Our naive and simple minds have proven time and time again to be susceptible to transparent excuses. They shield us from accepting the facts on the ground and allow us to orbit in an imaginary reality instead—one that suits our ambitions and aspirations. Sometimes reality is so unacceptable, it needs to be absorbed and digested, repressed and denied, before we can carry on. Jamal Khashoggi’s murder last month obliges us to stop and face the bitter reality. His death was so horrendous and flagrant that it awakened many from the illusions of their blinding virtues. In the interest-driven world that we live in, only greed, ego, ignorance, disrespect for human dignity, and disregard for integrity prevails. It is the interests of nations and greed, amplified by leaders’ superegos, that decide our fate. This disruption to the global order makes clear how immature our political elite are in assessing the regional
