The Palgrave Handbook of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

This Handbook presents a broad yet nuanced portrait of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, its socio-political rifts, economic challenges, foreign policy priorities and historical complexities.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has traditionally been an oasis of peace and stability in the ever-turbulent Middle East. The political ambitions of regional powers, often expressed in the form of territorial aggrandisement, have followed the Hashemites like an inseparable shadow. The scarcity of natural resources, especially water, has been compounded by the periodic influx of refugees from its neighbours.

As a result, many—Arab and non-Arab alike—have questioned the longevity and survival of Jordan. These uncertainties were compounded when the founding ruler, King Abdullah I, became involved in the nascent Palestinian problem at the end of World War II. The annexation of the eastern part of Mandate Palestine or the West Bank in the wake of the 1948 War transformed the Jordanian demography and sowed the seeds of an uneasy relationship with the Palestinian component of its population, citizens, residents and refugees.

Though better natural resources and stronger leaders have not ensured political stability in many Arab and non-Arab countries, Jordan has been an exception. Indeed, since its formation as an Emirate by the British in 1921, the Kingdom has seen only four rulers, a testimony to the sagacity and political foresight of the Hashemites.

The Hashemites have managed to sustain the semi-rentier model primarily through international aid and assistance, which in turn inhibits Jordan from pursuing rapid political and economic reforms. Though a liberal, multi-religious and multicultural society, Jordan has been hampered by social cleavages especially between the tribal population and the forces of modernization.

P. R. Kumaraswamy is a Professor of Contemporary Middle East Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. From 1992-1999 he was a research fellow at the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace, Jerusalem. Since joining the JNU in September 1999, he has been researching, teaching, and writing on various aspects of the contemporary Middle East. His works include Squaring the Circle: Mahatma Gandhi and the Jewish National Home (2018); India’s Israel Policy (2010); and Historical Dictionary of the Arab Israeli Conflict (2015, second edition). Prof Kumaraswamy has edited a number of books and published research articles in international journals. In October 2009 he set up the virtual Middle East Institute, New Delhi and serves as its honorary director. He is also the editor of Contemporary Review of the Middle East and the series editor of Persian Gulf: India’s Relations with the Region.

Contributors

Faisal Odeh Al-Rfouh is a professor of international relations in the University of Jordan, Amman.

Alexander Bligh is the Chief Scientist, Ministry of Science, Technology and space, Israel.

Chen Bram is a research fellow at the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University, and a senior lecturer at the department for behavioral science at Hadassah Academic College, Jerusalem.

Françoise De Bel-Air is a Research Fellow and Scientific Coordinator for Demography within the Gulf Labour Markets, Migration and Population Program (GLMM) coordinated by the Gulf Research Centre in Geneva and the Migration Policy Centre of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Donna Robinson Divine is the Morningstar Family Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Government, Emerita at Smith College.

Imad El-Anis is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Nottingham Trent University, UK.

Paul Esber is a Teaching Fellow at the University of Sydney Australia where he completed his doctoral studies in 2018 in the Department of Arabic Language and Cultures.

Sean Foley is an Associate Professor of History at Middle Tennessee State University (USA) and specialises in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and religious and political trends in the broader Islamic world.

Hillel Frisch is a professor Political Studies and Middle East Studies in Bar-Ilan University, Israel and Senior Researcher in the BESA Center for Strategic Studies.

Tally Helfont provides analysis support to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency's Institute for Security Governance (ISG) in Monterey, CA. She was the founding Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Program on the Middle East (2011-2018) as well as the Project Lead for its ‘After the Caliphate Project’.

Gadi Hitman is a faculty member in the Middle East Department and Political Science at Ariel University.

Graham Jevon is an historian and author of Glubb Pasha and the Arab Legion: Britain, Jordan, and the End of Empire in the Middle East. 

Miranda Egan Langley is an Irish based Barrister at Law practicing for the last six years in primarily criminal law, asylum and immigration and family law with a focus on Human Rights specifically access to justice and minority rights issues.

Artur Malantowicz is the Director of Operations of the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA) and serves as the Middle East Expert at the Warsaw-based think tank Centre for International Initiatives.

Md. Muddassir Quamar is Associate Fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies & Analyses, New Delhi.

Yitzhak Reiter is a Professor of Islam, Middle East history, and politics and Israel Studies. He chairs the Department of Israel Studies and is the Head of the Research Authority at Ashkelon Academic College.

Victoria Silva Sánchez is an independent journalist and researcher based in Amman.

Avraham Sela is professor emeritus of International Relations and a senior research fellow at the Truman Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Yasmine Shawwaf is an independent researcher based in the United States..

Manjari Singh has recently submitted her doctoral thesis on Sustainable Development in Jordan in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She is also a Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) fellow and a non-resident fellow at Middle East Institute, New Delhi (MEI@ND).

Moshe Terdiman is the founder and director of the Think Tank for the Research of Islam and Muslims in Africa which deals with Islam and Muslim communities in Africa and the Diaspora. He is research fellow in the Ezri Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies in the University of Haifam and at the Forum for Regional Thinking.

Ronen Yitzhak is the chair of the department of Middle Eastern Studies at Western Galilee College in Acre, Israel.

Joas Wagemakers is an assistant professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands.

Onn Winckler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, University of Haifa.

Nanneke Wisman is working as Country Expert (Libya) at the African Cabinet and Political Elite Data (ACPED) Project based at the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.