This thesis aims to provide a nuanced explanation of the birth, evolution and consistency of Oman’s foreign policy of neutrality. Over the last five decades, neutrality has been a core feature of Omani foreign policy. Departing from its Arab Gulf Neighbours, Oman decided to adopt neutrality in various conflicts such as the Iran-Iraq War in 1980–88, the Syrian Civil War and the recent War in Yemen, 2015–2022. Even in conflicts where it could not be neutral, Omani leaders would express their preference to maintain a neutral stance. To guide my analysis, I developed a conceptual framework, which I denominate as the processual model of neutrality (PMN), that conceives neutrality as a process of three phases: ‘strategic’, where the country decides to adopt neutrality for strategic reasons; ‘passive’, when the country adopts neutrality but lacks the recognition of external powers; and ‘active’, when the country adopts neutrality and has wide recognition for this policy, enabling it to play active neutral roles such as hosting peace negotiations and supporting humanitarian efforts.
On this basis, this dissertation explores Omani foreign policy towards two major conflicts, the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) and the War in Yemen (2015–2022), demonstrating that these cases are crucial to understanding the emergence of Omani neutrality and its consolidation and recognition. Furthermore, this thesis explores the period between 1988–2015 in order to scrutinise how the Omani position varied during other major conflicts, such as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the Syrian Civil War in 2011.
Using data drawn from interviewing key Omani decision-makers and visiting several archives in the UK, US and Oman, this thesis concludes that Oman’s neutrality started as a strategic decision resulting from a complex interaction of different domestic and external factors during the Iran-Iraq War. This thesis also argues that Oman was not able to adopt neutrality in cases such as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 due to various reasons, including the influence of its security guarantors and serious threats perceptions. Finally, factors such as the wide recognition of Omani neutrality and diplomatic reach enabled Oman to exercise active neutrality during the War in Yemen.
