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This chapter examines the impact of oil on the twin processes of state formation and space-making in the Trucial States and United Arab Emirates and Sultanate of Oman in the mid-twentieth century. In much of the literature on the history of the Gulf and Arabian Peninsula, these processes are linked through oil concessions. Concessions necessitated the demarcation of domestic and international boundaries in the Arabian Peninsula, a key part of the state formation process. This chapter looks instead at state formation through a new means of oil-fuelled mobility – automobility. Beginning in the early 1950s and surging dramatically at the end of the 1960s, the automobile rapidly displaced older modes of transportation, in the process becoming synonymous with modernisation and state-building. The automobile's speed and power sparked violence, necessitated new modes of regulation as well as a new road network, and made the state visible and tangible in even the most remote areas of the region. New boundaries between states were demarcated, with different rules for travel by car and by foot or animal. In the process, new understandings of space emerged, and state control over territory dramati-cally intensified. Eventually, it became both physically possible and morally permissible for UAE and Omani citizens (and others) to travel to places that had not been open to them before, while other patterns of circulation were closed off by a new international border; automobility and roads created both new freedoms and new restrictions. Through the lens of automobility, oil's role in state formation becomes more complex and contested, as various actors ranging from British Political Agents to local sheikhs wrestled with how new forms of movement ought to be governed.Two spatial imaginaries frame the chapter's analysis – the pre-oil dirah, rooted in seasonal migrations and kinship relations, and the nascent dawla (state), which required free movement within demarcated boundaries. The shift from the dirah to the dawla is traced through several episodes involving automobile travel. The potential of automobility to undermine the existing political and spatial order is seen in the 1938 Majlis Movement in Dubai and in a 1950 conflict in Shaʾam, in northern Ras al-Khaimah.

Geotourism is a form of natural area tourism that focuses on geology and natural heritage of the land. Geoconservation and geological heritage are considered now as a new challenge for geological research which concentrate on the preservation of sites of geological value. Oman is considered by geologists and geotourists as an open geologic book and a big wonderful outdoor geological Museum with unique geological features. The country offers many geological features which are spectacular or unique. The geological stories can be found everywhere in Oman, where one can explore the fascinating geology in one of the most varied and diverse landscapes – from gravel to sand to salt, Oman has a landscape, outcrop, archaeological sites, local culture and fascinating human stories or formation to suit everyone. Therefore, the country attracts more and more geosciences students to study geology in the field, as well as tourists to enjoy the spectacular scenery. As a consequence, thereof geological heritage is in danger of being destroyed due to lack of awareness, and the need to protect unique geological sites and landscapes.

The purpose of the present chapter is to give the reader an overview of the current science education research in Oman. The chapter focuses on three main sections as an overview of the country, an overview of the education development, and the current situation of science education. It addresses the emerging technologies in relation to science education including blended education and e-learning developments. The chapter then discusses the requirements for better implementation of science education along with the future strategies to overcome the challenges and issues that facing science teachers in Oman. It concludes by recommending the importance of making greater efforts to instill the twenty-first-century skills in the future graduates of science to enable them to respond to the requirements of the global economic market.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are all Islamic countries with different public policies and attitudes to the presence of other religions. This has major implications for the Hindu community, often seen as consisting of migrant workers, which normally bases its religiosity on highly public, participatory and performative rituals. This chapter focuses on how the diverse Hindu community in Oman negotiates its religious identity in an Islamic country by strategically using its past mercantile relations with the ruling families, creating and participating in transnational networks, as well as imaginatively using public-private spaces to engage in rituals and festivities and overcome state restrictions. It suggests that the Hindu diaspora in Oman can be problematised as being more than just a minority community with few religious freedoms in a conservatively Muslim nation. Focusing on the Hindu community in Oman adds to emerging studies on diaspora and transnational mobilities, de-essentialising the binary relations of the state with its religious minorities in this part of the world.

‘We sent our sons across the seven rivers and we let them go because we need food, because we don’t have enough. Here, they have no work and we have no land. […] If they were getting their fair share, it would be enough for us. If those [Omani] people were thinking that they have crossed so many rivers out of need, they would help them, but they just don’t think about it.’¹ Except for the extensive work by M.M. Rahman, little research until now has been done, especially of a qualitative nature, on the situation of Bangladeshi migrants in

Oman is a country under severe water stress. Currently Oman produces around 1 Mm3/day of desalinated seawater for urban purposes to expand supply. This policy was partially imposed by the irregularity of rain and the concentration of the population on the coastal areas. Most of the conventional water resources are in the form of groundwater and are used in the agricultural sector. Abstractions from wells are subject to licenses. But licenses so far do not carry any limits. The result is a race for water with overabstractions in the coastal areas causing seawater intrusion and damage to the aquifers. The government is planning to introduce progressively water quotas to farmers and monitoring through smart meters and online system. Large volumes of tertiary treated wastewater are produced daily and are only partially reused for landscaping. There is a mismatch between the willingness of farmers to pay for treated wastewater and the price set by the public authority leading to a limited demand. The actual context of free and unlimited access to groundwater does not encourage to shift the demand toward high-quality treated wastewater. Plans are being considered for recharging some of the aquifers with the treated wastewater. Irrigation efficiency improvements have been observed mainly for vegetable producers where the adoption of irrigation technology resulted in higher revenues and lower labor costs. Urban water prices are at 1/3 of their costs discouraging water saving and adoption of water saving/recycling devices at homes or industries. Urban water security is being addressed by aquifer storage and recovery techniques using excess winter desalinated water.

With over 1700 km of coastline, the inhabitants of Oman have had a deep and enduring relationship with the sea for millennia. Located between the Arabian Gulf and the western Indian Ocean, its fishermen have relied on the sea for sustenance. Its mariners were involved in developing long-distance maritime trade from at least the Bronze Age and continued sailing the monsoonal trade routes well into the twentieth century. Periodically, its rulers have established maritime polities extending to Zanzibar and the Makran coast, creating sea-based migrations in the process. With such a rich and enduring seafaring past, it is therefore not surprising that the modern nation-state of Oman has had an active interest in studying and preserving its MUCH.

In Oman, Bangladeshis are now the most important community of migrants among South Asians. Among them are fishermen who represent a paradigmatic example of the difficult situation most low skilled workers have to face in the Gulf countries. Based on fieldworks in Hatiya, a small island of the Bay of Bengal from where these fishermen are originating, and in several harbours of Oman, I intend to highlight the different mechanisms which make migration a very risky gamble for these men. From the recruitment process through local networks, the conditions of work and salaries, the unavoidable path to an irregular status and eventually the arrest and deportation of most of these workers, I propose to show how, structurally, their migratory experience almost always leads to failure and increased poverty.

Few regions in the world are as torn by conflicts as the Near East, in which Iran plays a central role. Opportunities to engage with Iran are abundant, ...

"Muslim marriages have been the focus of considerable public debate in Europe and beyond, in Muslim-majority countries as well as in settings where Muslims are a minority. Most academic work has focused on how the majority Sunni Muslims conclude marriages. This volume, in contrast, focuses on Twelver Shi'a Muslims in Iran, Pakistan, Oman, Indonesia, Norway, and the Netherlands. The volume makes an original contribution to understanding the global dynamics of Shi'a marriage practices in a wide range of contexts--not only its geographical spread but also by providing a critical analysis of the socio-economic, religious, ethnic, and political discourses of each context. The book sheds light on new marriage forms presented through a bottom up approach focusing on the lived experiences of Shi'a Muslims negotiating a diverse range of relationships and forms of belonging"--