ABSTRACT
This chapter examines a series of hypotheses that identify conditions for the success of mediation of civil wars. It seeks to develop a series of hypotheses which identify conditions that facilitate success in the mediation of civil wars. The absence of an intense personality conflict among the leaders of the conflicting groups has also been viewed as a factor contributing to the success of a mediation effort. One of the most important preconditions for effective third party intermediary intervention is stalemate. In most civil wars, the sovereignty feelings of the governments involved in the conflict will be even more pronounced since the incumbents consider the war to be an internal affair, and not a matter for the involvement of other states or international organizations. When mediating a civil war, the third party must tread carefully among schizophrenic attitudes about the desirability of the mediation effort.
