Set Countries in Alphabetical Order

Since the last update, the countries follow alphabetical order by country code, leading the user to believe the United Arab Emirates is the first choice in country search. This is silly, considering most of the list is in order but about 25% of countries seem almost placed randomly in our dropdown.

Is there no workaround this? Our client is quite upset at this update – can it be fixed, and why does it use the country code and not country name to sort it in the first place?