Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, has used an opinion piece in Le Monde to argue that Western strategy in the Middle East has long focused on the wrong target. According to the article, he says the decades-old effort to contain Iran was misguided and that policymakers should reassess where the region’s main danger lies.
Al-Busaidi’s message centers on the need for a different political and security framework in the Gulf. Rather than relying on outside powers to define the region’s threats and priorities, he argues for an order shaped by the countries of the region themselves.
The op-ed also appears to challenge long-standing assumptions in Western foreign policy. By shifting attention away from Iran and toward Tel Aviv, al-Busaidi is calling for a broader debate over how stability, deterrence and diplomacy should be pursued in the Middle East.
The intervention reflects Oman’s familiar role as a regional voice for dialogue and de-escalation. In pushing for a security architecture built around regional states, al-Busaidi is presenting a vision that favors local ownership over inherited strategies from Western capitals.
