Oman’s sultan breaks with the past in economics
An oil windfall is a boon to public finances, but reminds Oman that it must diversify
WHEN TWO British prisoners were freed from Iran in March, it was no surprise that Oman was their first stop. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori, held for years on bogus espionage charges, were freed as part of a deal that saw Britain settle an old debt with Iran. Oman was the essential middleman, providing an air-force jet to fly the prisoners to freedom and a bank to serve as a conduit for the British payment.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Break with the past”
More from Middle East & Africa
Three big lawsuits against Meta in Kenya may have global implications
One was prompted by the murder of an Ethiopian professor
Trump should try to end, not manage, the Middle East’s oldest conflicts
And he should see the region as more than a source of instability and arms deals
Government by social media in Somalia
Cheap data, social media and creativity are filling in for an absent state
The Gaza ceasefire is stoking violence in the West Bank
Hamas and the Israeli far right both want to destabilise the West Bank
How Turkey plans to expand its influence in the new Syria
Its influence could cause tensions with the Arab world—and Israel
The start of a fragile truce in Gaza offers relief and joy
But the ceasefire is not yet the end of the war