Here's an excellent place to start exploring this fascinating issue of "Civilizations" and "Empires." Listen to renowned historian give a TED Talk on THE SIX KILLER APPS OF PROSPERITY
Here are my lecture PPT slides for the Chapter titled - "Overview of European Colonisation of Southeast Asia"
Glossary of Words and Terms for Chapter 1.
Here is a useful and brief video showing the history of British expansion in the world.
Video: Singapore, crossroads of the East 1938.
Video: Shadows of Empire: inventing Southeast Asia. Documentary presented by Prof. Farish Noor. The 2nd episode is titled Kings and Pirates. Episode 3 is about the Shadow of the Guillotine.
Video: Raffles Revealed - Great Expectation
Video: Raffles Revealed - Emporium of the East
USEFUL ARTICLES
Here are some brief but useful video documentaries explaining the rise of European empires in the 19th century and their global conflicts with each other.
So just why was it the Europeans who colonised so much of the world in the 19th century?
The Horrible History people are excellent for producing light hearted clips such as this one on the Rise and Fall of the British Empire.