Security in the Gulf

1 BP Amoco, BP Amoco Statistical Review of World Energy, London, June 1999, pp. 4, 20.

2 See, e.g., Anthony H. Cordesman, Iran and Iraq: The Threat from the Northern Gulf (Boulder, CO: Westview, 1994); Geoffrey Kemp & Janice Gross Stein, eds, Powder Keg in the Middle East (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1995); Gary G. Sick & Lawrence G. Potter, The Persian Gulf at the Millennium (New York: St. Martin's, 1997).

3 For a detailed discussion of the differences between the creation of Oman as a nationstate and the other Gulf monarchies, see Rosemarie Said Zahlan, The Making of the Modern Gulf States: Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman (London: Unwin Hyman, 1989); and J. E. Peterson, `Tribes and Politics in Eastern Arabia', Middle East Journal, vol. 31, no. 3, Summer 1977, pp. 297-312.

4 For a detailed analysis see Gawdat Bahgat, `Peace in the Persian Gulf: the Shi'is Dimension', Peace and Change, vol. 24, no. 1, January 1999, pp. 76-90.

5 Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1997), p. 355.

6 For detailed discussion of the history of Ibadhis, see Bernard Lewis, Victor Menage, Christian Pellat & Josef Schacht, eds, The Encyclopaedia of Islam (London: Luzac & Co., 1971), pp. 648-660.

7 The World Bank, World Development Report (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 191, 332.

8 US Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration, `World Oil Transit Chokepoints' (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, August 1999) (www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/choke.html).

9 Helen Chapin Metz, ed., Persian Gulf States: Country Studies (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1994), p. 28.

10 Malcolm Yapp, `British Policy in the Persian Gulf', in Alvin J. Cottrell, ed., The Persian Gulf States: A General Survey (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), pp. 70-100, on p. 93.

11 Chapin Metz (note 9 above), p. 315.

12 For a detailed analysis of the rebellion in Dhufar, see Fred Halliday, Arabia Without Sultans (New York: Random House, 1975), pp. 277-315.

13 From 1958 to 1964, Qaboos lived in Britain, where he graduated from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

14 The deposed sultan spent his remaining years living in a London hotel.

15 Said Zahlan (note 3 above), p. 121.

16 Judith Miller, `Creating Modern Oman: An Interview with Sultan Qaboos', Foreign Affairs, vol. 76, no. 3, May/June 1997, p. 13.

17 For a detailed discussion of the Carter doctrine, see George Lenczowski, American Presidents and the Middle East (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1990), pp. 203-208.

18 Joseph A. Kechichian, Oman and the World: The Emergence of an Independent Foreign Policy (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1995), p. 147.

19 Personal interview with Abdulaziz Mohamed Alrowas, Omani Minister of Information, in Muscat, May 1999.

20 Israel is included in this.

21 For an analysis of Israel's relations with Oman and other Gulf states, see Jacob Abadi, `Israel's Relations with Oman and the Persian Gulf States', Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 20, no. 1, 1996, pp. 46-73.

22 Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is Sultan Qaboos' cousin and, together with the foreign minister, is in charge of foreign affairs. He mentioned in a personal interview that all relations with Israel were frozen when Netanyahu was in power.

23 Michael Gunter, `The Iraqi National Congress (INC) and the Future of the Iraqi Opposition', Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, vol. 19, no. 3, Spring 1996, p. 2.

24 Kirk Albrecht, `Carving A Niche in the New World Order', The Middle East, no. 257, June 1996, p. 15.

25 Personal interview in Muscat, May 1999.

26 According to this act the Clinton Administration is authorized, but not required, to spend the money on equipment and arms from US military stocks and provide training to group(s) that can demonstrate broad-based representation and a record of support for democracy. See `Congress Authorizes US Government to Arm Iraqi Opposition Seeking to Remove Saddam', Middle East Monitor, vol. 28, no. 10, October 1998, p. 75.

27 Steven Lee Myers, `Weeks of Bombing Leave Iraq's Power Structure Unshaken', New York Times, 7 March 1999.

28 Roula Khalaf, `US Plan to Overthrow Saddam Stalls', Financial Times, 4 February 1999.

29 Barbara Crossette, `Pressing for Iraqi's overthrow, US appeals for Arab support', New York Times, 9 December 1998.

30 See Dana Priest & Howard Schneider, `Over Iraq, Self-defense Begets War', Washington Post, 7 March 1999.

31 Asghar Ja'fari Valdani, `Iran and the Persian Gulf Countries: Prospects for Cooperation', Iranian Journal of International Affairs, vol. 8, no. 3, Fall 1996, pp. 573-600, on p. 575.

32 For a fuller discussion of Oman's mediation role, see Rouhollah K. Ramazani, Revolutionary Iran: Challenge and Response in the Middle East (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988), pp. 137-143.

33 Miller (note 16 above), p. 14.

34 For a comprehensive study of this conflict, see Hooshang Amirahmadi, Small Islands, Big Politics: The Tonbs and Abu Musa in the Persian Gulf (New York: St. Martin's, 1996).

35 Dan Caldwell, `Flashpoints in the Gulf: Abu Musa and the Tunb Islands', Middle East Policy, vol. 4, no. 3, 1996, pp. 50-57, on p. 53.

36 Abdullah al-Shayeji, `Dangerous Perceptions: Gulf Views of the US Role in the Region', Middle East Policy, vol. 5, no. 3, 1997, p. 4.

37 `UAE Criticizes Breach of Collective GCC Stand on Islands Issue', The Khaleej Times, 6 June 1999.

38 `Saudis and Iran Reject UAE Complaint', BBC World News, the Middle East, 7 June 1999 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east).

39 International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance (London: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 118.

40 However, it is too early to make an adequate assessment of how stable some of these agreements are.

41 Personal interview in May 1999. In any town in Oman it is not unusual to find a mosque, a church, and a Hindu temple next to each other.

42 Sultanate of Oman, The Basic Statute of the State (Muscat: The Diwan of Royal Court, 1996), p. 3.