Kofi Annan

The Arab Spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence, and everybody else wants it.

Sometimes I walk into a situation and know someone is going to provoke me, and I just simply refuse to be provoked.

To some extent, Rwanda became a victim of the Somalia experience.

We cannot allow situations where leaders threaten war on television or on Twitter.

What governments and people don't realise is that sometimes the collective interest - the international interest - is also the national interest.

When economic conditions are difficult, people tend to be less generous and protect themselves; the question of solidarity doesn't mean much to them at that time.