After the terrorist attack of September 11 against the USA, an unavoidable question comes up: Does terrorism still have a political dimension or has it been reduced from now on to a criminal tactic? A coherent answer to this question is particularly relevant to analyzing how the terrorist phenomenon is to de addressed in the future on the international arena. It will furthermore be particularly important in analyzing the alternatives left open for finding a democratic political outcome to Colombia’s internal armed conflict: It is thus useful to draft a framework within which to develop a coherent analysis to understand the terrorist phenomenon so as to clarify how much manoeuvring room is left for autonomous handling of the country’s peace process.