Omani TV breaks with a long Arab tradition of crying newscasters when announcing the death of the ruler. Truth be said, Qaboos was the last of a generation..
1 of my earliest memories: listening to a bunch of diplomats telling the story of a famous altercation in an Arab league summit between Libya & Oman. Qaboos criticized Qadhafi. Qadhafi’s 2nd in command Jalloud read him a verse about respecting one’s parents - alluding to his coup
Ever since, everytime I saw Qaboos’ picture I remembered the verse:
وبالوالدين إحسانا إما يبلغن عندك الكبر أحدهما أو كلاهما فلا تقل لهما أف ولا تنهرهما
The Libyan was alluding to Qaboos imprisoning to his father..
وبالوالدين إحسانا إما يبلغن عندك الكبر أحدهما أو كلاهما فلا تقل لهما أف ولا تنهرهما
The Libyan was alluding to Qaboos imprisoning to his father..
Needless to say, Qaboos’ relationship with the so-called “revolutionary” axis of Qadhafi, Saddam, Assad, Ali Nasser Mohamed, Nasser was dismal. They saw him as an “imperialist agent” and he saw them as dangerous rabblerousing losers.
Many viewed Qaboos as the last vestige of the British empire. Super anglophile who always kept a special place for Britain.. in hindsight, Qaboos understood that the so-called “revolutionary” Arab regimes were doomed projects.
While Qaboos was an unabashed, unapologetic autocrat, his repression never rose to what was the norm in his region. He can be called rightly many things, bloody murdrer isn’t one of them..
Qaboos was along with Kuwait’s emir, King Salman the last standing heads of States who saw the birth of the modern Middle East then its implosion. Although I fundamentally disagree with almost everythign they did, I’d be lying if I denied I wouldn’t want to have a chat with em
The question on everybody’s mind but no one dares say is this: which foreign power is going to meddle in Oman to get “its guy” in charge. Will the upheavel of the Gulf Arabs spill into Oman? 
Whoever becomes Oman’s Sultan will have the difficult task of becoming an autocrats that’s not too embarrassing for foreign power (Western or otherwise) to be close to and supportive of as they were with Qaboos.
Oman’s position is a complex one, the poorer cousin among the Gulf Arabs, sandwiched between em and Iran and imploded Yemen. Young population that has democratic aspirations of reform, in a chaotic time of great world powers competition
Perhaps, Qaboos’ biggest foreign policy achievement wasn’t the oft mentioned role as diplomatic mediator, but rather managing despite reigning over a relatively poor country to NOT become a vassal of any of the neighboring powers.
Qaboos’ ability to remain independent and not becoming a vassal of his powerful and giant Arab neighbos may have been in part due to the fact that his country was the original super power of the gulf Arabs.. a certain knowhow that comes from a 2-century ruling dynasty
What the obituary pieces on Qaboos to come - starting with the New York Times - likely to miss is that Qaboos had to force respect by keeping abreast from inner squabbling THEN become a mediator, somethign that was at times a very difficlt exercise — He was the Arab Swiitzerland.
The first step to achieve that is to prove you’re not plotting against your neighbor against the other, and the best way to do that is to keep ALL of them at arm’s length… but equally. This is the evercise Qaboos mastered before all Gulf rulers.
if I had to write Qaboos’ obituary it’d be: He was no democrat, he had his share of political prisoners. He never sent a bullet, a missile or a carbomb outside his border, nor funded any. He treated his friends and enemies with equal respect & suspicion thus they all came to him”
Finally, Qaboos’ legacy can be summed up by Twitter’s reaction tonight upon the announcement of his death: “Qaboos, who? Oman, what? what’s the helmet his wearing?”
Meaning, he lived and died while managing for most of the world not hearing from him or about his country.
Meaning, he lived and died while managing for most of the world not hearing from him or about his country.
