Being a leader must be exhausting. At least that’s the impression that we get from these photos taken at the annual Arab Summit, happening this week at the Dead Sea in Jordan. Sixteen leaders from the Arab world have gathered to talk about pressing issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And many of them appeared to sleep through it.
Yemen’s President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, Palestine’s President Mahmoud Abbas, the Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh were all caught on camera snoozing during the summit’s proceedings, according to this Buzzfeed post.
It’s hard not to laugh at the photos, but this also points to a real problem. As we’ve explained before, sleep-deprived leaders make worse decisions, and with important issues at stake, there’s no room for sub-par thinking. Plus, you can’t possibly have all of the information you need to weigh in on an important choice if you slept through any arguments presented for or against.
So to the leaders at the Arab Summit — and any sleep-deprived leader for that matter — do the world a favor and get some rest.
Read more about the summit here and see more of the photos here.
Originally published at journal.thriveglobal.com