Saudi Arabia’s Soft Power Strategy Analyzed from the Perspective of Ontological Security

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons for Saudi Arabia's pursuit of a soft power strategy since the rise of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman from a constructivist perspective. To do so, this paper utilizes ontological security as an analytical framework. From an ontological perspective, Saudi Arabia is likely to maintain biographical continuity and continue to build soft power with the modification of its national identity to promote its national interests of royal family survival and national unity. Saudi Arabia is analyzed to be in the process of establishing a new national identity as a moderate Islamist, secular nationalist, and economically diversified state. This proves that Saudi Arabia is a suitable case to be explained by the ontological security theory.