It is neither right nor possible for one country to impose its will on the rest of the world. My question is, would it be possible to form a coalition of like-minded countries which would cooperate in promoting the principles of open society. They could establish certain standards for the relationship between state and society that would cover such areas as freedom of information, freedom of association, due process, transparency in state procurements, and the like. Obviously these standards cannot be uniform. It is in the nature of open society that it is a society that defines itself.
External pressure can only aim at allowing societies to define themselves.
It should manifest itself by offering incentives rather than imposing sanctions. The coalition would have many subtle ways to exert pressure, provided its members agree among themselves. I have a more utopian vision, namely that an open society coalition could gain control of the United Nations and convert the General Assembly from a talking shop into a genuine legislature in charge of establishing international laws. The laws would be valid only in the countries that ratify them, but members of the open society coalition would pledge themselves to ratify the laws automatically, provided they have been ratified voluntarily by a qualified majority. In that way, a body of international law could be developed without infringing on the principle of national sovereignty.