I am reminded of the Macdonalds next to the bus station in Simferopol, Crimea. I watched as well scrubbed families eagerly trooped in for their expensive meal. A summer cloudburst drenched everything, and then, wearing their Macdonalds rainslickers, the workers came out and cleaned the patio. Palpably proud of their corporate livery, they were the most efficient and enthusiastic workers I had ever seen in Ukraine. Macdonalds is a virus spreading through a command and control economy – it overcomes the old “they pretend to pay us, we pretend to work” mentality, it teaches farmers to grow produce to standards, along with bakers, dairies, etc.
I imagine that KFC in Fallujah will be just such a kernel in Iraq.