Oman & Its Renaissance

Oman & Its Renaissance PDF Author: Donald Hawley
Publisher: Stacey International Publishers
ISBN: 9780905743639
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
Oman is a country no visitor forgets. It has played its part in ancient civilisations, and it plays its part in today's. It sent copper to Mesopotamia, and incense to Rome. From ages past it lay along the sea trade routes between East and West. It was the site of rich and fabled entrepots. It built great castles and fine houses. A century ago it fell into decline. Today, under Sultan Qaboos, since 1970 the latest in an ancient line of rulers, it flourishes anew - probably as never before in such prosperity, peace and promise. Out of Oman's long heritage has grown a people of sophistication, grace and confidence. They and their country, rich in its dramatic mountains and coasts, its terraced fields and pasturelands, and sweeping deserts, cast a certain spell. Economically, socially, culturally and strategically - for it commands the Straits of Hormuz - Oman stands strong and forward-looking, an ancient nation in the flowering of its renaissance. In this famous book, re-shaped and wholly revised to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sultan Qaboos's rule, Sir Donald Hawley sets the present in the context of the past. Formerly Britain's first Ambassador to Oman, the author has become the leading international authority on the country he has studied long, and learned to admire so deeply.

Oman & Its Renaissance

Oman & Its Renaissance PDF Author: Donald Hawley
Publisher: Stacey International Publishers
ISBN: 9780905743639
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 256

Get Book Here

Book Description
Oman is a country no visitor forgets. It has played its part in ancient civilisations, and it plays its part in today's. It sent copper to Mesopotamia, and incense to Rome. From ages past it lay along the sea trade routes between East and West. It was the site of rich and fabled entrepots. It built great castles and fine houses. A century ago it fell into decline. Today, under Sultan Qaboos, since 1970 the latest in an ancient line of rulers, it flourishes anew - probably as never before in such prosperity, peace and promise. Out of Oman's long heritage has grown a people of sophistication, grace and confidence. They and their country, rich in its dramatic mountains and coasts, its terraced fields and pasturelands, and sweeping deserts, cast a certain spell. Economically, socially, culturally and strategically - for it commands the Straits of Hormuz - Oman stands strong and forward-looking, an ancient nation in the flowering of its renaissance. In this famous book, re-shaped and wholly revised to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Sultan Qaboos's rule, Sir Donald Hawley sets the present in the context of the past. Formerly Britain's first Ambassador to Oman, the author has become the leading international authority on the country he has studied long, and learned to admire so deeply.

Sultan Qaboos and Modern Oman, 1970-2020

Sultan Qaboos and Modern Oman, 1970-2020 PDF Author: Allen James Fromherz
Publisher: EUP
ISBN: 9781474493468
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Explores the social, cultural, legal and religious changes that occurred in Oman during the reign of Sultan Qaboos

Oman and Its Renaissance

Oman and Its Renaissance PDF Author: Donald Hawley
Publisher: Stacey International
ISBN: 9780866855198
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description


Success and Suppression

Success and Suppression PDF Author: Dag Nikolaus Hasse
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674971582
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 683

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Book Description
The Renaissance marked a turning point in Europe’s relationship to Arabic thought. On the one hand, Dag Nikolaus Hasse argues, it was the period in which important Arabic traditions reached the peak of their influence in Europe. On the other hand, it is the time when the West began to forget, and even actively suppress, its debt to Arabic culture. Success and Suppression traces the complex story of Arabic influence on Renaissance thought. It is often assumed that the Renaissance had little interest in Arabic sciences and philosophy, because humanist polemics from the period attacked Arabic learning and championed Greek civilization. Yet Hasse shows that Renaissance denials of Arabic influence emerged not because scholars of the time rejected that intellectual tradition altogether but because a small group of anti-Arab hard-liners strove to suppress its powerful and persuasive influence. The period witnessed a boom in new translations and multivolume editions of Arabic authors, and European philosophers and scientists incorporated—and often celebrated—Arabic thought in their work, especially in medicine, philosophy, and astrology. But the famous Arabic authorities were a prominent obstacle to the Renaissance project of renewing European academic culture through Greece and Rome, and radical reformers accused Arabic science of linguistic corruption, plagiarism, or irreligion. Hasse shows how a mixture of ideological and scientific motives led to the decline of some Arabic traditions in important areas of European culture, while others continued to flourish.

Oman

Oman PDF Author: Marc Valeri
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781849044851
Category : Authoritarianism
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Based on years of firsthand research, Marc Valeri treats the political career of Sultan Qaboos as a case study of the social and political mechanisms that perpetuate authoritarianism in post-colonial states. He examines the way in which Sultan Qaboos built and constantly renewed his base in order to meet internal and external challenges to his power. Valeri also considers what happens when one part of this model, namely an oil-rent economy, falters, and the privileges enjoyed by half the population are no longer tenable. Expanding his focus beyond the state of Oman, Valeri then evaluates the strategies adopted and challenges faced by other Arab monarchies in Morocco, Jordan, and the Persian Gulf.

