Over the past decade, military interventionism has increased. This trend has been variously justified by the need to address threats to international peace and security; to avert humanitarian catastrophe; and more recently as part of the ‘global war on terror’. This paper analyses the legal basis for the use of force in circumstances such as these; examines the application of international humanitarian law (IHL) in the global war on terrorism; and assesses the trends set by the war against terror in the protection of refugee law and human rights.