By Menachem Wecker
“It’s a great pleasure for me to be back here at the same podium after a couple of years,” said Hunaina Sultan Al-Mughairy, Omani ambassador to the United States, at the Sept. 30 conference Oman 2010: 40 Years – Building the Future, jointly sponsored by GW and the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center.
Amb. Al-Mughairy’s remarks came just over three-and-a-half years after she, the first female Arab ambassador to the United States, delivered a lecture as part of the Elliott School of International Affairs’ Distinguished Women in International Affairs series.
In his welcoming remarks, GW President Steven Knapp noted that Amb. Al-Mughairy was the first international speaker in the Distinguished Women series, and that her return, as well as the conference, reflected the importance of the collaboration between GW and Oman.
“Here at GW, we seek to engage the world from this location in our nation’s capital,” he said, “especially by convening discussions on the most pressing issues of our time.”
The conference, which drew more than 100 attendees, featured panels on political and economic development and women in Oman.
Amb. Edward W. “Skip” Gnehm Jr., B.A. ’66, M.A. ’68, Kuwait professor of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula affairs and director of GW’s Middle East Policy Forum, says he was very pleased that Omani representatives approached him to ask if GW would co-host the conference.
“Sponsoring this conference along with the Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center was part of our ongoing efforts to build close and strong ties with the governments in the Persian Gulf region,” says Amb. Gnehm, a former U.S. ambassador to Jordan, Australia and Kuwait. “We are excited about our new partnership with Oman and hope to see it expand and grow.”
According to Amb. Gnehm, who has visited Oman with Elliott School Dean Michael E. Brown several times over the past few years, the country has played a very interesting and positive role in regional affairs, primarily due to its policy of “quiet engagement.”
“You rarely see it in the headlines, but it’s very active behind the scenes,” he says, noting that Oman helped serve as an intermediary in negotiations with Iran to release Sarah Shourd, an American hiker who was detained by Iranian border patrols.
A dinner after the conference included Queen Noor of Jordan, Ms. Shourd, and relatives of the other detained hikers. In his keynote address at the dinner, Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi, the Omani secretary-general of foreign affairs, stressed the importance of using diplomacy and dialogue to solve problems, particularly in the Middle East.
In her keynote address at the conference, Rawiyah bint Saud al Busaidiyah, the Omani minister of higher education, discussed the great strides that Oman has taken in its approach to education.
Forty years ago, Oman had only three schools and not one college or university. Today, according to the minister, 82,000 students attend more than 60 colleges and university in Oman. Another 12,000 Omanis study abroad.
“The fruits of Oman’s renaissance are especially evident in the realm of education,” Minister al Busaidiyah said, emphasizing the percentage of women students, which is higher than 50 percent. “Higher education is playing a vital role in the advancement and empowerment of women.”
William Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, also delivered a keynote address at the conference, in which he stressed the history of the Omani-U.S. friendship, which dates back to 1790.
“The United States will continue to attach high value to its close friendship and partnership with Oman, just as it has since our two countries first made contact more than two centuries ago,” he said.
Amb. Burns also expressed his appreciation to the university. “I am grateful also to President Knapp, for his stewardship of the George Washington University and the Elliott School, which have played such an important role in educating generations of international leaders,” he said.