My appologies if this has been suggested before, but here is an idea for dealing with players who abandon games:
Create a flag in the players' profiles listed as "On Probation" and shows "Yes" when they abandon their country? Also create a criteria for new games that is "Allow players on probation"? If "No" is selected for that criteria, players on probation may not join the game, even the same game that they just left.
The length of the probation needs to vary. For example, it can be 2 weeks for the first offense, 1 month for the second offense, 2 months for the third, all the way to a year for Double Secret Probation. While on probation, they can only join or create games that do not allow probationary players. They are not removed from any other games they are currently playing, though.
Once the probationary period is over, the "On Probation" flag in their profile changes back to "No" and the player may join any game. Thus, those players who abandon games still have an opportunity to play, but it will probably be with other players who have abandoned games until they have "done their time".