"Most Improved" is the award you give the dumb kid in class to make him feel good.

Hello? Juq are you blind? If Saudi Arabia is stable it's because of its incredible gigantic oil reserves and american petrodollars, nothing else.

Juq, you are off-topic here, we were discussing about ibadism and islam. And if Oman successfully modernized its economy, it's certainly because of Ibadism's opened and modern views.
Just clarifying Oman's current situation, this country despite being close to Yemen (no need to say it is one of the most unstable nation) or even Somalia/Iran/etc, has the same GDP per capita of the Czech Republic or Portugal. This without big natural reserves. Saudi Arabia is rich because of OIl nothing else, Oman is rich because its people worked for it. I hope you get it now.

Edited 4/19/2015 17:55:33

America won't abandon it's grand bastion in the Middle East, even if it does run out of oil. It's a strategic place to have influence, bordering other very high potential theodes to have influence over. Also, Oman is not really close to Somalia nor Iran. Oman is a smaller country and has "modest" oil reserves, as you said. This balances out to be a decent and stable country, but it's nowhere near as luxurious as the Emirates. UAE had no protests during the Arab Spring.

Not close to Somalia? Ever heard of Somalian pirates? Undermining the entire maritime commerce of this area (my sources: I have classes in Asian geopolitics) Oman is also very close to Iran (Ormuz strait), and shias or sunnis both hate ibadis, really I admire Oman for their success whereas having so much handicaps.

They're both across the water. Mexicans, Colombians, Cubans transport drugs to America, but America is not undermined by this.

ahahah Shebabs and Somalian pirates are way more dangerous than any of your drug dealers Juq...

And anyway soon or later, Yemen too will fall... Poor Oman...

Edited 4/19/2015 19:36:59

Oman also live on oil, is it not much like the Saudis but not lacking

Angry Panda, tsh, you obviously know nothing about Asian Geopolitics. Yemen has already fell.

Not totally or you would see GIs there.

Edited 4/19/2015 19:45:43

There are.

The main fight is between forces loyal to the beleaguered President, Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, and those allied to Zaidi Shia rebels known as Houthis, who forced Mr Hadi to flee the capital Sanaa in February. But still the goverment of Yemen has not yet fallen.

That's like saying the Syrian Arab Republic has not fell. Also, Arabia, Jordan and a few others are in Yemen intervening.

well Juq the Syrian Republic of al assad did not fell yet.
Some example of fallen government/states: afghanistan under the taliban who controlled the country before the US intervention, Iran: the Shah monarchy was overthrown by the Islamic republic, Tunisia: the dictatorial government of Ben ALi defeated by the Jasmin revolution.
Yemen nor Syria have known that yet, even if they control only half of the country, their governments have not fallen.

The Houthis in Yemen are a military threat to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as they proved in the 2010 invasion of Najran/Jazan by Houthi militia.
The Kingdom cannot sit idle whilst a continuous threat sits on the border, as the US won't sit idle if Canada starts threatening to take Washington DC over (not that the US would win a war with Canada btw).

Ok, Angry Panda, your "fall" meaning is different than mine.

Also America would crush Canada.

Edited 4/19/2015 20:05:20

But would it?

Think about what Canada has tied to it from having the Queen... technically, the British would have to defend Canada as having the same head of state, and the same would apply to Australia, New Zealand, all the Caribbean territories that share the Queen, and then all allies in the region including Chile and all the rest.

British is a minor power Colonel against AMerica...

You got a modern example: the Suez crisis, when the English and the French representing Old Europe had a military/diplomatic lesson from both America and USSR the superpowers of that period (50s).

That episode is over. We are now in the era of the rise of American isolationism, the growing influence of China across the world, including America's "back-yard" (central America), the growing counter-moves by Russia against EU expansionism including increased influence in Greece, Spain and Hungary and increasing hostility towards the Baltics whilst fighting a "holy war" against the far-right in Ukraine.
This is a new world, a new episode and the next star will be the Commonwealth. Trust me.

Britain is no match for America, nor the commonwealth combined. I doubt they even have more population than America.

America only has ~400 million people. Relatively average.