“I think the West shoulders most of the blame: we carved up Africa in a manner that made sense to us, ignoring their tribal political realities.”
We did, but it was the Africans themselves that made those borders well nigh sacrosanct. They didnt have to keep them.
“And we got out of there without paying alot of attention to how we make sure that we leave behind stable governments with strong ties back to the “mother country”.”
Again, we gave them as much help as we did Singapore, Malaysia et al. We were hustled out, by public opinion at home and virulent anti-colonial campaigns in these African states. The reality is that all of these states should have been kept as colonies for another ten-twenty years, minimum...but that just wasnt going to happen.
“Again, we gave them as much help as we did Singapore, Malaysia et al.”
Not to mention the populations are more inclined to be self diciplined and self reliant.