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Oman Regional Relations
Since 1970, when Qabus ibn Said assumed power, Oman's
role in
regional political dynamics has increased. Although
remaining
outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries
(OPEC), it has been a member of the GCC since its
formation in
May 1981. Relations between Oman and other gulf countries
have
improved since 1970 as long-standing territorial disputes
have
been resolved. Oman and the UAE resolved a border dispute
in
1981; Oman and the PDRY normalized relations in 1982; and
Oman
and Saudi Arabia signed a treaty in 1991 ending a
long-standing
territorial dispute concerning the Al Buraymi Oasis.
The resolution of the Al Buraymi Oasis territorial
dispute,
concerning a cluster of nine villages claimed by Saudi
Arabia and
administered by Abu Dhabi and Oman, improved regional
relations.
With the discovery of oil reserves in the gulf, the
revenue
potential for the Al Buraymi Oasis prompted Saudi Arabia
to press
its claim on the disputed territory. Riyadh dispatched
troops,
which occupied the area in 1952. After failing to win
their claim
in international arbitration, the British, using the
sultan's
army and the Trucial Oman Scouts, reoccupied the oasis in
1955.
Although the United States protested the British action,
the
United States was not prepared to extend military
assistance to
Saudi Arabia to reverse the situation. From the early
1950s
onward, Saudi Arabia provided a base from which the Ibadi
imam of
the interior continued to challenge the authority of the
Al Said
dynasty.
After the 1970 coup d'état, Qabus ibn Said sought to
improve
and normalize relations with Saudi Arabia. Formal
relations were
established following a state visit by the sultan to the
kingdom
in December 1971. An agreement on July 29, 1974, among
Oman,
Saudi Arabia, and the UAE settled the Al Buraymi dispute.
It
stipulated that Oman would receive three villages in the
region
and Abu Dhabi six and that the two countries would share
the oil
field at Shaybah. The agreement provided Saudi Arabia with
an
outlet to the gulf through UAE territory.
In the course of the Dhofar rebellion, Oman received
substantial financial support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE,
and
Kuwait, countries that feared the growth of left-wing,
antimonarchist movements in their own territories. In
March 1990,
Saudi Arabia and Oman formalized a border pact
legitimating the
existing declared line separating the two countries.
The Iranian Revolution of 1979 and the fear of militant
Islam
among Arab gulf leaders, combined with the Iran-Iraq War
and the
potential interruption of tanker traffic through the
Strait of
Hormuz, catalyzed the formation of the GCC (which also
includes
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar)
(see Collective Security under the Gulf Cooperation Council
, ch. 7).
The GCC is theoretically a means to ensure collective
security of
the member states. In practice, as Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait
showed, it proved ineffectual in deterring and responding
to
aggression by neighboring states.
After the Persian Gulf War, Sultan Qabus ibn Said
suggested
the creation of a multilateral 100,000-strong collective
defense
force. However, Saudi Arabia scuttled the proposal, which
was
unpopular in Oman and in other gulf states. Objections
ranged
from the matter of costs and manpower needs of such a
force,
given the small populations of GCC member states, to the
question
of who would command such a force. The smaller gulf states
feared
a dominant Riyadh dictating terms and foreign policy.
Data as of January 1993
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