Catalogue Search | MBRL
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
{{itemTitle}}
24
result(s) for
"Jordan -- Politics and government -- 20th century"
Sort by:
Nationalist voices in Jordan : the street and the state
According to conventional wisdom, the national identity of the Jordanian state was defined by the ruling Hashemite family, which has governed the country since the 1920s. But this view overlooks the significant role that the “Arab street”—in this case, ordinary Jordanians and Palestinians—played and continues to play in defining national identity in Jordan and the Fertile Crescent as a whole. Indeed, as this pathfinding study makes clear, “the street” no less than the state has been a major actor in the process of nation building in the Middle East during and after the colonial era. In this book, Betty Anderson examines the activities of the Jordanian National Movement (JNM), a collection of leftist political parties that worked to promote pan-Arab unity and oppose the continuation of a separate Jordanian state from the 1920s through the 1950s. Using primary sources including memoirs, interviews, poetry, textbooks, and newspapers, as well as archival records, she shows how the expansion of education, new jobs in the public and private sectors, changes in economic relationships, the establishment of national militaries, and the explosion of media outlets all converged to offer ordinary Jordanians and Palestinians (who were under the Jordanian government at the time) an alternative sense of national identity. Anderson convincingly demonstrates that key elements of the JNM’s pan-Arab vision and goals influenced and were ultimately adopted by the Hashemite elite, even though the movement itself was politically defeated in 1957.
eBook
From resilience to revolution
Based on comparative historical analyses of Iran, Jordan, and Kuwait, Sean L. Yom examines the foreign interventions, coalitional choices, and state outcomes that made the political regimes of the modern Middle East. A key text for foreign policy scholars,From Resilience to Revolutionshows how outside interference can corrupt the most basic choices of governance: who to reward, who to punish, who to compensate, and who to manipulate.
As colonial rule dissolved in the 1930s and 1950s, Middle Eastern autocrats constructed new political states to solidify their reigns, with varying results. Why did equally ambitious authoritarians meet such unequal fates? Yom ties the durability of Middle Eastern regimes to their geopolitical origins. At the dawn of the postcolonial era, many autocratic states had little support from their people and struggled to overcome widespread opposition. When foreign powers intervened to bolster these regimes, they unwittingly sabotaged the prospects for long-term stability by discouraging leaders from reaching out to their people and bargaining for mass support-early coalitional decisions that created repressive institutions and planted the seeds for future unrest. Only when they were secluded from larger geopolitical machinations did Middle Eastern regimes come to grips with their weaknesses and build broader coalitions.
eBook
From cooperation to normalization? Jordan-Israel relations since 1967
This article deals with the relations between Jordan and Israel from 1967 until 2015. The mutual interest of the Hashemite regime and the Zionist movement, namely to oppose the Palestinians, created the first opportunity for cooperation, which developed into economic ties and intelligence exchanges during the reign of King Abdullah I. A real strategic alliance between Jordan and Israel was formed in the 1950s, when Egyptian President Gamal Abd al-Nasser, together with other nationalist Arab elements, tried to subvert King Hussein's regime and topple him. Israel unhesitatingly came to the side of the Hashemite ruler to protect Jordanian territorial sovereignty. This perception of Jordan informed Israel's policy, which aimed to aid Jordan in confronting new challenges to the regime. The fact that Israel has stood by the Hashemite regime through most of its existence indicates a strategic partnership that will sustain, even if the peace treaty were to be revoked one day.
Journal Article
Jordan
Created as a mechanism for maintaining British influence through a local patron, Jordan’s future never looked certain. Nevertheless, under the leadership of the Hashemite monarchy led by Abdullah and then his grandson Hussein, the Kingdom of Jordan became a permanent feature on the map of the modern Middle East.
Under the rule of King Abdullah II, Jordan has remained an influential regional player in the Middle East Peace Process, its strategic position on the borders of Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq ensuring that it cannot be overlooked in the regional and international politics.
