OMANIBALANCING - OMAN CONFRONTS AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE

This article examines the internal and external politics of the Sultan ate of Oman. The Omani leader, Sultan Qabus, is trying to balance a va riety of-threats to his country, and his rule, His strategy of ''Omani balancing'' (i.e., of balancing internal and external threats) is uniq ue, as well as controversial, in that Oma is befriending traditional A rab enemies, such as iran and Israel, and searching for economic oppor tunities outside rite region-in the Indian Ocean basin, for example. T he sultan is also striving to co-opt domestic foes by maintaining Oman 's standard of living and slowly liberalizing the country's political and economic systems.