https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2084-0253
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ABSTRACT
Saudi Arabia’s soft power is visible in Pakistan because of the historic relations between Riyadh and Islamabad but the erstwhile scholarship mainly focuses on its hard power and the strategic dynamics of its relationship with Pakistan. This paper aims to bridge the gap by investigating how Riyadh uses various soft power instruments and how they are received in Pakistan. Understanding its centrality in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia has been investing in the following inter-connected soft power instruments: religion, culture, history, Islamic education, and diplomacy by dominating the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. See the Soft Power 30 website, https://softpower30.com/.
3. It is important to mention that Saudi Arabia is among the world’s largest exporters of dates accounting for 17% share in the global market (Shabbir Citation2022a).
4. See the IIUI website, https://iiu.edu.pk/default.htm.
6. In November 2021, Al-Othaimeen was replaced by Hissein Brahim Taha of Chad.
7. For more, visit https://www.iccia.com/iccia-executives/.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Zahid Shahab Ahmed
Zahid Shahab Ahmed is an Associate Professor at the National Defence College of the United Arabi Emirates in Abu Dhabi. He is also an Honorary Fellow at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalization, Deakin University, Australia, where he previously worked a Senior Research Fellow during 2016-2023. During 2013–2016, he was Assistant Professor at the Centre for International Peace and Stability, National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. He has published extensively on Pakistan’s foreign relations. Among his publications is Regionalism and Regional Security in South Asia: The Role of SAARC (Routledge, 2013).
Umer Karim
Mr. Umer Karim is a PhD scholar in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham. His academic research focuses on Saudi foreign policy and politics, in particular the Saudi regional policy outlook and the broader geopolitics of the Middle East. Karim’s work has appeared in academic journals and mainstream news sources alike.