no nation state, no matter how strong their economy,
no matter how United their population, can last forever
all countries will eventually disappear
some will slowly fade away and some will suddenly collapse
it's likely that several countries will go this way in the next 10 years
here are some at risk of disappearing
Lesotho is the last absolute monarchy in Africa
it's a small country surrounded by South Africa
Their king is basically insane
So Lesotho has long been a poor country. But it's got so bad recently that the
people of Lesotho are looking for an exit
a campaign within the country is begging South Africa to invade
Lesotho would cease to exist as an independent country
the monarchy would be overthrown and it would become a province of south africa
support for the campaign is growing rapidly
as the life expectancy in Lesotho has fallen to just 34
so the South African government could invade at any time
I don't think the Ukraine can last much longer
and the reason for this is that it was never meant to exist in the first place
it was created as a buffer between Russia and the rest of Europe
and Russia has always wanted to control Ukrainian land because of their natural gas pipelines
in 2014, Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula was annexed by Russia
and has been under Russian control since
other areas of Ukraine are currently engaged in power struggles with
with Russia clearly seeking more control
the Ukrainian people have never been United
with seventeen percent of their population identifying as Russian
Their country is being torn apart
for 42 years, libya was ruled by Colonel Gaddafi
but in 2011, he was killed in the Arab Spring
since then libya has been a fractured country, with different regions being held by different armies
the problems started when Libya's new government
failed to crush all the other power-hungry groups
So the country fell into civil war
the situation was a lot better when Gaddafi held power
Barack Obama has called not preparing for a post-gaddafi Libya his biggest mistake
if we're being honest
libya isn't really a country anymore
it's been split into three different ones
it's only a matter of time until the UN realizes Libya hasn't existed since 2014
the UK is a union of 4 countries
England
Scotland
Wales
And Northern-Ireland
if any of these countries were to leave for union it would be a big deal
But if England or Scotland were to leave, the union would effectively disappear
Last year, the people of Scotland voted against independence
The population of Scotland is currently split around 50/50 on the issue
so it's not beyond imagination that Scotland may one day and leave the union
if that were to happen
it's unlikely the union could survive
spain is one of europe's biggest countries, but that might soon change
A number of regions within Spain have their own independence movements
The most likely to gain independence is Catalonia
there is a big cultural divide between Catalonia and the rest of Spain
they even have their own language
earlier this year, catalonia's Parliament gained a new leader who is pro-independence
his party aims for Catalonia to break away from Spain within 18 months
they have already began building their own institutions like a military
the spanish government is opposing their actions on constitutional grounds
it's going to be interesting to see which side wins
North Korea is different from other countries on this list for obvious reasons
so many sanctions have been put on North Korea
that it's government can't afford to feed most of its population
it's among the most impoverished nations
there are 3 things likely to soon happen to North Korea
the first is that their government collapses and society breaks down until
it's reunified with South Korea
the second is that they try to invade South Korea, in which case we'd see a
similar outcome
the third is that North Korea is completely annexed by China and simply
becomes a Chinese province
I actually think the third is more likely
much like Libya, Syria has been in a state of civil war since the Arab Spring
but the Syrian dictator was never overthrown
he still controls 40% of the country's land and 66% of the population
the rest is controlled either by Syrian rebels, the Kurds, or Isis
I don't think the country will every unify because of the ethnic divisions within the country
the Kurds have always wanted an independent country in northern Syria
they basically have that now
what we now recognize as Syria was first created as a colony in the French Empire
not as an independent country. That's why the ethnic divisions are so visible
in 2008 Kosovo became an independent country up until that point it was a un
Up until that point it was a UN Protectorate
and before that, it was part of serbia but Kosovo broke away from
serbia in a brutal civil war
Today, it's an extremely weak country
it's tiny economy is still recovering from the war
it really doesn't make sense for kosovo to exist as a country
ninety-two percent of its population are ethnically Albanian
and they share a border with Albania
the obvious solution is for Albania to absorb Kosovo
I'm surprised it hasn't happened already Albania's Prime Minister has publicly
stated that the unification of the two countries is inevitable
thanks to rising sea levels there are a whole load of islands at risk of
completely disappearing
I mean, the Maldives, they'll soon be gone
and most of micronesia as well
the island nation of Kiribati is home to 100 thousand people, but their islands are vanishing
and they need a new home
so their government is planning on moving them all to Fiji
Fiji is also an island nation
so maybe it's not the best plan
the European Union is essentially a federalist country in the same way the United States is
it has its own flag, its own legal system to enforce its own laws,
it's represented in the g20, and it's soon to have its own military
With all these things, it can only be called a country but it's a country in trouble
all across the continent we see the rise of anti-union movements
great britain may soon leave the Union. This would be a hammer blow to the Union
possibly inspiring other members to leave
I think it's going to be difficult for the Union to survive the next 10 years