After the sultan

摘要

On an average day a resident of Muscat, Oman's seafront capital, is likely to drive down Sultan Qaboos road, pass Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and perhaps Sultan Qaboos port, too. He or she may be a graduate of Sultan Qaboos University and watch a football match at the Sultan Qaboos sports complex before heading home to a house in Medinat Sultan Qaboos, a neighbourhood of the city. If one man dominates the country, that is because since 1970, when he overthrew his father, Qaboos bin Said al-Said has ruled the Gulf state as an absolute monarch, albeit a benevolent one who has both unified and modernised Oman.