As a shorthand for the past decade of Saudi politics, the Vision 2030 project encompasses several interlocking processes: the personalization of political power around Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the rewiring of the Saudi administrative state to ensure more effective policy implementation, the relaxation of long-standing social restrictions, a concerted effort to diversify the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy, and the stern repression of any public dissent (outside of carefully controlled channels).

As Vision 2030 heads into the home stretch, at least until the next multi-year plan is announced, Saudi policymakers will contend with the predictable frictions engendered by top-down projects of national development.

Vision 2030 has supremely ambitious goals, from de-centering religion as the focal point of Saudi identity and daily life to centering Saudi Arabia within the world as an economic and geopolitical powerhouse. It also incorporates several enormous infrastructural projects. Most prominent among these is NEOM, a development zone in the far northwest of Saudi Arabia (along the Red Sea) encompassing several planned cities and industrial areas.

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