World View Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 34)

Another Country ARAB STATE Jordan survives with no oil and lots of Palestinian refugees by Thomas Strouse he Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a small country with limited natural resources, but its strategic position in the Middle East has made it a significant player in world affairs over the past half century. For a quarter of a century it was the semiautonomous Transjordan. Independent of Britain since 1946, it joined other Arab states in the war against Israel in 1948 and gained control of the West Bank territories. ese annexed Palestinian lands became part of the new Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in 1950. It has been difficult for Jordan to remain isolated from the tensions of the region because it lies in the heart of the Middle East; its neighbors include Syria, Iraq, Israel and Saudi Arabia. Jordan joined Egypt, Syria and Iraq in the June 1967 war against Israel. Jordan also sent a small number of forces to defend Syrian territory against Israel in the October War in 1973 after which Israel gained control of the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. Jordan was only the second Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Since 1948, Jordan has received a large number of refugees. According to U.N. figures, 60 percent of Jordan’s six million people are Palestinian refugees or their descendants who have full Jordanian citizenship, but remain politically marginalized. Most of these refugees come from West Bank areas under Jordanian control in 1948, but occupied by Israel since 1967. e country, with a large Palestinian population, supported Iraq during the Gulf War in 1991. Many saw Saddam Hussein as a champion of the Palestinian cause. Relations with the United States improved after King Abdullah, a monarch with wideranging powers, took over the thrown T in 1999. e fact that Abdullah’s wife, Queen Rania, is Palestinian, has proven a strong asset during his reign. More recently, the Iraq War has caused another major influx of refugees into Jordan. It is currently estimated that there are between 700,000 and one million Iraqi refugees in Jordan. Jordan is now a key U.S. ally in the region. Jordan has been playing a role in trying to restore stability in Iraq and has trained several thousand Iraqi police in Amman. e Jordanian government did accept Iraqi refugees, but their borders are now closed to them. AID RECIPIENT e Jordanian economy has been growing, but it remains heavily dependent on foreign aid. e United States is the main provider of aid to Jordan. Calculated on a per-capita basis, Jordan is the second-largest recipient of U.S. foreign aid. In 2006, Jordan received $464 million in economic aid. Since 1952, the U.S. economic aid total for health, agriculture, education and other development projects is more than $9 billion, mostly in grants rather than loans. Since King Hussein invited the Peace Corps to Jordan in 1997, more than 340 Peace Corps Volunteers have gone to Jordan. Strong supporters of Peace Corps, King Abdullah and his wife have shaped Peace Corps goals in the kingdom by requesting volunteers to work in youth and education projects. ere are currently 56 volunteers in Jordan. ey live and work in rural communities, helping students and community members learn English, and participating in special education programs for physically and mentally challenged Jordanians. ECONOMY e Jordanian economy relies significantly on services, tourism and foreign aid. Since coming to power in 1999, King Abdullah has undertaken an aggressive economic reform program. Jordan joined the World Trade Organization in 2000 and was the first Arab country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the United States the following year. Jordan’s two largest export partners in 2006 were the United States and Iraq, respectively. 34 Spring 2008 Reuters

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World View Magazine - Spring 2008

World View Magazine - Spring 2008
Contents
From the President
Lafayette Park
Your Turn
Gallery
Note to Readers
Introduction to the Issue
Engaging Masons
Commentary
Letter from Guatemala
Links of a Chain
Gallery
Science for Good
Letter from Jima
Another Country
Letter from Accra
Community News

World View Magazine - Spring 2008

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