I'm not sure you're correct about colonization being harder than fixing local problems. By starting new colonies afresh, you avoid a large amount of legacy issu

I'm not sure you're correct about colonization being harder than fixing local problems. By starting new colonies afresh, you avoid a large amount of legacy issues and political inertia. It can be a lot easier to start a new colony than to convince everyone in the homeland to change their traditional ways. That's one reason why I think colonization has always been on the table in the western world, with varying success over the past millennia.