Oman’s Ethics-Driven Foreign Policy - Saavedra, Julio; al-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Tāsiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Dawr al-ʻUmānī fī Taʻzīz al-Akhlāq bayna al-Tanẓīr wa-al-Taṭbīq (2025) (Kuwālā Lumbūr) (Kuwālā Lumbūr : Markaz Dhākirat ʻUmān, 2025)
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.
Permanent citation identifier: MHF-AKHLAQ2025-069.
Conference theme (in Arabic): المحور الرابع: الجهود المعاصرة في تعزيز الأخلاق.
Text in English.
Keywords: Oman; Foreign policy; Ethics in diplomacy; Neutrality; International relations; Pragmatism