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Jordan is one of the more secular countries in the Arab world, and women are also open.
The Middle East is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous regions in the world today. Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, Lebanon are more chaotic than ever, but in the middle of these lands of right and wrong is a country with no chaos and no war. The whole country needs resources instead of money, people instead of people. , but to maintain peace in this "powder keg".
Jordan, Israel and Palestine
That country is Jordan. It is the only country in the Arab world ruled by the Hashemite family, descendants of the Prophet Muhammad. It is precisely because of this attitude that mainstream Arab countries do not easily touch Jordan. This country is also the most overlooked country in the Middle East. It has no wars, no resources, and no unique culture.
King of Jordan with his wife and children
If you're looking for something special, the Dead Sea is the lowest point in the world.
The Dead Sea in the Jordan Valley is the lowest place in the world
When we mention Jordan, we must mention Rania, Jordan's legendary queen of beauty. She is the wife of the current King of Jordan, Vladimir Abdullah II, and the youngest queen in history. She married Abdullah when she was 23. Known for her beauty and generosity, she is adored by the Western media. In 2003, the American magazine "Hello" named her the most elegant lady in the world, alongside Mrs. Kennedy and Princess Diana.
Queen Rania Hashem, Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan's full name is the Kingdom of Jordan in Hashemite. It is precisely because of the system of enlightened monarchy that the loyalty of Jordanian subjects is very rare in the world. The 100,000 soldiers of the Kingdom of Jordan are very loyal and will not hesitate to go to the soup if something goes wrong. However, multinational think tanks believe that the next chaos in the Middle East is likely to begin in the isolated Jordan.
Jordanian army
Jordan has an area of about 89,000 square kilometers and a population of about 11.3 million. It is bordered by Syria and Iraq to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. It is not a peaceful place, but Jordan is caught in the middle and there is no turmoil.
Geography of Jordan
The most interesting thing is that at first glance, Jordan looks like a landlocked country on the map, but in a small corner to its southwest, at the junction of the Sin Peninsula and the Arabian Peninsula, there is a magical outlet to the sea. Jordan has traded 6,000 kilometers of Saudi Arabia's northeastern territory for about 7 kilometers of access to the sea, so northeastern Jordan looks like a cut piece.
Jordanians rummage through the garbage To be honest, Jordan is indeed poor as a Middle Eastern country. GDP in 2022 is only $48.8 billion, and GDP per capita is about $4,700, which is below average. However, the country is surprisingly peaceful. The name Jordan is derived from the Jordan River and means "descendant". Like much of the Middle East, Jordan was ruled by several empires in ancient times.
Jordan River
Jordan has many ancient Greek and Roman style buildings, and the church of Aqaba in Jordan is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. It is also home to the famous ancient city of Petra, the oldest and most beautiful ancient city site in the entire Middle East. To date, it is a major source of tourism revenue for Jordan, providing Jordan with $20 billion annually.
Ruins of a church in Aqaba
However, Jordan's existence today has nothing to do with Jordanians. He is only related to one super family, that is, the Hashemite Saints family, which is the "Hashem" in Jordan's name. The family's background is extremely large, even bigger than Jordan. In the 7th century AD, Muhammad established Islam in Mecca and soon established the Arab Empire. The Hashemite family is a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It can be said that it is about the "son of the dragon" and the "family of sages".
Mecca, Saudi Arabia
However, after Muhammad's death, the rule of the Arab Empire was taken over by the governors of other regions. The Umayyad dynasty and the Abbasid dynasty rose one after another, and power fell into the hands of Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. In the 13th century, Mongol cavalry swept across Eurasia and destroyed the Arab Empire. Since then, the Middle East has been mired in warlordism. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turkish Empire rose to occupy Middle Eastern territories other than the Nejd region of the Arabian Peninsula.
