Changing Foreign Policy of Smaller Gulf States - A Case Study of Oman

The responsibility for facts and opinions in this publication rests exclusively with the authors and their interpretation do not necessarily reflect the views or the policy of the Indian Council of World Affairs, New Delhi. [...] The third section discusses the changing dynamics of the foreign policy of Oman. [...] Sapru House INTRODUCTION 7 Paper and are located in the Caribbean, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea (AIS).5 In international relations, the study of small states can be categorised into three phases: 1959–1979, 1979–1992 and 1992– present. [...] In the first phase, scholars studied small states through the theoretical paradigm of classical realism, defining small states by their military and economic weaknesses and arguing that small-state policies can be understood as a function of the behaviour of larger states in the international system. [...] The inquiry is based on the experiences of Turkey, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Spain in the Second World War.17 A number of studies have been done on the smaller states of Europe; for example, Gezim Villasi has worked on the smaller states in the European Union and beyond.18 As far as the characteristics of small-state behaviour are concerned, according to Thorhallsson and Steinsson, small states.