SHIFTING SANDS
THRONE INTO QUESTION: The Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, pictured in his palace in Muscat, Oman in 2012. Omanis are worried about who will succeed the widely respected Qaboos, who has ruled for 46 years.+
AXEL SCHMIDT/DAPD/AP
THE DESERT country of Oman does not have the most stable of neighbors. To its west lies Saudi Arabia, some of whose citizens have been major contributors to Islamist militant groups. To its southwest is Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and Iran are backing diferent sides of a civil war that has killed at least 10,000 civilians and attracted both Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State militant group (ISIS).