The Khashoggi murder and US foreign policy

The assassination of Jamal Ahmad Khashoggi, a Washington Post journalist and fierce critic of Saudi Arabia, at the latter's consulate in Istanbul on October 2, with the apparent approval of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has already had far more serious repercussions than the fact as such.

Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former director of policy planning at the US State Department, reminded us recently that "all too often in the Middle East, a bad situation becomes a worse situation." The crown prince of Saudi Arabia has created a bad situation. We must aim at containing the situation so that it does not get worse. However, the way US President Donald Trump has handled it so far, it most certainly does not contain it, to the detriment of US strategic interests.

Energy security and the resolution of the many issues in the Middle...