Ottoman Turkish Empire
No matter which dynasty or generation rules the Middle East, because they are descendants of the Holy Family, they will always put on a face and let that family rule Mecca, the place where Muhammad began. By analogy, the descendants of Confucius have always ruled Qufu City. This official can be said to be the sultan of flowing water, the Hashemite of iron.
1962 British film Lawrence of Arabia
By the 20th century, European powers had crushed other civilizations in all its aspects through the Industrial Revolution. At this time, the Ottoman Empire was no longer the empire that occupied most of Eastern Europe and went on an expedition to Vienna. Under the perverse behavior of the Ottomans, the Arabs under the Turks revolted. In 1914, World War I broke out and the Ottoman Empire allied itself with Germany. Britain seized this opportunity to incite the Arabs to revolt against Ottoman rule, known as the "Arab Revolt."
In the event of a great uprising, of course, it is necessary to find a leader, and the saint is undoubtedly the best choice. The origin of the story is the defeat of the Battle of Gallipoli, commanded by Winston Churchill, then British Admiralty. The British wanted to wage an intelligence war, so they began to actively contact the Hashemite family.
Two bullets collide during the Battle of Gallipoli
After defeating the Ottoman Empire, the British promised to support the Hashemite family in the future to build a vast empire from Egypt to Iran, excluding Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, Aden, and Syria (because Britain and France wanted these regions). This is undoubtedly very tempting. As a result, Sharif, the patriarch of the Hashemite family, announced that the Kingdom of Hejaz would break away from the Ottoman Empire under its rule, launched an Arab uprising, and successfully captured Damascus with the help of British intelligence officer Lawrence.
The Middle East after World War I
However, after the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Turkish Empire collapsed, and the West had long forgotten its promises to the Hashemite. Syria and Lebanon became French colonies, Iraq became British colonies, and even the hereditary fiefdom of the Hashemite family The Kingdom of Hejaz became French colonies. All were annexed by the neighboring Kingdom of Najd, so Medina and Mecca were later occupied by Saudi Arabia. This left the humble Hashemite family speechless.
Hashemite family
Sharif had three sons, the youngest of whom was named Faisal. He knew that Westerners could not be trusted, so he first rushed to Damascus and proclaimed himself King of Syria in 1920. The kingdom of Syria at that time was large, including what is now Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, but he only served as king for four months because the French came to occupy Syria and Lebanon.
Kingdom of Syria
The second child was named Abdullah. The British supported him as a puppet king of Iraq, but he gave the throne to Faisal and prepared to lead an army to retake Syria from the French, but the British jumped out and said he was not good enough. He was no match for the French and then told Abdullah that he happened to have a piece of land, so why not make him king? That place is Jordan.
Jordanian army
As a result, Jordan became a fiefdom of the Hashemite family. At that time, Jordan was still a wild land, with only 400,000 inhabitants. This is essentially a primitive society. Using Abdullah as a puppet, the British established a modern government, roads, education, health care, and army in Jordan. However, the country is poor and backward and has nothing. They could only be attached to the British and were economically heavily dependent on British funds. At the same time, Jordan is much larger than it is now, and there is still a lot of land in the West Bank.
At the same time, Jews were looking for opportunities to establish a state, buying land across the Jordan River in Palestine, and occasionally in Jordan. However, the Hashemite family, as foreigners, did not care about them at all, so every year received Jewish money to buy land. Until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Jews in Palestine
In 1946, Jordan declared its independence from Britain. Abdullah wants to restore the glory of his family. However, the holy city of Mecca is in Saudi hands, and its recovery is unlikely, so it can only retreat to the second place and recover Jerusalem. Palestine was also a British Mandate at the time, so Abdullah suggested that the British return Palestine to Britain.
But the British language doesn't work anymore. The post-World War II Middle East order was effectively dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1947, the United Nations adopted the Palestine Partition Agreement, and Palestine and Israel became independent states. Abdullah, seeing that his wishes were counterproductive, immediately broke with him and formed an Arab coalition, and the first Middle East war broke out.
