The Role of a Small State in a Regional Security System: The Case of Oman

Abstract

This thesis explains the prevailing paradigm of the role of small states in regional security systems, and fundamentally examines the case of Oman as a small country that has managed to play a significant role in the Middle Eastern regional security system, contrary to conventional political science expectations of such states’ behavior as per the neoclassical realism theory (NRT) paradigm. This thesis explains Oman’s different and independent regional positions, notably: (1) supporting the Camp David Peace Accords (1978) and not joining the Arab League and Gulf boycott of Egypt after Sadat’s rapprochement with Israel; (2) developing and maintaining diplomatic ties with Iran after the 1979 Revolution, when it was seen as an imminent threat to Gulf regimes, and during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988); (3) meditating between Iran and the US in the P5+1’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (2015) (i.e., the “Iran Nuclear Deal”); and (4) preserving regional security in the context of the ongoing Yemen conflict. This thesis examines these cases in light of hitherto unutilized sources (such as newspapers, official documents, gray literature, archives, memoirs, local books, reports, memos) and interviews with key experts involved in Oman’s foreign policy and related events. This thesis thus demonstrates that Oman as a small state was able to tangibly and effectively influence the regional security system through a balanced foreign policy and establishing spaces that support dialogue and diplomacy to address regional tension and conflicts and maintain relative neutrality in most regional and international conflicts.