Current Analysis Occupied Maan An expanded campaign to silence outspoken critics of the Jordanian government has followed the October 20 assassination of USAID official Lawrence Foley in Amman. On the pretext of unsubstantiated speculation that Foley's killing was orchestrated by a group of Islamist militants, the regime has arrested foreign and local Jillian Schwedler • 9 min read
Current Analysis Don't Blink On June 26, Jordan's King Abdallah II issued a royal decree pardoning former parliamentarian Toujan Faisal, who had been sentenced on May 16 to 18 months in jail for "seditious libel" and "spreading information deemed harmful to the reputation of the state." Faisal's release "on humanitarian grounds Jillian Schwedler • 8 min read
Current Analysis Jordan's King Abdallah in Washington King Abdallah of Jordan came to his May 8 White House meeting with George W. Bush painfully aware of the pressures and contradictions threatening his regime's delicate position. After gambling more heavily than any other Arab state on peace with Israel and the liberalization of the Middle East, Marc Lynch • 7 min read
MER Article Resettling, Reconstructing and Restor(y)ing The old village of Umm Qays, Jordan, is strategically lo cated to the south of the Golan Heights, overlooking the northern part of the Jordan Valley and the southern shore of Lake Tiberias. Biblical Gadara and subsequently one of the cities of the Decapolis in antiquity, it attracts modest numbers Laurie A. Brand • 12 min read
MER Article Betwewen Iraq and a Hard Place The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 triggered the most comprehensive regional realignment since the Sadat peace initiative of 1977. Most Arab states, including Egypt, Syria and all the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), opposed Iraq and joined the US-led coalition. But noticeably absent from that coalition was Curtis Ryan • 9 min read
MER Article Abdullah's Jordan: New King, Old Problems The death of Jordan’s King Hussein in February 1999 not only marked the end of an era, it also highlighted regional preoccupations with looming succession crises in neighboring states, most notably Syria and Saudi Arabia. Hussein’s successor, Abdulla II, confronts a formidable task. He must maintain the institution Beverley Milton-Edwards, Peter Hinchcliffe • 9 min read
Current Analysis The Demise of the Oslo Process Following the death of King Husayn and the accession of Abdullah II, the Clinton administration and the International Monetary Fund expressed their support for the new Jordanian ruler by committing $450 million in new aid on top of $225 million committed by the US earlier this year. The US is also i Joel Beinin • 6 min read
MER Article How Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Even Egypt Became IMF "Success Stories" in the 1990s Just as European missionaries were the spiritual handmaidens of nineteenth-century colonialism, so has the International Monetary Fund (IMF) assumed a modern-day mission in support of world trade, finance and investment. The mission aims to convert the benighted heathen in developing countries to th Karen Pfeifer • 12 min read
MER Article Protesting Sanctions Against Iraq Aida Dabbas is program officer for the Jordanian-American Binational Fulbright Commission in Amman. She has been an active opponent of the sanctions against Iraq and of the US arms buildup in the region. Jillian Schwedler, an editor of this magazine, spoke with her by telephone in June. You recentl Jillian Schwedler • 6 min read
MER Article Press Freedom in Jordan Throughout 1997, mounting restrictions on the press in Jordan reflected the government’s broader agenda of masking the widening divide between the state and its domestic political critics. In May, 1997, six months before the parliamentary elections, the cabinet of Prime Minister ‘Abd al-Salam al-Maj Joel Campagna • 14 min read
MER Article Bread Riots in Jordan On August 13, the Jordanian government lifted its subsidies on wheat. When bread prices immediately doubled, residents of the southern town of Karak demonstrated against the move, calling for a reversal of the policy and the resignation of the prime minister. The protests deteriorated into riots tha Lamis Andoni, Jillian Schwedler • 10 min read
MER Article Strategic Myths: Petra's B'doul Until 1985, the small B’doul tribe resided among the historic ruins of Petra. They made most of their income from tourism, serving as guides, renting out their caves, and selling food and beverages. They also sold archaeological objects found among the ruins, mostly the shards of pots. In 1985 the Anna Ohannessian-Charpin • 3 min read
