Saudi Arabia, sport, and bespoke soft power

Sports have been a central part of Saudi Arabian society since 2015 as the country strives to enact social change, diversify its economy, and increase its global influence. But not all of Saudi Arabia’s efforts have had the desired return. Many read Saudi Arabia’s recent turn towards sport as an attempt to distract attention from domestic social issues. This article focuses on the soft power aspect of this return. Its first original contribution is to suggest that Joseph Nye’s original concept be read with greater variance. The second shows that Saudi Arabia uses sport to project bespoke soft power. We argue that Saudi Arabia targets a specific aspect of a state to create mutually beneficial relationships that enable the successful projection of soft power. Its final contribution assesses the most successful soft power approach for Saudi Arabia to use to achieve its geopolitical goals through sport in the future.