Oman

One of Oman’s most acclaimed fashion designers, Amal Al Raisi, stumbled upon design after shopping for a wedding dress. Unsatisfied with offerings, Amal designed her own traditional Omani wedding dress. Later, she would occasionally design dresses for close family and friends. Her business started growing as she progressed from designing traditional Omani dresses to abayas...

Oman’s established links to both Tehran and the political leadership of Yemen’s Houthi insurgents – clearly valued by the administration of former President Barack Obama – may be seen now as reasons to keep Oman at arm’s length.

Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman appointed on March 2 Sayyid Assad bin Tariq al-Said as deputy prime minister for international cooperation. The appointment triggered immediate speculation among Western observers that Assad is being groomed to become Qaboos’ successor.

Omani foreign policy is deft; its fiscal policy, however, is struggling. Balancing domestic pressures against necessary economic reforms is proving difficult. In foreign policy, Oman has managed to maintain favorable trade and political relations with both Iran and its Gulf Cooperation Council neighbors in a time of increasing tension. In fact, much of Oman’s economic...

In countries where politics are opaque to outsiders, municipal elections provide an important glimpse into the minds of the population. Oman’s municipal elections held on December 25, 2016, only the second in the sultanate’s history, are an excellent example. Across Oman, 731 candidates ran in the elections, of which 202 were selected as council members...

This post is part of a series examining women’s labor force participation in the Gulf Arab states, including areas of growth and challenges facing women in the Gulf. The Gulf Arab states have made notable progress in recent years in reducing gender inequalities in education and labor force participation, however, women have not made the same gains...

Oman continues to push new frontiers in the development of its complex geological oil and gas reserves amid the downturn in energy prices. Oman’s oil and gas production reached record levels in 2015 and is set to edge marginally higher this year. To offset lower oil revenue and reduced government funding, the country’s state oil...

Oman’s first online newspaper, Al Balad, is run by a group of local youth: Turki Al-Balushi, Ali-Alansari, Noora Almeer, Rahma Al-Judaili, Firas Altubi, Salah Al-Balushi, Rahma Alsawafi, Talib Alabri, and Ghalib Alabri. The founding members wanted to diverge from traditional practice and bring a new flavor of independent and credible journalism to Oman. Since its...