As the world strives to become one complex society, as opposed to many independent ones, more eyes than ever are on politically isolated countries such as North Korea and Cuba. Both live under the scrutiny of other nations trying to figure out how long they can survive without further cooperation with the larger world order. While many feel that North Korea and Cuba violate human rights just by the nature of not being capitalist and democratic, they’re not identical societies. They’re run by governments with different agendas, and these agendas are most evident in the ways they manage resources.

Due to the closed nature of the country, exact data isn’t readily available, but North Korea has an abundance of coal, iron ore, gold ore, zinc ore as well as other natural assets. It’s a resource rich country that has the potential to be prosperous enough to offer economic stability to the people who live there, but while the elite class who live in the capital, Pyongyang, drive luxury cars and wear designer clothes, the rest of the country struggles to survive during food shortages that are commonplace. North Korea suffers from high pollution. It’s factories are not environment friendly. The only real sustainability arrives in the form of Chinese aid. Responsible business is not a focus. World Health Organization statistics in 2009 showed that the government invested less in healthcare than any other country in the world.

Cuba has an entirely different history, it goes without saying. Both countries define themselves as worker’s states driven by revolutionary principles, but Cuba has acted on them with more consistency. Peru, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Angola are just some of the countries the Cuban government has assisted in moments of crisis. Cuban healthcare workers stood out in their readiness to be part of curbing the ebola epidemic that spread through parts of west Africa in 2014. Cuba also possesses natural resources, most notably petroleum, but their economy runs partly on informal businesses like casas particulares, a concept that enables average Cubans to earn money by renting rooms to travelers. It may sound a lot like airbnb. It’s a responsible business system that’s been around in Cuba for a long time though. Paladares are informal cafes run out of people’s homes where diners go to enjoy superb meals. Both are business approaches driven by an especially Cuban belief in the necessity of sharing, something that has been key to the country’s ability to persevere in tough times.

In the last days of the Soviet Union, during the early nineties, Cuba’s heavily Soviet subsidized economy took a steep fall. The government began converting dilapidated urban buildings into farms where vegetables could be cultivated and sold cheaply, an idea that was environment friendly and driven by a Cuban interest in sustainability.

Like North Korea, Cuba has an elite minority. The country has never been able to create the equality that was the basis for the revolution in 1959. Some might say the Cuban government’s single greatest achievement has been in assuring that Cubans are healthy. The national healthcare system is considered one of the most well-functioning in the world. It may be surprising that CimaVax, a lung cancer vaccine developed in modest Cuban government financed laboratories has been approved by the FDA to be tested for use in the U.S., but it’s just another example of the Cuban gift for doing more with less.