To celebrate 2025 and the promise for 2026, I want to focus on a rarely seen facet of Oman’s burgeoning global identity, which is the quality and respect held for its diplomatic service.
A diplomat is said to have patience, subtlety, persistence and tact, or as Robert Frost once observed, “One who always remembers a woman’s birthday, but always forgets her age,” which may well be flippant, yet is also truly diplomatic.
More academically, the 17th-century French scholar Blaise Pascal wrote, “Diplomacy is the art of saying things in such a way that those to whom we speak may listen with pleasure,” and Ronald Reagan determined it to be a “subtle and nuanced craft.”
There is too the historical comfort of the diplomatic service’s Latin motto ‘ex amicitia pax', to be interpreted as “peace through understanding.” Here, I have chosen to reflect upon three examples of those who demonstrate the strength, eloquence and resilience of the Omani diplomatic service abroad.
In the United States, a new appointee as Oman’s Ambassador to the United States of America has been Talal bin Sulaiman al Rahbi, who presented his credentials to President Donald Trump at the White House in July 2025, following his March appointment.
With global tariffs being implemented by President Trump to remedy the US trade balance deficit and revitalise its economy, these levies also appeared to have a vindictive profile. However, with the Sultanate of Oman having had a Free Trade Agreement with the US since 2009, its diplomats and advocates have secured a 10-per cent tariff, which is modest compared to other nations.
It must be incredibly difficult to, as Rudyard Kipling wrote, “Keep your head about you when others are losing theirs.” Yet, in America today, its ‘Homer Simpson-esque’ politics, fearmongering, dystopian utterances, and where religion, race and colour have again become issues, Oman has a voice, and a presence that exemplifies its best qualities.
Across the Atlantic, Bader bin Mohammed al Mantheri, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Kingdom, oversees the UK/Oman Comprehensive Agreement (2019) on cultural and educational development between the two societies, so distant and different. It promotes post-graduate study opportunities, partnerships between universities, British Council language, cultural and study programmes, and research and development partnerships.
Add to this the positive trade and tourism outlooks, and Oman’s role in global peacekeeping and conflict resolution; with the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict in Gaza and the Russia–Ukraine “stalemate” still unresolved, there is clearly much for the London-based diplomatic service to occupy itself with.
In both critical diplomatic offices, the skills of diplomacy must be almost immeasurable. It can’t be easy, for example, being a Muslim in a country where the very word is used to inspire fear, to look and speak differently, to be seen differently, and to be the object of the West’s misconceptions. Yet, these two come from a long line of political appointees to serve Oman so well.
In another, quite different diplomatic environment, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, or Unesco, Samira bint Mohamed al Moosa, appointed as Oman’s Ambassador and Permanent Delegate in 2011, represents Oman with growing distinction. A graduate of the University of Southern California, her career began at Sultan Qaboos University, where she played a key role in the foundation of its Child Care Centre.
Since assuming her Unesco office, Al Moosa has been at the forefront of several of its more influential committees, especially in the areas of fiscal responsibility and human resources and is also proving a staunch advocate at the highest level for children’s rights, women’s rights and social equality. In doing so, Al Moosa displays the finest qualities of Oman’s society, compassion, respect and faith.
As such, the diplomatic service of Oman has performed with quiet distinction throughout 2025 and looks certain to maintain its high standing in the diplomatic community in 2026, continuing to ‘punch far above its weight.’
Ray Petersen
The writer is a media consultant
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