Suchergebnisse

Environmental degradation in arid and semi-arid regions often
results from trade-offs between immediate and long-term needs.
Ecological (and ultimately economic) benefits of restrained, sustainable
resource use are well-understood by scientists, and are usually apparent
to local farmers and herders as well. However, immediate economic needs
often conflict, and excessive exploitation of resources may be necessary
to subsistence producers' survival. Such issues are illustrated in a
variety of settings. Solutions to problems containing important economic
components require appropriate economic policies, as well as technical
action. Long-term sustainable resource utilisation rather than
short-term exploitation must be made more attractive to local producers
in their daily lives.

The history of Oman is largely a story of competition, and often conflict, between two very different entities. This duality was even symbolized by the name of the country, "Sultanate of Muscat and Oman," until 1970. The sultanate was formed from the fusion of the Batina coastal plain and its port cities, symbolically Muscat, and the interior of the country, Oman. During most periods in the recent history of the country, only the coast has been ruled by the sultan. Even before the institution of the sultanate emerged in the 18th century, however, the coast had usually been under separate, often foreign, rule. In the interior, the ideal head of government from very early times was that of an imam, even though the office often remained vacant. At many times during Omani history, of course, one part of the country or the other imposed its control and Oman was temporarily united, but the differences between the two sections of Omani society eventually split the country into two separate states again. Even within the last decade, one of the major problems in Oman's efforts to develop has been "the traditional antithesis between the sultan residing on the coast and the inwardly oriented tribes."

Bis heute sind die Entwicklungsprobleme Omans von dem traditionellen Dualismus der beiden Landesteile - Küstenregion und Inneroman - geprägt. Der Beitrag befaßt sich mit den ökonomischen Aspekten dieser Dichotomie und analysiert insbesondere die beiden unterschiedlichen Wirtschaftsstrukturen für einen Zeitraum, in dem sie separat funktionierten und kaum Veränderungen unterworfen waren. (DÜI-Hns)