An Israeli girl fights an Arab army. In the first Middle East war, all Israelis were soldiers
As a result, more than 2 million Arab coalition forces attacked Israel, a population of less than 1 million, without victory. In addition, Jordan has secretly occupied Palestinian territory in the West Bank. That is, Arab armies shed blood and sacrificed and ultimately benefited. This is just the Hashemite family. Abdullah was murdered in 1951 while visiting Jerusalem. The following year, his grandson Hussein succeeded to the throne.
Hussein (right)
It can be said that the whole world was not at peace at that time. In the context of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Middle East region was especially chaotic. In the same year that Hussein succeeded to the throne, a military coup d'état broke out in Egypt. Rev. Nasser overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, and used the influence of the United States and the Soviet Union to successfully retake the Suez Canal from Britain and France, becoming an icon in the Middle East. As a result, everyone in every monarchy is in danger because they fear that their generals will follow Nasser's lead.
Nasser, founder of the Republic of Egypt, known as the "Lion of the Middle East"
Hussein was only 15 years old when he succeeded to the throne, and he panicked even more. In 1958, a movement of free officers broke out in Iraq under his uncle Faisal. The purge of the Hashemite family in Iraq worries Jordan even more. The Hashemite family is always in a state of panic. To protect himself, Hussein could only emphasize his "Arab nationalist" qualities. He first fired many Britons in the government army, then actively supported Egypt's Palestinian policy, even allowing the PLO to set up its headquarters in Egypt. The capital, Amman, provided funds and weapons for further attacks on Israel.
However, Jordan also knows that the United States is behind neighboring Israel, and that the United States is a power that cannot be blamed. Therefore, the King of Jordan has met with the Israeli Prime Minister several times and hopes that everyone will remain calm. This made the Arab world very unhappy, and everyone accused Jordan of being an "Arab traitor". In desperation, Jordan was forced to participate in the Third Middle East War in 1967.
Map of the situation of the third Middle East war
But Israel is too good at fighting. More than 3 million Egyptian, Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian forces were completely crushed. Israel has also directly occupied Egypt's Sinai Peninsula and Palestine. Now Jordan is stunned, losing 40% of its troops. At the same time, the war has led to an influx of more than 300,000 Palestinian refugees into Jordan, greatly undermining public order. Many of these refugees have joined the Palestine Liberation Organization and continue to fight Israel. This upset Israel and attacked Jordan directly. Jordan did not want to confront Israel, which the PLO saw as an enemy, and both sides were defeated.
In 1970, the PLO even hijacked an international airliner and landed it at the Amman airport. This made Jordan very angry. It has inexplicably become the object of criticism worldwide and has become a sponsor of terrorism. King Hussein could no longer bear it and announced the expulsion of the PLO. However, there are still a large number of Palestinian refugees in Jordan, posing a major threat to Jordan's national security.
In 1973, the fourth Middle East war ended and Israel won again. Egypt, the leader of the Arab coalition, had had enough of it, said there would be no war, and ended the war with Israel. Hussein also took the opportunity to announce that Jordan would withdraw from the Arab League and begin to vigorously develop its economy and no longer deal with the confusing Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
In 1979, Egypt and Israel formally reconciled with U.S. intervention.
In the 70s of the 20th century, Jordan attracted a large amount of international investment, developed mineral resources, created many tourist city assets such as Amman, Dead Sea, Petra, etc., and became one of the fastest growing countries in the Arab world. In the meantime, Jordan is eyeing Iraq. The two countries signed a number of trade agreements in 1978. When the Iran-Iraq War broke out in 1979, Jordan fully supported Iraq. This gave Saddam a fondness for Jordan. In oil-scarce countries like Jordan, 90% of their crude oil comes from Iraq.
