Normative Peace and Religious Tolerance in Oman’s Official Discourse

This chapter shows how the discourses on normative peace and religious tolerance supported the construction of Oman’s international status as a ‘small-but-good’ actor, especially towards an international audience, at the same time contributing to reinforcing regime legitimation. The chapter traces Oman’s gradual adoption of an international agenda focused on issues out of geopolitical competition, such as equal international development, the international law of the sea, disarmament, and environmental protection. In terms of discursive alignments, this chapter shows how the Sultanate increasingly shifted in time towards nonaligned positions, which further transformed into more active positions of ‘peace entrepreunership’ in the post-2011 regional conflicts.