As far as the borders go, you would only need to shift them slightly and change the shape so it isn't so conformed to the Risk we know, and that would keep the board balanced.

Practically... is anyone ever going to play on your board? Quite likely they aren't, so balancing doesn't matter and you can just go nuts! Think about which nations would rise and fall and tell a story with the map whilst keeping the general Risk theme. Who cares if Russia is an Industral power and takes up the North!? Have fun with it, we're map makers not game designers.