Background

The concept of soft power was first introduced by Harvard Professor Joseph Nye in 1990. He argued that there is an alternative method of foreign policy for states to win the support of others; rather than the traditional hard power method, which involves using military and economic means as the primary method of achieving its goals. Hence, Nye defined soft power as “the ability to shape the preferences of others through appeal and attraction”. This is fundamentally different from hard power, argues Ban Ki-moon, which is defined by attempts to coerce others through military and/or political and economic means. This could entail the coercive power of the ‘stick’ in the form of military threats or economic sanctions; or the coercive power of the ‘carrot’ in the form of military protection or even favorable trade deals. Soft power, on the other hand, is diametrically different as it does not center on coercion. Rather, it is recognized by the ability to attract the preferences of others via non-coercive, constructive means. In today’s increasingly interconnected and globalized world, soft power is everywhere, and is primarily manifested by cultural flows and people-to-people exchange. This can occur through the arts, including music, film, TV, literature, and dance, as well as through sports and even food. It can also occur through travel and tourism. And today migration and technology can disseminate cultural output faster, and in more organic ways through people-to-people exchanges, than ever before.

Workshop Goals

The overall goal of the workshop is to encourage scholars and practitioners to better understand the dimensions, development, and expansion of soft power in a globalized and transforming Saudi Arabia. The workshop focusses on various manifestations of soft power in the Kingdom and their impacts on Saudi Arabia’s diverse communities as well as the Kingdom’s international image. Underpinning this is the necessity of understanding what constitutes soft power as related to Saudi Arabia as well as its Vision 2030 goals and initiatives. Therefore, some of the questions animating this workshop could include, but are not limited to the following:

• How does soft power manifest itself in contemporary Saudi Arabia?

• What have proven to be the most effective forms of soft power when deployed to influence international fora, public debate in third countries?

• To what extent has soft power so far achieved its goals in informing, shaping and influencing domestic and international policy?

• How does Saudi Arabia’s deployment of soft power differ from that of its neighbours and how does that effect—positively or negatively—its effectiveness?

• How do Saudi Vision 2030 and the National Transformation Program (NPT) enhance the Kingdom’s soft power profile?

• To what extent can Saudi Arabia benefit from its effective COVID-19 experience?

• To what extent can soft power diminish some of the persistent stereotypes that continue to be associated with Saudi Arabia?

Workshop Scope and Proposed Topics 

The following are some proposed themes for the papers, but other relevant topics will also be welcomed. As previously mentioned, it is hoped that the workshop will attract a wide variety of papers from both academic and practitioners with an interest in the dimensions, development, and expansion of soft power in Saudi Arabia. Because this topic is relatively new in Saudi terms, it remains an extremely under-researched area; hence, the workshop’s scope will be necessarily broad in order to include contemporary soft power manifestations whether political, economic, social, and cultural as well as their impact on:

• Dimensions of soft power at national/macro level for context;

• Global soft power issues as related to Saudi Arabia;

• The Kingdom’s approach to soft power: national, regional, and international;

• Domestic drivers of soft power: from top down to bottom-up approaches;

• The roles of education, faith, sports, culture, entertainment, and tourism in developing soft power;

• The increasing prominence of international aid and humanitarian support, as facets of soft power;

• Scholarships, exchanges, and international job markets as formal and informal channels of soft power;

• Saudi youth interpretations of soft power issues;

• The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Saudi Arabia’s experience.

Edited Book 

Another aim of this workshop is to publish an edited book based on the individual papers presented. It is hoped that this volume will fill a gap in the relatively thin literature on Saudi soft power dimensions, manifestations, and influence.

Potential Solutions and Recommendations

We believe this proposed multi-disciplinary workshop will attract new research that can help academics and practitioners comprehend the dimensions, development, and expansion of soft power in Saudi Arabia. Thus, the workshop will contribute to the expansion of Saudi/Gulf Studies and beyond by first bringing together scholars and practitioners with first-hand knowledge and experience of soft power in Saudi Arabia (and beyond) from a range of social, political, economic, and cultural backgrounds. We hope that the workshop and subsequent edited volume and/or academic/policy journal papers provide an important and relevant resource for academics and policy makers as well as those involved in analyzing and comprehending the dimensions of soft power in Saudi Arabia.

Anticipated Papers 

These could include (but are not limited to) the following areas:

• Case studies, including analysis of inputs, processes, and outputs;

• From theory to practice, analyzing the factors that determine the dimensions of soft power in Saudi Arabia;

• Comparative analysis of soft power dimensions, development, and expansion amongst GCC states;

• Methods, approaches and examples of soft power dimensions, development, and expansion with an emphasis on top-down and bottom-up approaches to soft power policymaking and development;

• Review of soft power theory and praxis;

• Comparative analysis of institutions tasked with formulating and implementing soft power initiatives and programmes both within Saudi Arabia and across the states of the GCC;

• The role of nationalism (and agents of socialization) in mobilizing Saudi societies to deepen their engagement in transformational change as related to soft power;

• The exercise of soft power to inform and influence the policies of international organizations, such as the United Nations;

• The impact of soft power on not only enabling the Kingdom to host major international sports events, but also helping transform the organization and global reach of such events, as well as encouraging Saudi youth to deepen their engagement with sports;

• The limitations of soft power in pursuit of changing mindsets at home and abroad;

• Rewriting history: soft power as an exercise in newly engaging with prehistory, anthropology, archaeology and redefining identity.

Anticipated Participants

We encourage papers from socio-political, socio-economic, and socio-cultural academics, researchers, and practitioners with Saudi/Gulf experience (both native and non-native) as well as academics, researchers, and practitioners with a strong knowledge of the theoretical background of soft power both in Saudi Arabia and beyond. In addition, the workshop is also open to policy makers and representatives of NGOs, governments, and think tanks. The papers could be individual, co-authored, or small group contributions depending on the topic and/or institution. In sum, the aim of the workshop is to facilitate the sharing of ideas and to contribute to building a body of knowledge on this topic, based on real-life experiences in order to represent the broadest range of perspectives possible.