Originally Posted by
Dayuhan
They did go through periods of instability after independence, as of course you know. There's still some going on, though much less than there once was. I don't see any reason to assume that this must be something anyone did to them. As I said above, in general the primary cause of instability in newly independent countries and post-dictatorship environment is local factions struggling to fill the power vacuum and dominate the new political environment. Sometimes one faction gains control and suppresses the others, creating a new dictatorship, sometimes the contending factions work out a balance.
The period in which various factions are contending creates instability and opens the door for outsiders to push in, often by offering support to different factions. This is a major factor in some cases, minor in others. Post-colonial and post-dictatorship environments span a huge range of circumstances and events, and there will of course be exceptions to any general rule.