Introduction

With the establishment of the modern state of Oman in 1970, the government of Sultan Qaboos created and transmitted a national ideology based on ‘shared’ values, ideas and symbols embodied in the figure of Qaboos bin Said. This state project has sought to instil and cultivate an authentic national spirit among Omanis, who can recognise themselves as citizen- subjects of the ‘old’ country.In line with this programme, many major infrastructure projects meant to display the power and legitimacy of the new order are named after the Sultan. Hence, as many observers have noted, Oman's nation-building process is intimately connected to the personality of Sultan Qaboos. Yet, this link between national identity and the persona of the Sultan is not universally observed. In Hatha Watani (This Is My Nation), a social studies textbook for Omani students in the eleventh grade, the Ministry of Education notes that the course aims to provide Omanis with a sense of national identity. Hatha Watani's focus was not to limit the creation of a national Omani identity to the sole character of Sultan Qaboos and al-nahdha, the ‘renaissance’ of 1970, a period of prosperity brought about by his rise to power, but rather to appreciate the geology, geography, history, culture, diversity and so forth of the Sultanate's constructed past and present.

Analysing official government discourse and utilising personal interviews conducted between December 2014 and March 2016, this chapter's argument is twofold. First, contrary to expert claims on Oman and recent work by Omanis that Qaboos's presence and character constitute the primary factor that upholds Oman's current national identity, there are several other elements – for instance, the country's history, cosmopolitan culture, foreign policy, and so forth – that helped create an Omani national identity.These constructions, part of the awakening narrative, are represented as part of Oman's ancient past and hence naturalised for the national present. Secondly, and more pressing in view of current socio-economic challenges, is the role of energy in Oman. Since 1970, oil has played an integral part in grounding a brand of Omani identity promoted by the state. Therefore, contrary to countless analyses, the real crisis at hand is not the succession to Sultan Qaboos, as his legacy will continue after him, but that of oil, which has played a critical role in the social, economic and political structures of Oman from 1970.