According to McDonalds’ annual report at this site http://biz.yahoo.com/e/010323/mcd.html, McDonalds’ most recent annual net income was 1.997 billion US dollars.
Let’s assume that McDonalds stops paying dividends and devotes its income to producing an unholy army of conquest. (This would be a tricky sell to the shareholders. Perhaps if they promised to distribute the missing dividends as booty from the invasion…)
$2 billion a year compares pretty favorably to the annual defense spending of countries such as Jamaica ($30 million, FY95/96 est.), Nigeria ($360 million, FY00), or Indonesia ($1 billion, FY98/99) (Source: CIA Factbook at http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/) But I think we have to keep in mind that McDonald’s will be starting from scratch. As far as I know, it really doesn’t have much of a military infrastructure and it is, of course, a lot cheaper to maintain a fleet of strategic bombers than to buy new ones, for example.
On the other hand, military expenditures are notoriously wasteful and maybe a lean corporation like McDonalds–with it’s eye on the bottom line–could get more bang for its buck, so to speak, than a typical government.
The biggest unknown in the equation would be the question of military alliances. Although McDonalds might be able to put together a military juggernaut that could crush Jamaica, would Jamaica have to stand alone against the Golden (Arches) Horde? I think not. France is obviously spoiling for a fight against the Army of Ronald and I’m guessing that within hours of the commencement of hostilities, you’d see Legionnaires mobilized and on their way to stop the McArmy on the beaches. France’s annual military spending (39.831 billion, FY97) dwarfs what McDonalds can muster and its independent nuclear capability would certainly force McDonalds to think twice about its evil dreams of military conquest.
Perhaps, you wonder, McDonalds could attack a pariah state that even France couldn’t stomach defending? Good luck. Annual military expenditures in North Korea are estimated at between $3.7 billion to $4.9 billion (FY98) and Iraq is, obviously, a tough nut to crack.
My conclusion: Even with McDonalds immense financial muscle, it would be impractical for it to launch a full-out military assault against a sovereign nation. Wars of conquest are awfully difficult these days (witness Iraq) and I just don’t think McDonald’s could pull it off. Certainly not if it faced any opposition from the world’s major military powers (which I believe would be inevitable).