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Indeed, today the country serves as an exemplar for the peaceful co-existence of a plethora of different religious creeds and cultures in the Arabic world. While the large majority of the Sultanate’s population is of Muslim denomination, Oman, as a result of the influx of migrant workers from East and West, has also become a home to growing communities of Christians, Buddhists and Hindus and other religious creeds. And with Ibadis, Sunnis, Shiites and Sufis, Islam itself is highly diverse in the Sultanate. But unlike in many other places, this degree of diversity has not led to strife and fault lines in the Omani society. Rather, the Sultanate is a vivid example that cultural diversity in a globalized world does not have to lead to a “clash of civilizations”, but that it can just as well act as a catalyst for mutual understanding and respect between the East and the West.

Fostering this culture of tolerance is a task in which Oman’s nascent media can play an important role and that presents journalists with challenges in their day-to-day reporting. But what role exactly can Oman’s media play in cultivating and promoting religious and cultural tolerance? How should media corporations deal with an important, yet sensitive topic such as cultural diversity? But also: What can the West learn from the peaceful co-existence in Oman? These questions will be central to the discussion between representatives from Oman’s government, media and civil society and the renowned German journalist and co-founder of the German Islam Conference, Ali Aslan, scheduled for May 12, 2014.

After a successful start in Kuwait City, Oman will be the second country to host the series “The Role of Media in Intercultural Dialogue” with which Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung aims to contribute to the sustainable development of civil society and intercultural dialogue in the region.