AMMAN, JORDAN — To the common observer, it is very easy to overlook the differences among the political climates in the Middle East. The Arab Spring and subsequent uprisings have all but disturbed the fragile balance of stability and the somewhat peaceful relations between nations in the Middle East that have existed in the region in previous decades. The nuances are easy to miss, but one fact that cannot be glossed over is that the Middle East is not homogeneous. Although the Middle Eastern countries largely share similar cultures, the political makeup and governmental systems vary by country.
Situated in the middle of Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Israel (along the always contentious West Bank), it is safe to say that Jordan is located in a fairly rough neighborhood. Despite the problems in the nations that surround it, Jordan remains one of the most stable countries in the Middle East. That is not to say that Jordan is without its problems--in the past year alone, Jordan has experienced upwards of 4,000 protests, according to a security briefing given by the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan. The king also released the entirety of his cabinet last October and installed a new Prime Minister.
To anyone not familiar with Jordanian politics, this may seem like an extreme measure. But, the king replaces his prime ministers with a fair amount of regularity--Jordan has had five different prime ministers in the same amount of years. The truth of the matter is that unrest is largely nonexistent in Jordan. There are people who disagree with the monarch and are actively voicing their preference for a democratically elected prime minister and more transparency within the government.
“The major thing that sets Jordan apart is that they (the people) like the king and don’t want to get rid of the monarchy,” said Yazan Fattaleh, a native Jordanian who studies political science and economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.
To Fattaleh, the monarch represents a key reason that Jordan has been able to maintain its stability. Citing Iraq as an example, Fattaleh detailed how tribal differences among vying religious groups helped to completely destabilize the Iraqi government. Less than a week after U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, issued an arrest warrant for the Sunni vice president, Tariq al-Hashemi. Less than 48 hours later, all of the Sunni representatives in Iraq’s Parliament resigned from their posts, sparking a wave of sectarian violence across the country.
“It is what it is, and it doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not,” said Fattaleh, in reference to the Jordanian monarchy.
Jordanians experience a similar amount of frustration with their government that Americans do. High unemployment rates, rampant inflation and the global economic turndown have produced the same feelings of resentment in Jordan that they have in America. The difference is that due to limitations of freedom of speech and censorship, Jordanians are much more likely to express their dissent in a protest. A certain amount of safety can be found in large numbers, as opposed to a scathing letter to the editor, which is generally seen as a more acceptable form of protest in the U.S. Both can be viewed with the same amount of indifference and caution.