Yeah, for some reason people have eternally convinced themselves that some number of countries other than the ones that currently exist is some sort of magic panacea for side balance.
It isn't.
And IMHO if you want a "realistic" arena, you do it in formal scenarios. For all practical purposes, WB's Axis and Allies isn't more realistic in any way than AH's arena.
Basically, I only want the two opposite spectrums in AH...a furballing 3-sided MA and tightly controlled, large scale formal scenarios. I think everything "in between", like HAs, WB's "Axis and Allies" arena, manages to combine the worst aspects of both.
Though, I would like to see a rolling plane set in the MA , but NOT a two country arena, or countries with planesets restricted to certain countries, which makes me a bit of an oddball.