This paper examines whether humanitarian assistance (HA) in war zones can support efforts to promote conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Is this an objective that should be pursued Can it be operationalised in practice Does this represent a more intelligent and expansive form of humanitarianism, or is it a dangerous distortion of humanitarian mandates Our paper explores these questions and provides a synthesis of findings from country studies of Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Liberia1. The report is structured as follows: Section One sets the scene by providing a brief overview of current debates on humanitarianism, conflict and peacebuilding. Section Two focuses on the three case studies, mapping out the defining features of the conflicts and responses in each country. Section Three presents a comparative analysis of the key findings and Section Four outlines the main conclusions and recommendations in light of these findings.