All known problems circling around, no quick fix for that.
What SA can do is to start investing in education and academia as part of long term strategy, goal should be to become more atractive then western universities for arab talents and elites, once you can achieve that you can help with their problems in indirect and non intrusive manner.
Once when no arab have desire to go somewhere else to seek knowledge and education out of the arab world healing process would already begin, your country has resources to initiate it. Only widespreaded knowledge and education have transformative power within societies.
Since we are on a military forum, I will repost a post I made on the "Made in KSA" thread on the Arab section.
The Military Industries Sector
@GAMI_KSA achieved a remarkable growth at
:
— The Numbers:
• Contribution exceeding 6.5 billion riyals
• Increase in local spending from 4% in 2018 to 25% by the end of 2024
• Development of +140 industrial capabilities including drones and land and naval equipment
• 344 licensed companies and 34 thousand workers with 64% localization
The development going in the right direction.
The Global "The Spectator Index":
The Saudi economy continues its steady progress, driven by a 9.3% year-on-year increase in industrial production, signaling the strength of the industrial transformation within Saudi Vision 2030.
"Dreaming of entering the military industries field?
Well, listen up, you might not know this, but the Saudi National Academy for Military Industries was actually established.
The Academy was announced in 2022, and today it's become a reality on the ground, with its location in Riyadh spanning over 80,000 square meters, accommodating around 2,000 male and female students every year.
And its current specializations are distributed across four key tracks:
• Electronics Technology in Defense
• Mechanical Technology in Defense
• Electrical Technology in Defense
• Chemical Technology in Defense
And the great thing is that the General Authority for Military Industries GAMI has focused on developing the capabilities of our young men and women “civilians in the technical and scientific fields related to military industries.
And this thing actually raises their awareness and skills in a field that, unfortunately, many people were ignorant of before 2016, but today the situation is starting to change, because the goal is to enhance true awareness of the importance of military industries, so that the new generation knows exactly what it means to manufacture defense systems, and how electronics and mechanics and electricity and chemistry work within this sensitive sector.
And more important than awareness?
Enhancing localization.
Having an academy like this creates a generation that's understanding, qualified, and trained in a scientific way, and this is exactly what supports the state's direction in localizing military industries by 50% and more, because without trained and aware local cadres, there won't be a real industry, nor technology transfer, nor internal development.
And this is a big step because it doesn't just raise the level of individuals
— it raises the level of the entire sector and supports the Kingdom's independence in manufacturing, reduces our reliance on the outside, and opens up massive opportunities for the coming generation.
Official account of the Academy for more info:
@theadiksa
"There are countries that establish military companies within their territories, then recruit foreign engineers and experts from multiple countries to manufacture their products, and afterward describe these products as “national industry”.It is true that manufacturing within the country contributes to supportingits economy, but the reality is entirely different in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Here, when we say “national industry”, we mean it literally:
Industry by the hands of the sons of the homeland, with their expertise, and with their capabilities that are being developed and empowered to become an actual part of the national defense system"
As you see, KSA does not lack local talent or people, even though exceptional people are always welcome, Arab or non-Arab.
The thing that fosters growth in every sphere and a necessary thing for such a growth to even occur in the first place is peace and stability over a long sustained period. You cannot really develop truly if you don't have stability for an extended period of time. It is that simple.
So in order for the Arab world and immediate neighborhood to best grow most organically and successfully is for their own talented people to stay and contribute within their own countries and this way help develop and advance their respective countries which again would led to a stronger and more developed Arab world. Afterwards talented/successful people, companies etc. can cooperate across Arab borders like is the case already in places like the GCC.
But if you have people in power/people fighting to reach power wreck havoc in country x or y, useless leadership that deliberately prefers to have a ignorant populace, there is not much you can do but wait for changes to occur naturally.
Look at Syria. They might be a mess right now (no wonder) but at least they have given themselves a chance to foster their own future and with hard work, dedication and a clever leadership and good allies they can growth and develop.
And given the trajectory that KSA is on (becoming a global tech, tourism, entertainment, sports, industrial, natural resources (was already the case), religious, economic etc. hub), this is what KSA wants the most as that would benefit us hugely.
PIF alone has 1 trillion USD in assets. Don't you think, logically speaking, that KSA would prefer (logistically, economic wise, culturally etc.) to invest hugely within next door Iraq, Yemen or Egypt (to give a few examples) if profits could be maximized just as much as in the West, China or elsewhere? Of course. Look at the GCC. We might have (leadership) differences in terms of many foreign policy affairs and internally but we are working largely together when it comes to vital fields and most importantly economy, tech, military etc. More could be done on this front but at least the leadership and countries AND people have realized that we are stronger together and that we benefit from it hence the free travel, residency and many other things that are similar to the EU model in Europe which is also good on many fronts.
Also while we are talking about regional cooperation, the same is the case with Bosnia in relation to the Balkans and the necessity (in order to develop) for greater regional cooperation and leaving past disagreements aside. In a perfect world that is but such a world does not exist currently. Look at Kosovo, Republic Srpska and other challenges in the region. Let alone demographical challenges, West (NATO/EU vs Russia/East divide), religious divides etc. Yet if there were clever/effective politicians they would realize that they have to live together and that it is ideally better to prosper together than fall together.
