ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with an examination of the processes listed earlier and identifies the move from guerrilla to conventional warfare as containing several unusual characteristics. It analyses the differences in attenuation and effectiveness between guerrilla and conventional structures and strategies to show that the guerrilla structure and strategy will commonly outperform that of a conventional structure and strategy. The chapter explains several unusual mechanisms in the balance of capabilities that explain why guerrillas have difficulty in converting to a conventional strategy and delivering the deathblow to the regime. It discusses the implications of these insights for foreign intervention, the balance of capabilities and warfare in civil war. There are fundamental differences between warfare in interstate and civil wars. Historically, almost all interstate warfare has been conventional in nature. In contrast, there has been significant variation in the warfare that characterises civil war.
