Saudi soft power can boost social inclusion worldwide

Saudi Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Ahmed Al-Rajhi and other representatives of the Kingdom attended the Second World Summit for Social Development in Doha this month. It was also attended by ministers and senior officials from countries worldwide, in addition to representatives of global and regional entities and civil society organizations. The summit discussed efforts to eliminate poverty, establish full employment and decent work, and develop social inclusion to guarantee support for everybody in this complex world.

In the theoretical framework, social inclusion has primarily been linked with efforts to overcome the problems of social exclusion, such as educational underachievement, unemployment, low income, high crime, poor housing and poor health. Government policies toward social inclusion are fortified by the idea that social cohesion might be threatened when certain groups are not linked to the broader community. The meaning of social inclusion is related to equality, social justice and fairness.

Adopting the logic presented by the researcher Hazel Maxwell, who analyzes social inclusion in Australian community sport settings, the term can arguably be further developed within the context of soft power. In his book, “Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics,” political theorist Joseph Nye described soft power as power that is exercised through diplomacy and cultural influence. The long-term contribution of Saudi Arabia to tackling matters concerning social inclusion can be broadly understood within the realization of the Kingdom’s soft power objectives.

Saudi Arabia has a history of actions that support all segments of societies, preventing poverty and hunger and ensuring healthy lives and access to education. It has contributed to global governance by offering support through well-recognized entities such as the UN and the World Bank.

For example, Saudi Arabia offered a $50 million grant to the World Food Programme between 1975 and 1976 in response to the global economic crisis of 1973. In 2014, it provided more than $200 million of food for displaced families in Iraq and refugees from Syria, South Sudan and Somalia. And this year, Saudi Arabia and Qatar cleared Syria’s $15.5 million debt to the World Bank.

In the same vein, this month’s summit in Doha discussed possible future efforts to tackle global challenges, a worldwide commitment to social development, and strong support for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This is the universal UN plan that is “a culmination of more than four decades of multilateral dialogue and debate on tackling environmental, social and economic challenges faced by the world community.”

The Kingdom’s soft power initiatives provide it with significant tools to bolster its reputation abroad

Dr. Diana Galeeva

These goals are relevant to Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. As Al-Rajhi stressed, the Kingdom’s commitments to food security and climate action are occurring through the implementation of the Saudi Green Initiative and the Middle East Green Initiative. It also aims to build a knowledge-based economy.

Although Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters, it has prioritized the green energy transition in its Vision 2030, such as through its Green Riyadh project, and made other commitments to environmental protection through the “Made in Saudi” initiative. It has also sought to transition the economy away from fossil fuels and into other sectors such as tourism.

This summer, the Kingdom hosted many traditional festivals, including the Beit Hail Festival in the northwest of the country, which attracted more than 65,000 visitors. The Technical and Vocational Training Corporation also organized the Baha Craftsmen Forum. And the City Hub Festival in Al-Baha itself was organized as part of Vision 2030.

All these initiatives contribute to social inclusion, adding to the Kingdom’s soft power initiatives that provide it with significant tools to bolster its reputation abroad.

The importance of soft power will only increase in the years ahead, both for Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world. The Kingdom can emerge as a leader by offering the international community a new worldwide “vision,” similar to Vision 2030, to deal with social injustice in global communities. This new program can be developed in collaboration with the UN and/or the World Bank and be linked with Vision 2030’s objectives and existing national programs.

Given the Kingdom’s desire to build a knowledge-based economy, a unique program — a collaboration between the government and universities of Saudi Arabia and other leading universities worldwide — can be created to progress the digital transformation and develop artificial intelligence technology.

This can be linked with the Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City, which is one of the distinctive projects of Vision 2030. It is a new destination in Riyadh that aims to empower future generations of Saudis by building a digitized, human-centered ecosystem that offers an environment where young minds can learn, innovate and work. This will help deal with social inclusion matters within Saudi society and boost the Kingdom’s broader soft power among academic communities worldwide.

Such projects and innovations could be further linked with the realization of Vision 2030 and the outcomes applied in Saudi Arabia’s $500 billion Neom smart city.

In other words, the “Made in Saudi” campaign could be used as a base to further develop values promoting social justice worldwide. Based on its success so far in realizing its Vision 2030, the Kingdom might emerge as a leader by introducing new worldwide “visions” to tackle urgent global matters related to social inclusion.

• Dr. Diana Galeeva is an academic visitor to the Center of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge.