Moderate is the New Black: Shifts and Intersections in Saudi Arabia's Domestic and Foreign Policy

ABSTRACT The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is undergoing a period of intense changes. Its current stage of transformation has been led by Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) since 2015, seeking to turn the Kingdom into a story of successful governance and one of the leading powers in the Middle East. In hardly understood yet very consequential ways, KSA's policymaking is said to be invariably underpinned by an overarching principle: moderation. Domestically, moderation purportedly informs the range of state‐led measures and initiatives impacting on various fields of activity and their relations, linking politics, society, economics and religion. Externally, KSA aims to present itself as a moderate player, seeking to distinguish itself from other regional actors' strategies and outlooks. This article examines how Saudi Arabia practises the notion of moderation at the domestic and regional scales, and how its meanings have evolved between 2015 and 2025, situating the regime's actions within and across a constellation of struggles and conflicts unfolding both inside and outside the Kingdom. Moderation interacts with processes of social reproduction, (de)securitisation and regionalism/regionalisation that carry ordering implications.