Not through street protests or domestic pressure, but through international institutions, business partners, and corporate boards. The decisive metric here is reputation. Governance rules, compliance departments, and risk committees treat ethical exposure as an investment variable even when personal convictions are absent because public opinion in open markets can be unforgiving.

A recent oversight hearing in Washington shows how political turbulence amplifies that uncertainty. US Attorney General Pam Bondi, questioned about the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein files, repeatedly avoided direct answers and drifted into partisan talking points as the session escalated into heated exchanges. When Governments and global investors see the official source of information in Washington turn into theater, they act defensively to protect their brands from anyone perceived as tainted, Arab or otherwise.

The harsh conclusion is that Arab figures who remained close to Epstein after his 2008 conviction may never face automatic prosecution, yet they lose the simplest defense, “we did not know.” Questions will linger until convincing answers emerge and with more than three million documents now in circulation, further revelations are almost certain