Sultanate of Oman's mediation role in the Middle East

The Middle East region is known with the conflicts in the last 100 years. These crises mainly have serious regional effects alongside global impacts and countries enter regional competitions by basing their foreign policies upon alliance relations. Given that fact, countries in the Middle East compete for influence by basing their foreign policies upon forming alliances with other countries their foreign policy interests correspond to. Among those countries in the Middle East, however, the Sultanate of Oman has specific differences from the Persian Gulf countries though they have similar structural characteristics, and from other Arab countries in the context of its distinct foreign policy approach. The Sultanate of Oman's approach in foreign policy can be stated that traditionally it is acting as a mediator and supporting the negotiation processes rather than taking sides in crises. This study, for that reason, finds Oman's foreign policy worth-analyzing. This study will apply the mediation approach of conflict resolution theory by questioning "what are the factors that make it possible for Oman not to be a party to the ongoing crises and wars, and at the same time to establish good relations with actors competing with each other?" Around that question, the study will try to figure out the role of the Sultanate of Oman as a small state in the regional politics of Middle East. Mediation is a foreign policy tool, especially used by small states as a survival strategy and mean of integration independently to the international system. As a method of conflict resolution, mediation puts forward certain criteria for states to undertake the role of a mediator country. From this point of view, this thesis will inquire how much Oman meets these criteria which interests Oman gained as a result of its mediation activities. To acquire well-analyzed conclusions, the policies Oman followed in the Persian Gulf in regional crises and wars will be analyzed. The finding the thesis concludes after its inquiry is that the Sultanate of Oman prioritizes diplomacy in building its foreign policy by being aware its resources and capacity to be used, uses its resources (geostrategic position, multicultural structure, and power) accordingly, and as a result of all these, it is generally applied as a mediator country in the case of crises in the region.