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Oman's Ethics-Driven Foreign Policy

Oman’s Ethics-Driven Foreign Policy

Julio Saavedra
Julio Saavedra
Conference: The Ninth International Conference in Malaysia: The Omani Role in Promoting Ethics between Theory and Practice — Kuala Lumpur, 2025
Romanized conference title: al-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Tāsiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Dawr al-ʻUmānī fī Taʻzīz al-Akhlāq bayna al-Tanẓīr wa-al-Taṭbīq
Language of the paper: Arabic — this page presents the English metadata layer.
Permanent citation ID: MHF-AKHLAQ2025-069

Abstract

Ethics and pragmatism are not easy to reconcile in foreign policy. Whereas pragmatism calls for compromise, ethics sets boundaries that should not be crossed. Pragmatism seeks to safeguard a country's interests, in particular its security, economy and standard of living, as well as its geopolitical relevance; ethics, in contrast, seeks to do the right thing in accordance with solid moral principles. Looking around the world — and not only in these times of highly transactional, nationalistic and self-centred international relations — evidence abounds of how easily and how often pragmatism trumps ethics. And yet Oman manages to strike the right balance decade in, decade out. Its foreign policy has long given pragmatism its due: the Sultanate's large but sparsely populated territory in a highly strategic geographical location has historically attracted the attention of larger powers. This paper examines how Oman has nonetheless kept ethical principle at the centre of its external conduct.

Keywords

OmanForeign policyEthics in diplomacyNeutralityInternational relationsPragmatism

How to cite

Saavedra, Julio. "" [Oman's Ethics-Driven Foreign Policy]. Paper presented at al-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Tāsiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Dawr al-ʻUmānī fī Taʻzīz al-Akhlāq bayna al-Tanẓīr wa-al-Taṭbīq, Kuwālā Lumbūr, 2025. MHF-AKHLAQ2025-069

Catalog record

Romanization follows the ALA-LC Arabic table used by the Library of Congress and the British Library. The original Arabic is carried in the parallel MARC 880 fields, linked by subfield $6 — the standard treatment for non-English resources.

Show the MARC 21 record
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=100  1\$aSaavedra, Julio,$eauthor.
=245  10$aOman’s Ethics-Driven Foreign Policy /$cJulio Saavedra.
=264  \1$aKuwālā Lumbūr :$bMarkaz Dhākirat ʻUmān,$c2025.
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=500  \\$aPermanent citation identifier: MHF-AKHLAQ2025-069.
=500  \\$aConference theme (in Arabic): المحور الرابع: الجهود المعاصرة في تعزيز الأخلاق.
=520  3\$aEthics and pragmatism are not easy to reconcile in foreign policy. Whereas pragmatism calls for compromise, ethics sets boundaries that should not be crossed. Pragmatism seeks to safeguard a country's interests, in particular its security, economy and standard of living, as well as its geopolitical relevance; ethics, in contrast, seeks to do the right thing in accordance with solid moral principles. Looking around the world — and not only in these times of highly transactional, nationalistic and self-centred international relations — evidence abounds of how easily and how often pragmatism trumps ethics. And yet Oman manages to strike the right balance decade in, decade out. Its foreign policy has long given pragmatism its due: the Sultanate's large but sparsely populated territory in a highly strategic geographical location has historically attracted the attention of larger powers. This paper examines how Oman has nonetheless kept ethical principle at the centre of its external conduct.
=546  \\$aText in English.
=653  \0$aOman
=653  \0$aForeign policy
=653  \0$aEthics in diplomacy
=653  \0$aNeutrality
=653  \0$aInternational relations
=653  \0$aPragmatism
=711  2\$aal-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Tāsiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Dawr al-ʻUmānī fī Taʻzīz al-Akhlāq bayna al-Tanẓīr wa-al-Taṭbīq$d(2025)$c(Kuwālā Lumbūr)
=773  0\$tal-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Tāsiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Dawr al-ʻUmānī fī Taʻzīz al-Akhlāq bayna al-Tanẓīr wa-al-Taṭbīq$dKuwālā Lumbūr : Markaz Dhākirat ʻUmān, 2025$gpaper no. 69$wMHF-AKHLAQ2025-069
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