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UN Chief Lauds Oman for Discreet Role in Peace Talks
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 30 2016 (IPS) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has singled out Oman as perhaps the only Arab country in the Gulf playing a discreet role – mostly behind-the- scenes – in helping resolve some of the military and political conflicts in the war-ravaged region.
The conflicts include the devastating war in Yemen, the long drawn out confrontation between Iran and the big powers on a controversial nuclear agreement with Tehran, and the eight year- long Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
The Secretary-General’s sentiments have been reinforced in a new book titled “Oman Reborn” by Linda Pappas Funsch, Professor of Middle East Studies at Frederick Community College, Maryland, who points out that “the Sultanate of Oman is arguably one of the few ‘good news’ stories to emerge from the Middle East in the contemporary era.”
Described as one of the oldest independent countries in the Arab and Muslim world, Oman differs from many of its neighbours in the Middle East, Funsch says.
Largely ignored by a mainstream media that “gravitates toward sensation and scandal, Oman remains a hidden gem…”
When he visited Oman last month, the Secretary-General specifically acknowledged Oman’s role in hosting discreet talks between U.S. and Iranian officials, which eventually helped set the stage for the landmark nuclear agreement involving Iran and P5+1 – namely the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the US, Britain, France, China and Russia, plus Germany.
As the United Nations moves towards mediating peace negotiations between Yemen and Saudi Arabia in Kuwait on April 18— preceded by a cease-fire on April 10 — the Secretary-General said Oman has been a critical partner “as we try to bring peace to Yemen.”
Foreign Policy
A country apart
A tiny sultanate that is not afraid to stand alone
Published in The Economist on May 30th 2015 from the print edition
THE term khususiyya is often cited by monarchs in the Gulf to justify their ways. They use it to mean the unique character of a culture, and also to dismiss demands for political and social reform. Like the idea of exceptionalism in America, khususiyya has become a cliché in the Middle East. But in Oman, many believe that it helps explain the country’s independent foreign policy.
Sitting at the south-eastern tip of the Arabian peninsula, Oman is surrounded by countries locked in a sectarian cold war and prone to meddling in each other’s affairs. But the little sultanate has a policy of non-intervention, and in turn expects its own sovereignty to be respected.
Take its relationship with the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), of which it is a member. Oman has resisted efforts to turn the six-nation block into a political and economic union, which it fears would be dominated by the Saudis. It has opted out of the group’s military adventures too, despite having once proposed a unified army. Oman’s well-equipped soldiers did not join other GCC forces in crushing protests in Bahrain (another member) in 2011; nor has it joined air strikes in Syria or Yemen.
Oman cannot ignore its neighbours altogether, in part because most have more oil. Oman relies on the black stuff for around 80% of its income, so it has criticised Saudi Arabia for keeping prices low and prodded members of OPEC to cut output unilaterally. (Oman is not a member of the cartel.) It also leant on GCC aid in order to deliver more jobs and higher salaries in response to protests in 2011.
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Sep 25, 2016
STATEMENT UN 71st GA
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