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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Oman
Index
Oman's foreign policy since the 1970s has been
influenced by
Qabus ibn Said's determination to reverse the isolationism
of
Sultan Said ibn Taimur's rule and guardedly to integrate
Oman
both regionally and internationally. The geostrategic
position of
the country on the southern shore of the Strait of Hormuz,
the
imperatives of an oil-dependent economy, and the threats
posed by
stronger, neighboring regimes, notably Saudi Arabia and
Iran,
have also shaped the sultan's foreign policy. Oman's
foreign
policy, as a result of the sultan's goals and the regime's
ties
to Britain and the United States, has been
nonconfrontational and
conciliatory to Western interests in the region.
Nonetheless, the regime has displayed an uncommon
independence of action in comparison with other Arab gulf
states.
On several occasions, Oman has acted as a broker in
regional
disputes. During the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), the two
belligerents conducted cease-fire talks secretly in
Muscat.
Although no formal agreement resulted, the talks reduced
mistrust
between the parties. Similarly, after 1988 Oman acted as
mediator
in the restoration of diplomatic relations between Iran
and
Britain and Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Data as of January 1993
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