Country Profile
From The Report: Jordan 2013
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Home to many important biblical and pilgrimage sites, the past several years have seen significant changes in Jordan, with protests, constitutional reforms and most recently, elections held in early 2013 all reshaping the country’s political landscape. With a Parliament made up of Chamber of Deputies and Senate, the development of political parties is high on the agenda, with King Abdullah initiating a processes aimed at bring around constitutional reform. Jordan retains its close ties with the US, the EU and GCC neighbours.
This chapter contains interviews with Abdullah Ensour, Prime Minister of Jordan; and Baroness Morris of Bolton, Head of UK Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait and Palestine.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Time of transition: A gradual process of political reform moves forward
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The past several years have seen significant changes in Jordan, with protests, constitutional reforms and most recently, elections held in early 2013 all reshap-ing the country’s political landscape. While it is still very much a work in progress, King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein has called for a move to a political system in which an elected parliament wields greater power. MONARCH: Under the monarchical system, the king is the most powerful political figure in Jordan. He is the commander…

Interview

OBG talks to Abdullah Ensour, Prime Minister of Jordan
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Interview:Abdullah Ensour How will the new government ensure a greater sense of political continuity, confidence and struc-ture moving forward? ABDULLAH ENSOUR: Under the vision of King Abdullah II, Jordan has put itself on a fast trajectory for political reform and for the gradual installation of proper democratic values and practices. The vitality of this process is ever pressing amidst the regional conflict that has the poten-tial to spill over into the kingdom. This process has been in…

Analysis

Kingdom in the desert: A crossroads of geography, culture and history
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The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan covers an area of 89,342 sq km and shares 1635 km of land borders with Iraq, Israel, the Palestinian Territories (the West Bank), Saudi Arabia and Syria, as well as 26 km of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Topographically, the country is divided into three main areas: the Jor-dan Valley (part of the Great Rift Valley), which runs from north to south in the western part of the king-dom and is known south of the Dead Sea as the Wadi Araba; the highlands…

Interview

OBG talks to Baroness Morris of Bolton, UK Trade Envoy to Jordan, Kuwait & the Palestinian Territories
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To what extent is the unrest in nearly all of Jordan’s neighbouring countries affecting inward foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK? BARONESS MORRIS: Jordan is a valued friend, ally and partner of the UK, and our countries’ friendship and bilateral ties go back a long way. Now, however, as a result of the Arab Spring and the ongoing events in Syria in partic-ular, Britain has really stepped up its levels of engage-ment with King Abdullah and his government to offer its full support. In…