Abstract. The active restructuring of the domestic and foreign policy foundations undertaken by the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) in the last decade has drawn researchers’ attention to the goals, objectives, and instruments of activity established in the transformational program “Saudi Vision 2030.” While most scholars delve into the study of socio-economic transformations and the efforts to break free from the “oil curse,” they often overlook the humanitarian factor of the Kingdom’s foreign policy. This factor is gradually gaining increasing importance for changing the country’s image on the world stage and strengthening its regional position as a pillar of the Middle East, which presents significant interest for academic research. The study involved an analysis of both scholarly literature on KSA’s foreign policy and changes in the country’s regional standing, as well as official documents that address issues related to the humanitarian goals of the Kingdom’s government, particularly the policy documents of KSrelief. A range of methods was applied: structural-functional analysis, historical and comparativist approaches, content analysis, and factor analysis.
The conducted research has proven that the humanitarian activities of the KSA government are a modern tool of foreign policy influence. This tool shapes the Kingdom’s attractive image on the global stage, strengthens the country’s geopolitical standing in the Middle East, allows for the management of risks associated with its own foreign policy decisions, and solidifies Riyadh’s leadership position as a future “regional pillar” amid the transformation of the global world order. It is concluded that soft power tools, particularly the KSA’s humanitarian diplomacy implemented through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief), have become significant channels for promoting the country’s national interests on the world stage. They contribute to changing Riyadh’s status in regional processes, transforming it into an ambitious regional leader possessing the necessary resources to exert its influence.
Keywords: the Middle East, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, foreign policy priorities, regional pillar, humanitarian sphere, modernization program.