Updated and expanded to include recent developments in Jordan and the Middle East, the new edition includes coverage and discussion of:
the reign of King Abdullah II
the involvement of the US in the Iraq war and the effect on this on Jordan’s alignment with the West
the country’s recent economic growth, with an emphasis on economic liberalisation, privatisation, promotion of tourism and encouragement of foreign investment
the position of Jordan as a point of continuity in an increasingly unstable Middle East.
This volume, intended for both academic and general readers, offers an overview of the history, politics and economics of this fascinating country and its role in a region disfigured by the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Beverley Milton-Edwards is Professor in the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen's University Belfast. She is the author of Islamic Fundamentalism since 1945 (Routledge, 2004) and The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (Routledge, 2008).
Peter Hinchcliffe is an Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and was British Ambassador to Jordan 1994-97.
Introduction 1. The Formation of the Hashemite Kingdom 2. Contemporary Politics in Jordan 3. The Economy 4. International Relations 5. Whither Jordan?
eBook
War and state building in the Middle East
War and State Building in the Middle East addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the authoritarian-regime governments commonly found in the Middle East, particularly among oil-rich countries. In this region, war has interacted with processes of state making in ways that fundamentally differ from the European experience. In short, unlike in Europe, wars do not make states in the Middle East; they destroy them.
According to economic theory, most oil-rich countries are rentier states; that is, they rely upon the extraction of a natural resource to generate revenue and authority for the central government. As a result, there is little reliance upon domestic taxation and a general lack of political accountability and transparency.
By examining how such governments wage war, Rolf Schwarz turns the prevailing wisdom of modern state building on its head. He closely analyzes the real-world experiences of the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Iraq to show how rentierism leads to internal weaknesses when it comes to governing. His comparative approach allows him to demonstrate how varying levels of reliance upon external resource rents are reflected in the structure of the regime.
By highlighting the perils of funding wars through the sale of natural resources, fighting with imported weaponry, and accepting peace settlements negotiated and guaranteed by foreign powers, Schwarz offers provocative insights into post-conflict peace building, state failure, and the potential for democratic rule in the region.
eBook
When Victory Is Not an Option
Throughout the Arab world, Islamist political movements are joining the electoral process. This change alarms some observers and excites other. In recent years, electoral opportunities have opened, and Islamist movements have seized them. But those opportunities, while real, have also been sharply circumscribed. Elections may be freer, but they are not fair. The opposition can run but it generally cannot win. Semiauthoritarian conditions prevail in much of the Arab world, even in the wake of the Arab Spring. How do Islamist movements change when they plunge into freer but unfair elections? How do their organizations (such as the Muslim Brotherhood) and structures evolve? What happens to their core ideological principles? And how might their increased involvement affect the political system?
InWhen Victory Is Not an Option, Nathan J. Brown addresses these questions by focusing on Islamist movements in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, and Palestine. He shows that uncertain benefits lead to uncertain changes. Islamists do adapt their organizations and their ideologies do bend-some. But leaders almost always preserve a line of retreat in case the political opening fizzles or fails to deliver what they wish. The result is a cat-and-mouse game between dominant regimes and wily movements. There are possibilities for more significant changes, but to date they remain only possibilities.
eBook
The Question of the Legitimacy of the Hashemite Regime in Jordan: the Islamic Radical Organizations, the Western Territories and Israel
Abstract
This article explores the question of the legitimacy of the Hashemite regime in Jordan. Jordanian public opinion, on the one hand, recognizes the regime, in large part because of its genealogical descent from the Prophet Muhammad. Radical Islamic organizations, on the other hand, reject it for its ties to the West and Israel. The article examines how the views of Islamic movements towards the Hashemite regime have evolved. The Muslim Brotherhood originally recognized the legitimacy of the Hashemite regime, but changed that position in response to Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel. al-Qāʿidah and ISIS have never recognized Hashemite rule as legitimate. They have tried to undermine its political stability and, indeed, to overthrow it, rejecting its secularism and cooperation with Israel and the West.
The terrorist organizations al-Qāʿidah and ISIS find support and sympathy among Jordanians, but as they committed more terrorist attacks, the Jordanian public has turned away from them and its support for the Hashemite regime has grown. The Hashemite regime thus remains stable and strong and enjoys legitimacy in the eyes of the majority of Jordanians.
Journal Article