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Reader question: Please explain “deal with the devil”, as in this headline: The US Made a Deal With the Devil in Saudi Arabia. Who’s the devil? My comments: Without being given the specifics, we have no idea of knowing which exact deal you’re referring to, but then it doesn’t matter. I mean, the United States must have made many such deals over the years – with Saudi Arabia or other countries in the Middle East, or where US foreign policy is concerned generally. Anyways, all joking aside, it doesn’t matter much – because, you see, the “deal with the devil” here is a metaphor, the devil is not someone real, but someone representing evil, i.e. opposite of what’s good, just and moral. In other words, this is a bad deal. To secure this pact, the United States (must have) betrayed its morals and principles. This is what we may safely say, again without being specific because this is what a “deal with the devil” generally implies. To be exact, a deal with the devil usually means someone is giving up their moral principles in exchange for worldly gains. Worldly gains such as money, power, fame, status, success and that sort of thing. According to legend, the 16-century German scholar Johan Georg Faust made a deal with the devil, selling his soul in exchange for supreme power and knowledge. The long and short of that story is that once that deal is done and sealed, Faust isn’t able to back out of it and, after death, his soul stays in hell, for eternity. | 
