The NY Times has an interesting article on the “stirrings of discontent” in Oman. Michael Slackman explains, “as the quiet calls for change spread, there are some signs that Oman is taking the familiar approach of authoritarian states in the Middle East, relying on security services and restrictive laws to silence and frighten the people. A recently amended law allows the government to prosecute anyone associated with a web site or blog that posts anything objectionable, not just the writer…Perhaps more ominously, one political analyst said that top government positions, once filled with academics and prominent members of society, are increasingly being filled by former security officials.”
However, there are also signs of hope as a writer’s association recently held a two-day workshop to discuss freedom of speech. Yet, with many positive changes over the years “Oman has also discovered that it is difficult to open the doors to modernity, especially to education, without also fostering a degree of cynicism about authority and a desire for more freedom. That, and the reality that its oil may soon run out, is what Oman is wrestling with today.”
