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Some argue that the field of study of "education and conflict" has yet to be solidified since its emergence in the 1990s, partly due to the weak theory base. This article reviews the literature on the "contribution" of schooling in contemporary violent conflict, via three strands of theoretical ideas, to demonstrate the validities and limitations of the current theoretical ideas available in the field. The article shows that the literature is skewed toward cases of ethnic conflicts and limited to theoretical ideas that fail to explain the complexities of contemporary conflicts captured by the case studies. It also shows the still insufficient engagement of the literature in the field with the dynamics and the root causes of contemporary conflict that have been demonstrated by scholars across social sciences.