Military escalations are always worrying, but as we have witnessed on and since Oct. 7 last year, the gloves in the Middle East are now well and truly off. It is like a Royal Rumble match with no referee, and with none of the wrestlers willing to end the fight when they hear the bell.

I recently had the pleasure of watching the uniquely talented actor Dominic West in Arthur Miller’s 1955 masterpiece “A View From The Bridge” at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End.

In case you missed the headline, or saw it but thought you might have misread it, allow me to repeat: the Middle East — despite all its woes, wars and wounds — still has a chance to “change for the better.”

Geographically, Saudi Arabia and Japan could not be much farther apart, but the past few days have shown just how close the two countries have become politically, economically and strategically.

Better late than never, as they say, and it is indeed positive to see the relationship between the UK and Saudi Arabia finally heading in the right direction.