[War & Business] Saudi Arabia's Ambition to Build a Real-Life "Wakanda"

Bin Salman Enchanted by Black Panther's Wakanda
Power Struggle Between the U.S. and China Looms Behind NEOM City

[Image source=NEOM project]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The recently released Hollywood film "Black Panther 2" features the cutting-edge futuristic city kingdom of "Wakanda," which has drawn even greater global attention as it coincides with Saudi Arabia's announcement of investment plans for the "NEOM City" project.

Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler and head of government of Saudi Arabia, has reportedly expressed his ambition to turn NEOM City into a real-life Wakanda, sparking a second Middle Eastern development boom worldwide since the 1980s. Bin Salman was so captivated by Wakanda that when the first Black Panther film was released in 2018, he allowed it to be screened across Saudi Arabia?the first Hollywood film to receive such permission in the country.

Announced in 2017 with a scale of $500 billion (approximately 670 trillion KRW), NEOM City is considered the core project of Bin Salman's national agenda, "Vision 2030." The plan is to build a massive high-tech city with a population of 9 million near the Red Sea, facing the borders of Egypt and Jordan, by 2030. The project has now moved into the city design phase.

The NEOM City design is attracting more attention because a large design team that specializes in creating futuristic cities for science fiction (SF) films has been recruited. They proposed a city completely different from existing urban forms, named "The Line." The plan involves installing 500-meter-high, 200-meter-wide mirrors along a 170 km straight line to create a greenhouse the size of the Great Wall of China, within which the city will be built.

The Saudi government is heavily promoting that the city will be filled with advanced automated facilities, eco-friendly energy systems, and autonomous flying cars. Beyond feasibility, Saudi Arabia, which is the only country to have profited from the high oil prices before and after the Ukraine war, has begun to significantly invest its oil money. This has attracted interest from construction companies worldwide, including those in South Korea. Bin Salman's upcoming visit to Korea on the 17th is also receiving international attention for this reason.

Behind Bin Salman's seemingly rosy ambitions lies a power struggle between the United States and China over Middle Eastern dominance. The so-called "Petro-Dollar" alliance system, maintained by Saudi Arabia reinvesting oil revenues into U.S. and European financial markets, is beginning to crack, causing relations between the U.S. and the Middle East to grow more distant.

Since the U.S. reclaimed its position as the world's top oil producer in 2018 through shale oil production, the relationship between the two countries has shifted into competition. China, which imports more than half of Saudi oil, has emerged as the biggest player in the Middle East.

Some experts attribute Saudi Arabia's change of heart to the inherent limitations of its absolute monarchy. With the Biden administration emphasizing human rights and democracy and framing the world as a battleground between free democratic countries and authoritarian states, the Saudi royal family, as an absolute monarchy, can no longer regard the U.S. as an unquestioned ally.

Saudi Arabia's moves are expected to influence many authoritarian regimes in Asia and Africa that are watching both the U.S. and China closely. The world is watching to see whether NEOM City will truly become a cradle of scientific and technological innovation, like Wakanda in the Black Panther films, feared even by the United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.