Traditional Architecture of the Arabian Gulf

Traditional Architecture of the Arabian Gulf PDF Author: R. Hawker
Publisher: WIT Press
ISBN: 1845641353
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
This book chronicles the florescence of architecture in the Arabian Gulf after the expulsion of the Portuguese in the early 1600's. It demonstrates how the power vacuum created by the collapse of Portuguese control over the trade routes in the Indian Ocean encouraged a growth in fortified architecture, especially in Oman, that radiated out to the surrounding region and was then slowly replaced by new patterns in domestic and public architecture and town planning throughout the Gulf as the trade lines were secured and the individual countries took the first steps towards the formation of today's modern nation-states.The book documents the buildings and crafts of this era and analyses them within the framework of the political, economic, and social information available through primary sources from the period in a way that is both intelligent and accessible. It considers the settlements as part of a larger-connected network of cities, towns and villages and focuses both on how the buildings provided innovative solutions to the demanding climate and yet incorporated new decorative and functional ideas. Topics are extensively and richly illustrated with colored photographs of the buildings as they are now, black and white and color historic photographs from archival and museum collections, line drawings, and computer-generated reconstructions.The book is therefore attractive to a number of audiences, including those who live in or travel to the Gulf as well as people with an interest in Arab and Islamic design, culture and society, vernacular architecture, and post-colonial approaches to colonial history.

The Good American

The Good American PDF Author: Robert D. Kaplan
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0525512306
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 545

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Book Description
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Revenge of Geography comes a sweeping yet intimate story of the most influential humanitarian you’ve never heard of—Bob Gersony, who spent four decades in crisis zones around the world. “One of the best accounts examining American humanitarian pursuits over the past fifty years . . . With still greater challenges on the horizon, we will need to find and empower more people like Bob Gersony—both idealistic and pragmatic—who can help make the world a more secure place.”—The Washington Post In his long career as an acclaimed journalist covering the “hot” moments of the Cold War and its aftermath, bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan often found himself crossing paths with Bob Gersony, a consultant for the U.S. State Department whose quiet dedication and consequential work made a deep impression on Kaplan. Gersony, a high school dropout later awarded a Bronze Star for his service in Vietnam, conducted on-the-ground research for the U.S. government in virtually every war and natural-disaster zone in the world. In Thailand, Central and South America, Sudan, Chad, Mozambique, Rwanda, Gaza, Bosnia, North Korea, Iraq, and beyond, Gersony never flinched from entering dangerous areas that diplomats could not reach, sometimes risking his own life. Gersony’s behind-the scenes fact-finding, which included interviews with hundreds of refugees and displaced persons from each war zone and natural-disaster area, often challenged the assumptions and received wisdom of the powers that be, on both the left and the right. In nearly every case, his advice and recommendations made American policy at once smarter and more humane—often dramatically so. In Gersony, Kaplan saw a powerful example of how American diplomacy should be conducted. In a work that exhibits Kaplan’s signature talent for combining travel and geography with sharp political analysis, The Good American tells Gersony’s powerful life story. Set during the State Department’s golden age, this is a story about the loneliness, sweat, and tears and the genuine courage that characterized Gersony’s work in far-flung places. It is also a celebration of ground-level reporting: a page-turning demonstration, by one of our finest geopolitical thinkers, of how getting an up-close, worm’s-eye view of crises and applying sound reason can elicit world-changing results.

Jewels of the Renaissance

Jewels of the Renaissance PDF Author: Yvonne Hackenbroch
Publisher: Editions Assouline
ISBN: 9781614282037
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
Renaissance jewels are among the most alluring manifestations of an age that experienced the widening of horizons, from the Old World to the New. This volume overflows with luxurious imagery expressing the boundless creativity and spirit of the Age of the Renaissance. Yvonne Hackenbroch relates the tales of the jewels, the artists, and the patrons who commissioned them.

Oman Diplomatic Handbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments

Oman Diplomatic Handbook Volume 1 Strategic Information and Developments PDF Author: IBP USA
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1433037874
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description


Oman's Insurgencies

Oman's Insurgencies PDF Author: J. E. Peterson
Publisher: Saqi
ISBN: 0863567029
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 354

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Book Description
Oman today is a rapidly modernizing and peaceful country on the fringes of a region in turmoil. It does, however, have a long history of internal strife. In the twentieth century, this strife took the form of two internal conflicts. The Northern Oman or al-Jabal al-Akhdar War of the 1950s was a struggle between the forces of the old tribally based Imamate and the newer Sultanate in the northern part of the country. In the Dhufar War of the 1960s-70s an anti-Sultanate - and later Marxist - front sought secession in the south. J. E. Peterson takes a detailed look at these two wars in the context of insurgency and counter-insurgency warfare. He surveys Oman's transition from a strictly traditional regime controlling only parts of the country to a modern, inclusive state, particularly in terms of security concerns. Peterson analyses the development of the Sultanate's successful responses to security challenges, especially in the creation and evolution of modern armed forces. 'John Peterson provides the nearest we will perhaps ever see of an official history.' David Benest, The British Army Review 'Peterson does an excellent job of developing the thesis that victory in these counter-insurgencies resulted from the two factors of establishing political legitimacy by meeting the local demands of the population and military efforts, which succeeded largely through British support.' Calvin H. Allen Jr., Middle East Journal