Before MBS started reversing policy, around $75 -$100 billion had been spent on radicalizing Muslim minds across the world, Pakistan was primary target; A snap shot: Saudi Arabia's global public diplomacy campaign—often described as the largest post-WWII soft-power initiative—involved investing an estimated $75 billion to $100 billion to export its ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam, primarily Wahhabism, Salafism, and Deobandism. Driven by the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Saudi rulers sought to counter Shia Iran's regional influence and solidify their own status as the leaders of the Muslim world. The funding operated through state ministries and transnational conduits like the World Muslim League, funding thousands of mosques, madrassas, universities, and media networks. While Pakistan was a primary theater of operation, Saudi religious funding heavily targeted several other countries and regions across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the West: 1. Southeast Asia •Indonesia: Saudi funding heavily altered the religious landscape by building over a hundred Salafi boarding schools and fully subsidizing LIPIA (Institute for Islamic and Arabic Sciences) in Jakarta. Graduates from these institutions subsequently injected strict, puritanical Salafism into Indonesian politics and society, eroding traditionally tolerant local customs. •Malaysia, Southern Thailand, and the Philippines: Funding flowed into local mosques and preachers, shifting traditionally pluralistic and open Southeast Asian Islamic practices toward fundamentalism. 2. Other South Asian Regions •Bangladesh: Massive funding directed toward hardline groups, such as Hefazat-e-Islam, fueled violent protests demanding strict Islamic law. •Kashmir and India: Saudi funds backed organizations like Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, which constructed hundreds of mosques and schools. This influx eroded traditional Sufi-influenced practices, leading to a rise in conservative dress codes and an increase in sectarian friction. 3. The Middle East & North Africa (Proxy Frontlines) •Yemen: To aggressively offset Iranian alignment with the Zaydi (Houthi) population, Riyadh funded figures like Muqbil al-Wadi'i, who established the Dar al-Hadith Institute in Dammaj to propagate aggressive Salafi education. •Syria: During the civil war, Saudi Arabia strategically funded, armed, and trained Salafi militant factions like Jaysh al-Islam. •Algeria: The influx of returnee fighters from the Saudi-backed Afghan-Soviet war in 1989 deeply destabilized Algeria, contributing to its subsequent decade of fundamentalist violence. 4. The Balkans and Eastern Europe •Bosnia and Kosovo (Former Yugoslavia): Following the collapse of Yugoslavia and the ensuing civil wars in the 1990s, Saudi charities flooded the region with money to rebuild damaged infrastructure. This assistance arrived with strict Wahhabi doctrine attached, intentionally introducing fundamentalist theology into European Muslim communities that had previously practiced secularized or highly moderate forms of Islam. 5. Western Nations United Kingdom and Western Europe: Academic reports and think tanks (such as a highly publicized study by the Henry Jackson Society) highlighted that Saudi endowments targeted independent Islamic schools and mosques. These funds were used to distribute intolerant literature, train local imams in Saudi universities, and mandate Saudi-authored textbooks. United States: Freedom House and congressional investigations verified that billions of dollars successfully influenced numerous American Islamic centers and mosques, frequently distributing literature that promoted religious intolerance. The Modern Shift This decades-long strategy has experienced a massive reversal. Under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia began aggressively cutting off the foreign funding of mosques and religious seminaries.