Why abrupt decolonisation can produce a power vacuum

Were other British colonies vulnerable to civil war if British authority suddenly disappeared?

An abrupt exit can leave the army and police as the strongest institutions; bureaucracy, law, and a carefully managed transfer are needed to prevent a power vacuum.

Colonial government is described as a form of dictatorship that invests in the armed institutions needed to retain control. An abrupt withdrawal can leave the army and police competing over who should restore order, especially when civilian institutions have received little preparation. Building bureaucracy, rule of law, and other restraints on armed power is therefore central to the proposed explanation of a more stable transition. In this interpretation, British dominionisation and Commonwealth planning sought to replace direct control with a durable association that Britain could continue to lead. Parts of the imperial thinking behind those programmes are explicitly condemned.