When Strategy Becomes the Will of a Society

Adel Al-Rifai Abulhasan
Many countries formulate strategies and plans, but the real difference lies in their ability to turn them into reality. A strategy alone does not create development; it needs the will to protect it, the determination to drive it forward, the institutions to implement it, and the patience to let its results accumulate over time.
Development is, by its very nature, a long-term undertaking. It does not follow a straight or well-paved path. Circumstances change, crises and wars emerge, markets shift, technology accelerates, new competitors appear, and developments may outpace what the original plan was designed to address. This is where the value of genuine determination becomes apparent: remaining committed to the goal while retaining the ability to develop and adapt the means.
The experiences of countries such as Turkey, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore offer important lessons in this regard. Despite differences in their circumstances, their trajectories show that major transformation requires a long-term perspective, the determination to stay the course, and the ability to learn, develop, and persevere. Development takes shape through the cumulative effect of policies, investments, expertise and institutions.
Determination often comes before resources. When there is the will, the search for resources begins, alternatives emerge, solutions are developed and the vision evolves. A state may not initially have everything it needs, but it can seek what it lacks, make the best use of what it has, and develop its project as implementation proceeds.
This is why a strategy is not a rigid document; it is a living process that learns from its own experience. The means may change, priorities may shift, or challenges may emerge that were not originally anticipated. But a state with a firmly rooted sense of purpose reviews, adjusts and develops its strategy without losing its direction.
Strategy as a Living Entity
One of the principal conditions for development is recognising that strategy is a living entity, with a life cycle that needs to run its full course. It begins with determination, followed by vision and the definition of objectives; then come strategy, policies and programmes, followed by implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and then review and development, until results accumulate and ultimately lead to development.
This is where patience and perseverance become integral parts of strategy. They give it time to complete its cycle, while allowing its methods to evolve and its direction to remain steady. Changing a strategy before its cycle is complete dissipates accumulated gains and takes the process back to the beginning.
Determination → Vision and Objectives → Strategy → Policies and Programmes → Implementation → Monitoring and Evaluation → Review and Development → Accumulation → Development
Yet the state’s determination alone is not enough. Major strategies require the will of society as a whole. Such a collective will cannot be built in isolation from the people. Society needs to know the direction in which the state is moving, understand its objectives and recognise its own role in achieving them.
Participation should therefore begin at the strategy-development stage, by involving experts, specialists, institutions and stakeholders, each within their respective areas of expertise. Once the strategy has been adopted, it should be followed by a process of preparation and communication to explain its objectives, stages, and the roles of ministries, authorities, and institutions. Hence, everyone enters the implementation phase knowing what is expected of them and why.
Information thus becomes part of the nation-building process. Giving people the information they need creates understanding; understanding opens the door to participation; participation generates a sense of responsibility; and responsibility reinforces continuity.
In an age of increasingly diverse means of communication, the state can reach different segments of society through the channels, approaches, and language most appropriate to each. Communication needs to be continuous, gradual and clear, so that the idea reaches every group at a level it can understand without losing its substance.
Transparency and impartiality remain among the most important conditions for building trust. Transparency means society knows the strategy’s objectives, what has been achieved, what has encountered difficulties, why those difficulties have arisen, and what the next step will be. Impartiality means that the strategy rises above individuals, governments and narrow interests, making the national interest its primary benchmark.
When citizens understand that a strategy’s success is connected to their lives and their children’s future, participation ceases to be merely an obligation and becomes a conviction. When a public servant understands that the success of the institution in which they work is part of the state’s success, their performance aligns more closely with the national objective.
This is when strategy reaches one of its highest levels of strength: when every citizen feels they have a stake in their country’s development. At that point, the plan ceases to be merely a document within state institutions and becomes a national project that society participates in understanding, implementing, protecting and sustaining.
Development is not created by the state alone. It is created by a state that knows where it wants to go, together with a society that understands why it is going there.
For this reason, the real question facing any state seeking development is not merely: What do we have? It is also: Do we have the determination to use what we possess effectively, seek what we lack, and remain patient along the journey until we reach our destination?
Development begins with determination, but determination alone cannot deliver it. It requires a strategy, a society that participates in it, institutions that carry it forward, and the patience to give it time to complete its cycle and allow accumulation to become development.

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