The death of a king serves as a moment for reflection, not only about the past, but also toward the future as policy turns into legacy.

King Abdullah steered Saudi Arabia through the turbulence of the aftermath not only of 9/11 but also from the terrorist attacks within the Kingdom beginning in May 2003 — known there as “the Saudi 9/11” — when Al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula brought their version of jihad home. Then, as now, the overwhelming majority of Saudis rejected terrorism and extremism and called for recognition of a more moderate interpretation of Islam that would engage with contemporary issues, not from a spirit of violence and destruction, but based on the values of justice, tolerance, and compassion.

As the cornerstone of that project, King Abdullah worked to implement the twin pillars of wasatiyya (moderation) and wataniyya (love of country). Wasatiyya became the buzzword not only in working to eliminate extremism and intolerance from religious interpretation (a project that remains to be completed), but also in revamping the education system, most importantly through the founding of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia’s first co-educational university, designed to become the MIT of the Middle East, and the creation of the King Abdullah Scholarship Program to send tens of thousands of both female and male Saudi students abroad for university studies to expose them to different ideas and cultures while obtaining useful skills to bring back home and put to work. All of this was tied to the second goal of wataniyya and encouraging youth, both female and male, to develop a love and pride for country.

For many youth, the combination of wasatiyya and wataniyya has expanded beyond pride to the desire to embrace a greater level of citizenship, bringing empowerment of both youth and women to the public arena. Although it has become standard fare in the West to look to the events of the so-called Arab Spring as the decisive moment for reform in the Middle East, in the Saudi case, the more important moment really came on Nov. 25, 2009 — known as “Black Wednesday” — when torrential floods poured through Jeddah, taking the lives of hundreds and causing enormous property damage. Women and men, old and young, foreigner and Saudi worked together to organize rescues, gather medical supplies, set up makeshift tents, and drive where needed — all in the name of humanity and the nation. As the floodwaters settled, perhaps for the first time, Saudis fully realized their own capabilities. This, I believe, was the turning point in society’s expectations, building upon the framework that had been slowly, but steadily, built for years. And this has become the point of no return for Saudi youth today.

An estimated 60 percent of the Saudi population today is under the age of 25 — a youth bulge present throughout the Middle East. A population’s youth are often regarded as a “security threat,” with concerns about the possibility for radicalization if demands, whether for jobs, housing, or political and civil rights, cannot be met. Yet, perhaps the Jeddah floods offer a more hopeful vision for Saudi Arabia’s future if youth needs are met in a way that fulfills the expectations put into place through wasatiyya and wataniyya by harnessing the good will, energy, and desire for purpose and meaning expressed by youth by putting them to work solving the issues about which they have registered the greatest concern within the Kingdom: replacing the system of wasta (influence based on connections) with one based on merit established through knowledge and experience; rebuilding and renovating built environments, including buildings, roads, and sewage systems, to be more integrated and energy efficient; constructing and caring for green spaces in urban environments; and working to solve the future challenges of global issues that also have a very real impact within the Kingdom, including overconsumption, water shortages, the ravages of pollution, and insecurities in the food supply. Rather than viewing youth as a security problem that needs to be controlled, the time seems to have come to recognize youth as the tremendous human resource the Kingdom has invested in so heavily.

And perhaps this will prove to be King Abdullah’s greatest legacy and King Salman’s path forward — the arrival at a Kennedy-esque moment where youth are no longer asking what the country is going to do for them, but what they can do for their country.