Stability will be prioritized in its decades-long relationship with Jordan, as the Biden administration can not afford the appearance of abandoning another close ally. We are pursuing a very steady course, centered on achievable aims alignment of ends and means and, first and foremost, support to our partners,” said the official. “We’re not trying to transform the Middle East. With Washington providing Amman nearly $1.5 billion in annual aid, Jordan has much to lose should ties decline, given the country faces a record public debt of $45 billion.Ī senior Biden administration official has, however, presented an alternative set of foreign policy priorities in an August 25th briefing. In a 2020 report on Jordan, the State Department said that "significant human rights issues included: cases of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as punishment, arbitrary arrest and detention of activists and members of the press." Concerned about even mild forms of criticism, Jordanian authorities dissolved the teachers’ syndicate last year and sentenced five of its leaders to prison after the group protested poor teachers’ pay. Parliament holds few tangible powers with King Abdullah maintaining a dominant role in governing, which includes appointing and dismissing premiers. annual aid worldwide.Īlthough the Hashemite Kingdom found greater agreement with Biden on the Palestinian cause compared to Trump’s presidency, meeting Biden’s human rights agenda inside Jordan poses a challenge. administration’s priorities on democratization since Amman receives the third-largest amount of U.S. As the issue received greater emphasis, some questioned how Jordan, deemed “ not free” by Freedom House, would fit into the new U.S. aid to Jordan’s neighbors – Egypt and Israel – based on those countries’ abuses of human rights. would ensure that “those who commit human rights abuses are held accountable.” Accordingly, some members of Congress have called on the Biden administration to condition U.S. In February, Secretary of State Antony Blinken noted that the U.S. While on the campaign trail, then-candidate Joe Biden vowed to center his foreign policy on defending human rights overseas, insisting that “ strengthening democracy” would return to the global agenda on his watch. allies regardless of whether Abdullah advances democracy in his country. presidents over the past two decades, but it seems that after the Taliban’s conquest that resulted in scathing Congressional and media criticism of its Afghanistan evacuation, Biden administration officials will look to prioritize stability in its relations with Jordan and other longtime U.S. Abdullah’s advice on Afghanistan was perhaps not heeded by U.S. policy toward Afghanistan, telling CNN: “Knowing its culture, knowing that empires have bled there for centuries, to try and get a western democracy in the shortest amount of time… may have been a bridge too far.” Abdullah’s downplaying the importance of Afghan democracy as ill-fitting for the country’s culture is not too different from his own unwillingness to significantly cede power over his 22-year reign.
Only weeks before Kabul’s fall, King Abdullah of Jordan discussed U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan May Benefit JordanĪfter the troubling images from Kabul’s airport, Biden will likely prioritize stability in dealing with King Abdullah despite human rights concerns. Barhouma explains that there are two important next steps for the Gulf states: obtain reassurance from Washington that they will not be left to face regional security challenges alone and quickly adapt to this new reality so that they can raise their standing with Washington. withdrawal as well as what their next steps should be. In the second article, political writer Mohammad Barhouma discusses the position of Gulf states following the U.S. Jordan may also benefit from international attention due to the difficulties in absorbing refugees after the Taliban’s conquest. Given the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood’s strong support for the Taliban movement, Abdullah will likely face few repercussions from the Biden administration for continuing to clamp down on the organization, despite its implications for Jordan’s democracy. withdrawal from Afghanistan and discusses how it benefits Jordan. In the first article, analyst Aaron Majid presents his analysis of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan on the security and political agendas in a number of Middle Eastern countries. These two articles discuss the implications of the U.S.
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