Foreign Policy Activism in Saudi Arabia and Oman. Diverging Narratives and Stances towards the Syrian and Yemeni Conflicts

Abstract

Amid growing animosity and security concerns in the Middle East, the Gulf region appears to be on the way to becoming the new centre of gravity of regional equilibria. The increasingly active foreign policy postures of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is a key aspect of the new regional order in the making. Saudi Arabia and Oman are two examples of this trend. Their involvement in the Syrian and Yemeni conflicts reveals important differences regarding the aims, narratives, political and military postures, strategies and alliances pursued by Riyadh and Muscat and casts a shadow over the future of GCC cooperation and integration.     

Attitudes of Omani early childhood preservice teachers toward bilingual early childhood education: Benefits,challenges, and solutions

Compared to earlier times, many Omani parents have become more enthusiastic about bilingual education for their young children. To fully understand and improve early bilingual education, it is critical to start with an inquiry into prospective practitioners' attitudes toward bilingualism in early education as they are the ones who will work in bilingual education programs. Therefore, this research investigated the attitudes of early childhood pre-service teachers in Oman, toward bilingual education during children's early years. The data were gathered using qualitative survey methods with a focus group and analyzed using thematic analysis. Hence, essential themes and sub-themes were extracted from the data and an exhaustive analysis of pre-service teachers' attitudes toward bilingual education in the early years was conducted. The findings revealed that participants tend to favor such programs. Although they believe there are a few challenges in the field, they reported possible solutions that are presented in this study. Implications are discussed and recommendations are made.     

Voluntary Turnover in the Omani Public Sector: An Islamic Values Perspective

Following four decades of economic growth the public sector, Oman is experiencing an emerging problem of labor turnover to the private sector. We examine this phenomenon through semi-structured interviews with 26 current and former public employees. The rate of turnover is low but this masks the impact of losses on key technical and management roles. The main reasons for turnover are dissatisfaction with management style, reward practices, and promotion opportunities. Findings are interpreted in the context of Islamic work values and implications for public management reform in Oman are provided.