Oman’s Niche Diplomacy: Middle Power Strategies in a Shifting Middle East

Mordechai Chaziza () and Carmela Lutmar
Additional contact information
Mordechai Chaziza: Department of Politics and Governance, Division of Multidisciplinary Studies in Social Science, Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon 78461, Israel
Carmela Lutmar: The Division of International Relations, School of Political Sciences, University of Haifa, Haifa 78211, Israel

Social Sciences, 2025, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Despite being located in one of the world’s most unstable regions—characterized by persistent tensions, turmoil, and conflict—the Sultanate of Oman has successfully maintained a policy of neutrality and adeptly assumed the complex role of mediator, both within the Arabian Peninsula and more broadly across the Middle East. This study examines Oman’s mediation efforts in the Middle East during the 21st century through the lens of niche diplomacy, providing a fresh and timely perspective. Middle-power diplomacy is typically associated with foreign policy activism, particularly in a constrained international environment. Given their limited resources, middle powers often adopt niche diplomacy by concentrating on specific issue areas. The key contribution of this study lies in its novel application of niche diplomacy theory to examine and interpret Oman’s mediation strategy.

Keywords: mediation; Middle East; middle powers; niche diplomacy; Oman (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/9/511/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/9/511/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:9:p:511-:d:1732430

Access Statistics for this article

Social Sciences is currently edited by Ms. Yvonne Chu

More articles in Social Sciences from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().