Oil used for Sustained Development: A Case Study It is a country about the size of Kansas, with a population of about three million individuals. Along with Yemen, its neighbor to the southwest, Oman has been one of the most isolated of the countries in the Arabian Peninsula. Until 1970 the entire country had only 10 kilometers of paved roads, two schools, and two hospitals (Gorden 142). A dramatic change has occurred in subsequent years, owing primarily to two factors: the bloodless coup by the present Sultan, and the foreign investment made in oil exploration by a consortium of five global shareholders, whose names over the years became the companies we know today as Exon, Partex, Total/Fina/Elf, Shell, and British Petroleum (Petroleum par. 2).

By the middle of the 20th Centrury, unlike neighbors like Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, Oman had stagnated in terms of trade, politics, and social institutions. The ruling sultan of the time lived a reclusive life in his palace at Salalah, and rarely made any efforts to modernize his country, which had high rates of infant mortality and illiteracy (Gorden 144). On July 23, 1970, with some help from Britain, the Sultan's 30-year-old son, Qabus bin Said Al Said, stormed the palace, and forced his father to abdicate and accept exile. This coup was the beginning of a new Oman, and is always refered to as "The Renaissance."

The facts are hard to dispute. This new hard-working, enlightened monarch has brought health, wealth,...

It's oil income is modest (much lower than the other Arabian countries), and it is not a member of OPEC or OAPEC. As historian and political scientist, J.E. Peterson has noted in his article, "Oman: Three and a Half Decades of Change and Development":
In terms of political and economic development, generally speaking, Oman has accomplished as much or more than its fellow Gulf monarchies, despite starting from scratch considerably later, having less oil income to utilize, dealing with a larger and more rugged geography, and resolving a bitter civil war along the way (125).

Obviously it has not all been smooth sailing, but on the whole the three decades since Sultan Qabus's overthrow has been marked by dramatic advances for his country and people. One of his first important tasks was to end the civil conflict along the Yemen border in the Dhufar region in the south. After he gained control of the area, he underlined his commitment to the region's peoples by building schools, roads and hospitals throughout the surrounding countryside. This is typical of his far-sighted approach to problems within his country.

His father had rarely allowed foreigners to even enter Oman, let alone set up companies within his domain. Qabus however, knew that he needed foreign capital in order to get Oman into the modern world. He allowed the…