Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has said the cause of the mess in the world today is due to weak leaders.

Talking about what is needed to tackle the world’s conflicts, Mr. Annan stated that "cool heads and sober judgement" are needed to tackle the world's conflicts.

Speaking on the US, UK and French air strikes in Syria, he told Hardtalk's Zeinab Badawi: "We cannot allow situations where leaders threaten war on television or on Twitter."

He said the world had become "particularly messy" and he did not see the strong leaders around who could cope with the problems.

Mr. Annan added that he was worried about the use of language by world leaders over Syria.

He said; "I think they have to find a way of engaging in a calm way and preferably behind the scenes. The sort of language that is being thrown around coming from leaders is really unimaginable."

All it would take would be a miscalculation or mistake and "all bets are off" on any possible outcome, he said, warning there were many proxy wars going on in Syria and some had nothing to do with the Syrians.

"We should be careful not to point fingers only at the Russians. There are quite a few other players in the theatre," he added.

Watch the full video below;