From Neom to wartime logistics, Saudi Arabia has learned to pivot

When Neom was unveiled in 2017, it embodied the maximalism of early Vision 2030: a futuristic city on the Red Sea, powered by clean energy and data, that would leapfrog the constraints of an older state. The renderings were dazzling and the ambition genuine. But so, in retrospect, was the risk that the concept would outrun its execution. What matters today is not simply that Saudi Arabia has recalibrated Neom. It is that the Kingdom did so decisively, without pretending that the original blueprint had to remain sacrosanct. This willingness to pivot is not a weakness.