There is, very simply, no single causative factor in the death spiral of any of those countries, from Turkey with its last-of -the-caliphates-mentality, to Guatemala with its born-again military monsters. The kuomintang in China had plenty of arms; simply too corrupt to muster a formidable defense for Maos inversion of classical communist doctrine. Sometimes the winners win just because they are better organized, and with a more ruthless expediency when it comes to sacrificing humans for ideals. Those without the callous psychological prerequisites, I doubt would do all that much better with guns than without.
On the other hand, historically speaking, the unarmed scapegoats should have the opportunity to access weapons to defend themselves, regardless of the outcome in exercising that right. Banishing self-defense gives the greenest of beacons to murderers...
Actually my country is one of very few who actually defeted Americans in war.