ABSTRACT
Oman in the decades prior to the 1960s was largely isolated from the rest of the world and its changing economies and societies. It was very difficult for foreigners to get into the country and almost equally difficult for Omanis to return if they had departed to find work elsewhere. There was no modem education system, other than three small junior schools in Muscat. There was no health service, other than an American mission hospital, and there were no paved roads, other than a strip a few kilometres in length linking Musca~ with Mutrah. International links were minimal, and the government was a small and very personal affair in the hands of the then Sultan, Said bin Taimur (Allen, 1987; Clements, 1980).
