Post-imperial fates from South Africa to North Korea

South Africa's transition to democracy was anything but peaceful, with decades of conflict costing hundreds of lives under apartheid. After 21 years of democracy, the country still suffers from poverty and one of the highest HIV rates in the world, not to mention endemic government corruption. Recurrent political violence has cast further doubt over the future of Desmond Tutu's rainbow nation.

The second poorest country in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has witnessed decades of civil war, regime changes and famines. It now faces a refugee crisis from neighboring Burundi. Since Belgium granted the colony its independence in 1960, the country been struggling to bring education to the masses. It is estimated that millions died as slaves under Belgium's brutal rule.

Governed by the United Kingdom until 1997, Hong Kong remained an enclave of freedom surrounded by communist China during the Cold War. Economic growth made the British territory attractive to dissenting voices in China, especially during the Maoist Cultural Revolution. But, since its handover to China, Hong Kong has endured social tension and protests while fearing for the future of its democracy.

The Japanese Empire was forced to surrender the Korean Peninsula to the United States and the Soviet Union at the end of World War II, leading to the 1950-53 Korean War. One of the most secretive regimes in the world was created as a result. Its totalitarian dictatorship allowed thousands of people to die of famine in the 1990s while the Kim dynasty was busy working on its nuclear arsenal.

Like all Soviet republics, Ukraine did not have control over its territory. With the onset of its independence in 1991 the country witnessed stifling inflation during the 1990s, as well as disputed elections, leading to the "Orange Revolution" of 2004. More recently, the Euromaidan protests resulted in nearly 100 dead in 2014, initiating the Russian annexation of Crimea and ongoing civil unrest.

Between Nazi expansion, Russian aggression and the Holocaust, Poland suffered unlike any other nation during World War II. At the end of the war, Germany had to cede a quarter of its territory to Poland, resulting in the expulsion of 12 million Germans. Poland meanwhile lost its Kresy region to the Soviets (about half of its territory). Only 2 million of those expelled returned to Germany.

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk built the Turkish republic out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire with a vision of a European-style democracy. But the country appears to be increasingly looking east again, with Islamic principles governing the ruling AKP's policies. Minority rights and press freedom have regressed, and civil liberties continue to be limited, leading to the 2013 Gezi Park protests.

From Ottoman defeat, British imperialism and Zionist aspirations against the backdrop of the Holocaust, Israel was born as a homeland to the Jewish people - despite an existing non-Jewish indigenous population. Israel has won all wars declared by Arab neighbors, but the country's peace process with Palestinians has stalled over and over.