It began with children. 15 children. They painted anti-government graffiti on the school walls. Then, they were arrested. Some said they were tortured. Riots began. After parents tried to secure their release, CNN reported this response from a local official "Forget your children. If you really want your children, you should make more children. If you don't know how to make more children, we'll show you how to do it." That was in 2011. And most people don’t remember it. Or don’t know about it. I only know because I was working on a case study of Syria at the time. I told my brother I was trying to figure out why Syria was lagging behind in the Arab Spring. I told him I suspected it had to do with a lack of international intervention. I found that conversation in an old google chat from March 2012. Not much has changed. That is, on the international stage. But in Syria, over 4 years of conflict has brought reports of 7.6 million displaced refugees