It might even be impossible not to import aspects of real countries, at least in terms of their history, into RPGs.
What I mean by this is that history-shapes-culture-shapes history, and this is further enhanced by media sources, from the books and TV of the 1970s RPG pioneers to the vastly complex media of today. This can’t help to “push” our thinking when designing a fantasy world, and I’d argue that one just can’t do it in complete isolation.
The key, I guess, is to ensure it’s done respectfully.
Poorer examples obviously included the Oriental Adventures of the 1980s and the Vistani, but things have improved a lot since then. Golarion didn’t strike me as negative, though I thought it was a bit clumsy in just dropping in “real world” historical cultures.
On a personal level, I love the Sins of the Scorpion Age setting, developed on these very pages by
@Steampunkette ; sure, there are recognisable nods to Sumeria (in particular), Khazars, Mycenaean Greece and others, but unique twists develop these into a great setting.
We’ve come a long way from the Hyborian Age of cultural appropriation for fantasy ( he writes from his home in northwest Aquilonia!)