The myth of the Jordanian monarchy's resilience to the Arab Spring: lack of genuine political reform undermines social base of monarchy

Abstract

The political reforms announced by the Jordanian regime in 2012 were widely welcomed on the international diplomatic level. However, these reforms reflect neither the priorities of political forces, nor those of the masses. Critical changes are dominating the socio-political scene: a new sense of national identity, popular outrage over corruption, a wide-spread loss of faith in the state as a result of poverty, unemployment, and the sell-off of productive state-owned companies, and the aggravation of conflicts within the regime. Against this background, new social movements have emerged and have been able to remobilize the masses. This has been reflected in demonstrations by public employees and independent trade unions that have led to confrontations with the authorities. Thus, without concrete constitutional reforms to transition toward constitutional monarchy as well as substantial socio-economic reform, stability in Jordan cannot be guaranteed for long. As a consequence, European countries should not only encourage the Jordanian regime to institute genuine economic and political reform but also change their financial aid policies to support projects aimed at mitigating problems of unemployment and poverty. (author's abstract)