Somewhat of a chicken-and-egg problem. If the West was successful due to colonization, how is it that the West became the colonizers in the first place, and not the colonized?
The Industrial Revolution? Colonization has existed hand-in-hand with empires, the West has been colonized by Rome, Britain, France, in a massive tug-o-war. The Industrial Revolution took that fight global. There's a clear "egg" here.
The role of germs should not be underestimated; the pandemics the colonizers brought and spread (in some cases deliberately) killed far more than the guns. Thus offering the illusion that there was empty space for the taking.
The Europeans succeeded in their colonization efforts because they were more technologically advanced than anyone they were colonizing. It is not a case of twin brothers. It is the case of an older brother stealing from his baby brother.