After Qaboos

The sultan hasn't picked a successor, creating uncertainties just when the country needs to perk up its economy and find jobs for its youth

An advertisement for Oman Air beside the road close to Muscat airport shows a smiling portrait of Sultan Qaboos, with the slogan below: "Steering the nation, even higher". Qaboos has been steering his nation, single-handedly, since 1970 and his influence on the country is so overwhelming (he occupies all the key posts in cabinet) that Omanis cannot imagine a future without him. While lengthy spells of medical treatment abroad appear to have been successful, the inevitable will arrive when the country has to contemplate a new era. The succession process will involve first a meeting of a family council, and later, if there is no agreement on a successor, the opening of a sealed letter containi