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\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eThe foreign policy of small states is a dusty corner of International Relations. Small states aren’t supposed to matter very much. This was held to be true in the fifth century BC, when \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\u0022https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/melian.htm\u0022\u003eThucydides noted\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e that ‘the strong take what they can and the weak suffer what they must’, and remains so today. Small states are meant to bandwagon, or fall into line, with their more powerful counterparts. Neorealists hold that small-state foreign policy is \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\u0022https://edisciplinas.usp.br/pluginfile.php/1553366/mod_resource/content/1/The%20Foreign%20Policies%20of%20Small%20States%20Challenging%20Neorealism%20in%20Its%20Own%20Backyard.pdf\u0022\u003edetermined by external forces\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e, regardless of their domestic politics.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eIf those are the rules of international relations, Oman seems not to have read them. It’s a canny player that has in the past mediated between larger powers involved in Yemen. When tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme were at their highest a few years ago, it initiated and facilitated a US–Iranian diplomatic track that led to the 2015 nuclear deal.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eA few years ago its foreign minister, Yousef bin Alawi, left attendees at the \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ca href=\u0022https://www.iiss.org/events/manama-dialogue/manama-dialogue-2018\u0022\u003eIISS Manama Dialogue\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e agog by announcing the country had no interest in greater GCC integration – immediately after the organisation’s leading states had been talking up the prospect from the podium. And this year, again, Oman has provided one of the major talking points with its outreach to Israel.\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eThe question-and-answer sessions here in Manama have showcased the unease among Arab attendees that the Palestinian issue is being deprioritised by regional governments in the name of realpolitik – specifically the desire to make common cause with Israel against Iran. And now Oman appears formally to have broken ranks by hosting Israel’s prime minister on the eve of the Dialogue and at a time when Israeli-–Palestinian relations are at a low. As former CIA director David Petraeus noted, this outreach could have profound implications in the region. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eMr bin Alawi batted off criticism from the floor that Oman was moving towards recognition of Israel. He pointed out that Israel was an established regional state and had been for decades. Its people had suffered and it had the potential to make a positive contribution to regional security. Rather than dwelling on past grievances, he argued, it was time to engage and secure Palestinian rights through state-to-state relations. He offered facilitation, not mediation. \u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\u0022margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;\u0022\u003e\u003cspan style=\u0022color: #333333;\u0022\u003eStylistically, this cool pragmatism sets Oman apart. Other regional states have reached understandings with Israel, but they have not gone public about it. Time will tell whether Oman’s talks with Benjamin Netanyahu lead to fundamental change in the region. But the fact that Oman has taken the initiative, publicly, speaks to a level of independence and confidence that would leave the theorists scratching their heads.\u003c/span\u003e \u003c/p\u003e","className":"richtext reading--content font-secondary"}), document.getElementById("react_LLJmJoYH0uGcxe47abCaQ"))});
Small states are meant to bandwagon, or fall into line, with their more powerful counterparts, but Oman appears not to have read the International Relations rulebook.
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