International humanitarian activities have grown enormously in scale over the past ten years. A longside this greater experience, the complex links between humanitarian work and the worlds of politics and military engagement have become ever more contested. Through the lens of the Humanitarianism and War Project, Larry Minear explores what international humanitarians - from the UN and national governments, to the Red Cross and the many private relief and development agencies - have learned about how to do humanitarian work well, and the arguments which remain unresolved. With an epilogue on the issues highlighted by the international response to the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the war in Afghanistan, this book will be of interest to anyone wishing to understand the future of humanitarianism in the twenty-first century.