Contributor(s): Dr Marc Valeri | Oman’s foreign policy under Qaboos is usually considered to be pragmatic and independent – as illustrated by the sultanate’s role in facilitating the conclusion of the Iran-P5+1 nuclear deal in 2013 and its announcement that it would not join a hypothetical Gulf union. However such a widely accepted view should not obscure the fact that the price to pay for the perpetuation of this foreign policy has been an unquestioned political and economic dependence towards London and Washington. Marc Valeri is Senior Lecturer in Political Economy of the Middle East and Director of the Centre for Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter. He is the author of Oman Politics and Society in the Qaboos State.