Clarissa Ward: “When you look back at all the lessons that were learned from Rwanda, from Bosnia in the mid ’90s, and yet here we are in 2012 in Syria, and it feels like we’re back to square one?”
Kofi Annan: “Yeah, says something about us human beings, doesn’t it?” Annan replied. “Do we ever learn? Is it in our DNA to keep fighting each other?”

That is how an interview concluded with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on CBS Sunday Morning a few weeks ago. The entire interview is worth watching. Annan’s thoughts on diplomacy, the failure of mediation, and the international community are bared raw, and they might surprise you.

This interview and the violence that is flaring up in the Middle East started me thinking about why we fight.

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The Army guidance counselor sat in front of his computer, quickly scanning my biographical information…