Are Think Tanks the Key to Advancement?

The push to advance through the Vision 2030 agenda has become an unprecedented effort on every predetermined difference-making front that varies in complexity. As every sector touches and affects another in various ways, more talk of the benefits of think tanks bubbles to the surface for a variety of reasons, but on the forefront, communication between sectors, businesses, Kingdom officials, decision-makers, and foreign investors, is paramount to further advance the goal of a cohesive national transformation and to solve problems that have arisen along the way. Historically, Saudi Arabia has not been at the forefront of think tank incorporation, often being greatly outnumbered at the national level in terms of how many functional think tanks are operating at a capacity that would impact decision-making that transpires on a governmental level, but at the Saudi Think Tanks Road to 2030 event that took place in Riyadh back on the 28th of February, voices were heard that are making a call toward positive change in this sector.

Speakers such as Keith Burnet, ex-Comms Manager at Chatham House, rose the potential to be had for Middle Eastern entities to glean from the benefits found with other think tank models around the world and suggest that they should be incorporated into Middle Eastern models, as governing bodies in this section of the world tend to hold things more closely to the chest than others.  This has remained true for several reasons, but some changes are being made at the highest levels of Saudi governance to become more transparent from the top down. This transition from the top has opened the door to the possibility of better utilization of think tanks to make well-hashed-through suggestions to officials or offer guidance through complex issues and situations. Effective use of think tanks can help to carve out a path particularly suited to the benefit of Saudi Arabia in every sector, to tackle what’s left to accomplish as 2030 has reached a tangible, not-so-distant future, but there needs to be organization, order, and a dependable flow of information from one sector to another to avoid there being the proverbial “too many hands in the soup.” In comes the suggestion of a Saudi Arabian Think Tank League, which would give structure, stability, and fluidity that would categorize and maintain order between different think tanks as they work out the sectorial issues (among other matters) that need to be addressed.

The potential for such a league was explained in an article called, “What About a Saudi Think Tank League?” submitted to the “On Think Tanks” website in March of 2022 by Mohammad S. Alzou’bi; Head and Co-founder of DEVE Initiative. His outline supports a unified front between all sectors including government, educational, private, or public, utilizing knowledge of the brightest minds in a host of sectors to come together cohesively. In this proposal-like article by Mr. Alzou’bi, he specifies five groups already active that have withstood the test of time and would be good candidates to come together and get the league into a more realizable position. While Saudi Arabia deals with the changes that have already been put into place, coupled with the challenges that are to come with the vision 2030 target, a rigid think tank system at play could help to avoid making ill-advised mistakes and provide well-thought-out options, council, or suggestions to Kingdom officials and decision-makers.

Prof. Alaa Alghamdi

Saudi Scholar & Writer

@ayghamd