TheHeralding Jordan

1
JORDAN
2
Content Overview

1. Country Profile
2. Political Situation
3. Domestic and Foreign Politics
4. Current Security Situation

3
Country Profile

• Demographics
• Sunni dominated Arab country - 98 of the
  population are Sunni (Source CIA fact book)
• Geographic Location
• Share borders with Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria
  and Iraq
• Ruler
• King of Jordan - Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein.
• Holds wide executive and legislative power
  despite Jordan being a constitutional
  monarchy. ( Form of monarchy where the governing
  powers of the monarch are restricted
  by the terms of a constitution.)
• Past relation with Israel
• Fought in 2 wars against Israel before a peace
  treaty was signed on 26 Oct 1994
• - Six Day War (1967)
• - Yom Kippur War (1973)

4
Political System

• Framework
• Jordan uses Parliamentary Monarchy to shape its
  political system
• Jordan is a Constitutional Monarchy (not unlike
  Thailand before the coup), where the Prime
  Minister is the head of government with a
  multi-party system
• Constitutional Monarchy is based on a
  constitution promulgated on January 8, 1952
• Branches
• The political system is split into Legislative,
  Judicial and Executive branches with the
  Judicial branch being completely independent of
  the other two branches.
• Current Positions
• King of Jordan is Abdullah II
• Prime Minister is Abdullah Ensour since 11 Oct
  2012. He is an Independent Politician, not
  affiliated with any political party.

5
Political System

• Administrative
• Jordan is divided into 12 Governorate, each
  headed by a governor appointed by the King.
• Ajlun
• Aqaba
• Balqaa
• Karak
• Mafraq
• Amman (Capital)
• Tafilah
• Zarqa
• Irbid
• Jerash
• Ma'an
• Madaba

6
Domestic and Foreign Politics

• Decentralization of Political System
• In an effort to boost his reform credentials,
  the King introduced measures to
  decentralize power away from the capital Amman
• Two recently proposed pieces of legislation were
  rewritten 4 times and caused
  controversy. The most recent drafts outlines 3
  new levels of democratic
  representation on the local level Local,
  Municipal and Governorate council
• Foreign Relations and Politics
• Balancing diplomatic interests with domestic
  demands has been tricky for King Abdullah. The
  country's peace agreement with Israel and its
  close ties with the US are unpopular with many
  Jordanians.
• Jordan and Egypt are the only 2 Arab countries
  with peace treaty with Israel.

7
Current Security Situation

• Terror threats
• Barring from a failed terror attack on US Embassy
  in Amman in 2012, no known terror attack thus
  far.
• Last known significant terror attack happened in
  2005
• 2005 Amman bombing (Coordinated bombing attacks
  on three hotels carried out by Al-Qaeda in Iraq)
• Authorities have increased presence and vigilance
  at public areas and tourist spots since Jordan
  announced it plans to join the coalition in
  September 2014
• On 25 February 2015, US embassy in Amman warns of
  terror attack against high-end malls in Amman in
  response to Al-Shabaab's video.

8
Current Security Situation

• Domestic violence
• Ongoing protest in Jordan since January 2011
• Political demonstration occurs almost every
  Friday in most part of Jordan which includes,
  King Hussein Park, Duwar A-Dakheliya and
  Jamal Abdel Nasser Square.
• Size and frequency of protest scaled down in
  recent years
• Goals of the protest (list is not exhaustive)
• Abdication of King Abdullah
• Constitutional monarchy
• Electoral reform
• End to corruption
• Political reform

9
US interest in region
New ally in fighting ISIS Jordan has been staunch
antagonist of terrorism, which is in line with US
interests in the region. While it may be on of
the countries in the coalition, it does not have
the military capabilities to wage an expanded and
long-term counter-insurgency operation against
the Islamic State without significant Arab and
Western assistance. Jordan has approximately 75
to 85 combat-capable aircraft, including at least
60 F- 16s, yet it may lack significant stockpiles
of precision-guided munitions for its
jetfighters. 1 1IDEX 2015 Jordan seeks
UAVs for Missions against the Islamic State,
Janes Defence Weekly, Feb 24, 2015.
10
If you liked our content
http//theheralding.com/ https//www.facebook.com
/TheHeralding https//twitter.com/TheHeralding h
ttps//www.pinterest.com/theheralding/ https//in
stagram.com/theheraldingdotcom/ https//www.youtu
be.com/channel/UC0VjDPqAXY6LOP5YX_aQ6HA https//p
lus.google.com/109954616242370324045/about