Just last April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent a clear message to Oman after adviser Stéphane Roudet and his team visited Muscat for 13 days visit. The team concluded that Oman is a long way from boasting an economy that can one day be self-sustainable without the luxury of oil and gas, and would need to make “substantial” reforms to do so

The ruler, now 76, is ailing and has spent months at a time in Germany receiving cancer treatment. Nevertheless, Oman appears destined to maintain internal stability and its global reputation as a peacemaker. This is largely thanks to Qaboos who offered several concessions to protestors at the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011