itself chooses, of its free will, to become a 'UK franchise'.

And in contrast to how parent companies make profit from franchises, this could be a service provided to developing countries for free (as a form of aid).

If we're serious about helping people in developing countries then perhaps this sort of 'franchise model' would be quite a practical form of aid.

Do you think there's any merit in the idea? Or can you see problems with it?