Q : You are widely admired as an enlightened leader. What have been your majorinfluences? What ideas, thinkers, teachersand experiences formed you as a leader?
HIS MAJESTY
: There are, of course, manyinfluences that come to bear on a youngman as he advances towards maturity. Inmy case, my father's insistence on mythoroughly studying my religion and thehistory and culture of my country were aprofound help in forming my consciousnessof my responsibilities towards my peopleand to humanity at large. Also, I had thebenefit -- one might say as a counter-balance in a sense -- of a Western educationand exposure to the discipline of life as asoldier. Finally, I have had the advantageover the years of reading the political andphilosophical views of many of the world'sforemost thinkers. In some cases, ofcourse, I have found myself in disagreement with the ideas they have expressed,but this disagreement in itself has provedvaluable in the evolution of my formedopinions and in my recognition of the needto consider all sides of a question.
Q : It is difficult to initiate political andsocial change and even more difficult tofollow through on it. How do you explainyour success in moving your society towardgreater openness and citizen participation?
HIS MAJESTY
: The success we haveachieved in Oman in adopting the advantages of modern society while preservingour ancient traditions and culture has beendue to the close partnership that existsbetween my people and myself. Throughevery stage of our development, which initially rested on the urgent requirement toprovide health care and education for all, Ihave borne in mind the need to preserve acareful balance between these two paramount factors -- the acceptance of modernity and the retention of old establishedvalues. While some of the requirementshave demanded speed, others, includingpolitical and social change, have requiredus to be careful to act gradually and deliberately. For example, there has been aprogressive development in the powers andresponsibilities of the Majlis Ash Shura --lb /> our parliament -- and in its membership,which has now been carried a step forwardwith the admission of women. To haverushed these things with, for example, aninsistence upon the early establishment ofpolitical parties and the other trappings ofdemocracy, would have been disastrous ina society that had so recently had only themost traditional form of social structure.Now I can say we are firmly on the road tocontinual social and political development,and what pleases me most is the fact thatthis momentum is ensuring a bright
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