1.) What would be the best currency to use for international transfers from the US to places like India, North Korea, the Middle East.
Everyone says Bitcoin, but if you want some privacy and impossibility tracking currencies, Monero may be a good option.
2.) How could the recipients turn their crypto into cash without going through a bank? For example, if we sent 10,000 worth of Rupee to India via crypto, how would the end user convert this into Rupee in their country?
We are still in a world dominated by banks and paper money, it is difficult to conduct transactions without going through some central roads except in the case of cash. Seems to be an inappropriate option in case of large transactions.
Localbitcoin: It was an option but it would impose some regulations.
You need to trust another party to make these conversions happen.