ASSESSMENTS

Creating Citizens out of Subjects: Saudi Arabia Gets Down to Social Engineering

Jan 22, 2018 | 09:00 GMT

Saudi women shop in a mall in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's royal leaders have launched social engineering operations to try to produce a new Saudi citizen for the 21st century.

(HASSAN AMMAR/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

Riyadh has emulated Abu Dhabi in unveiling a vision to transform Saudi Arabia, but it is likely to encounter similar challenges to the United Arab Emirates.
Vision 2030 will help in some areas but could also exacerbate regional tensions and increase the divide between the rich and the poor.
Saudi reformers hope to overhaul the education system, but their efforts might do little to provide students with the skills necessary for the future.

Constructing a cohesive nation-state over the tribes and sects conquered by the House of Saud has always been a work in progress for Saudi Arabia. Different strategies have been tried over the decades, including the current emphasis on puritanical Wahhabism. Now, as part of a series of reforms dubbed Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia's leaders are seeking to create a new, modern society composed of citizens equipped with the skills to succeed in the modern global economy....

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