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There is curently a division between conflict analysis and studies of terrorism, despite the fact that similar actors are involved in the “new wars” and “new terror ism,” and that there are also similarities in terms of root causes. Both conflict and terrorism studies are increasingly crossing disciplines in their attempts to present coherent frameworks and bodies of theory, however. As the divisions between war, peace, conflict and terrorism, between friend and enemy, soldier, criminal, and civilian break down, there is now potential for a critical reading of the insights this presents. The terrain on which violence has been traditionally deployed has now shifted to a more symbolic terrain requiring a reassessment of the assumptions ter rorism and conflict studies rest on.