The latest issue of world news that has entertained us and kept audiences captive for the past week has been the murder in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist and US resident.

It is so easy in this climate to divert issues towards Donald Trump and no doubt the American response is an issue for the West Wing, which may very well be Trumpian.

For Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi Crown Prince, it is far more complex than newscasters have written thus far. The Middle East is in the grips of an expanding ideological war. What is considered as the Arab Spring is viewed by the West mainly in the context of a political liberation movement.

Toppling dictators and giving the people an opportunity to freely express themselves is seen by us as a triumph. To an extent that is true, but what in fact happens is an unmanaged unleashing of ideological conflict.

We did not expect these problems because from a Western perspective the consideration was they want what we want, and how we want it also.

In a human context, we probably all do want the same things such as peace and security, and respect for our individuality. The question is, who brings it to the people?

There are more components such as self-determination, a right to one’s identity and none of these things can be achieved by a military team of generals from halfway around the world blowing up cities and neighbourhoods, or by a board of governors of newspapers, even if global.

I believe the Crown Prince wants reform, but he has some real constraints. The Saudi kingdom is, in reality, a pact between two families made 300 years ago.

The Saudi family’s remit is the temporal affairs of the country and the Wahab family are the custodians of the cultural and religious affairs. So, in principle, the reforms and changes that the Crown Prince has been trying to introduce are not in his remit as far as the pact is concerned.

Typically, we would believe that if one is the political leader and in charge of the military, you run the whole show, but that is not the power arrangement of Saudi Arabia. It is a shared power, so manipulating the leaders is only half the equation, which may be accomplished with a handshake.

However, when you have a population of more than 100 million persons in an adjoining region of much more, a handshake cannot transform millions of people.

In particular when those persons recognise that the hand is the hand that colonised them. The media have their timetable and need to share with the world all the difficulties and hardships that are continuing throughout the world. The human rights groups also have their notion of how the world should look, but neither of them has the task of transforming the minds of people on the ground.

The groups take aim at the leaders because it is simple and seems correct, but the battle and the real challenge are on the ground.

The moderates get little or no support in assisting with a new message on the ground.

Peace is important in any reformation and transition — look at the transition of the Soviet Union. Can we remember the excitement of the ideas of Glasnost? And the tumbling of the Berlin Wall and celebrations of victory over Communism? But what followed was anything but celebratory. Mayhem and bloodshed, ethnic cleansing and corruption were what followed. Reform must come ideologically where people are engaged in an extensive dialogue of where they are going.

A significant core of the population must understand and have an appreciation of whatever reform that is needed. There also needs to be an economic engine to sustain the reform. Sadly, I had a friend, a musician, who travelled to Africa to do missionary work. He was killed by jihadists. They did not see him as a religious missionary; they saw a colonist.

Do I sympathise with my friend? Yes. Was it wrong? Yes, it was absolutely wrong, but what do you expect in such an environment where there exists such political and religious conflict and intolerance?

The world media right now recognising that 60 journalists have been either killed or abducted in recent times would give the impression the war is against the media and journalists — and, yes, to a large extent that is true.

However, there is also a war of diplomacy where the sovereign right for nations to deal with their own timetable and progression is being challenged by agencies such as the media. I get it; we want a free press and transparency. I also understand social and human evolution.

I live in Bermuda, which politically is at least 100 years behind America and, in spite of having human rights very much mirrored on Canada, is decades behind them in the courts.

You can get seriously hurt in Bermuda for trying to make any change and the stakes get a lot higher in larger countries around the world.

In my humble opinion, for the moment, human rights groups and media need to find a quiet corner with the Crown Prince of Saudi and try to work with him to advance his agenda of reform, while an educational process is taking place all over that country. I don’t think an adversarial approach is beneficial to him or the country, particularly when at the very least you have someone who has indicated they want to bring reform.