ABSTRACT
During the nineteenth century in the reign of Sa'id b. Sultan Oman reached the zenith of its diplomatic history when it concluded formal treaties with both Eastern and Western powers. With the collapse of the Omani empire following the death of Sayyid Sa'id, Oman's international affairs were intertwined in European conflicts, most notably that between France and Britain. Omani contacts with its Indian Ocean and Gulf neighbors are documented for several centuries. The third Western nation to become involved diplomatically with Oman was the United States. US relations with Muscat had begun late in the eighteenth century when New England merchants, following on the heels of the China trade, became active in the western Indian Ocean. Oman's major diplomatic problems during the 1950s concerned borders, which began to take on a new significance with the discovery of oil in the Arabian Peninsula. Qaboos' first foreign policy priority after the coup was the improvement of relations with his moderate Arab neighbors.