Saddam
Unfortunately, Iraq collapsed and lost its glory soon after the 1991 Gulf War. It was during this time that Jordan finally realized that it wanted to embrace the United States. In 1993, the United States intervened in the Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation. Jordan quickly followed suit and established diplomatic relations with Israel the following year. This was unthinkable in the Arab world at the time, and so was Jordan. As a result, it became the first country in the Arab world to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, much to the delight of its American masters.
Since Clinton's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jordan has forged close ties with Israel. King Hussein died in 1999 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Abdullah II. Jordan is a highly secularized and Westernized Arab country. Therefore, Abdullah received a very pure Anglo-American education from an early age. He also served in the British Army and was stationed in West Germany.
Abdullah and his parents
It can be said that Abdullah was a king born with a golden spoon in his mouth. In 1993, he married Bidnova. At the time, Rania was an employee of Apple in the United States. Rania is a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian known for her beauty. It can be said that the whole world is very envious of this young king.
Abdullah served in the British Army
But Jordan is not without its problems. The biggest problem is Abdullah's uncle, Hasan. This brother was designated heir to the throne by his brother Hussein. But in the end, his nephew directly inherited the throne, and the old uncle couldn't help but be very displeased. Therefore, as soon as Abdullah came to power, he gave his uncle a very powerful position, so to speak, a husband is inferior to ten thousand.
Hassan
At the same time, 60 per cent of Jordan's population is Palestinian and has nothing to do with Israel. Therefore, Abdullah must have very high political skills to play tai chi, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Arab Islamic nationalist groups, and many other countries. Everyone thinks it is a terrorist organization, but Jordan does not dare, because if Jordan is not careful, it will be over. There must be a balance.
Abdullah II
Meanwhile, Abdullah continues to cling to the United States in international diplomacy. After 9/11, Jordan was the first Middle Eastern country to respond to the U.S. global war on terror, while also strongly supporting the war in Afghanistan. When the Iraq war broke out in 2003, Jordan was not happy this time, but did not dare to say anything. He only actively helped rebuild Iraq after the war.
War in Afghanistan
Of course, the United States also returns every year to provide Jordan with substantial economic and military aid. As one of the staunchest allies of the United States in the Middle East, Israel will naturally not easily launch an attack on Jordan. As a result, Abdullah became emboldened and began to blame Israel on certain occasions, which won him some goodwill among Arab countries. At the same time, however, Jordan is also a facilitator of dialogue between the Arab world and Israel. That's why Jordan managed to gain a foothold.
Abdullah and the Queen of England
More than 1.4 million refugees have poured into Jordan since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, but Jordan continues to accept all refugees. The whole country is known for maximum tolerance. After the outbreak of the Arab Spring, Jordan did not fare well. Currently, Jordan has an unemployment rate of 18.5 per cent and a poverty rate of 25 per cent. But with the king's remarkable ability to balance politics, Jordan succeeded without risk.
After 2011, the entire Middle Eastern world was plunged into a state of war. As a king with military background, Abdullah even personally led troops to bomb the bases of extremist groups. At the same time, a large number of refugees from all over the country have also poured into Jordan, making Jordan seem a little crowded. The United States provided $4 billion in loans to Jordan and repaid $1.25 billion. By 2016, Jordan's external debt was 95% of GDP, which was already very bad. Jordan was so poor. Saudi Arabia supplies him 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day, while Egypt supplies 80 percent of its natural gas. He is barely living on these funds.
Aman
High consumption in Jordan is also associated with high prosperity. Absolute loyalty to the Government and the military is guaranteed, and government employees and military dependents have good medical, housing and educational security. It's all money.
Jordanian army
As a Middle Eastern country, Jordan has no oil and gas, and the main pillar of its economy is tourism revenue. Can she remain poor in the long run? In recent years, Jordan has been fascinated by China's enormous economic power. Abdullah visited China four times in 2007, 2008, 2013 and 2015. At present, the trade volume between China and Iran has exceeded 6 billion US dollars, and it will continue to deepen in the future.
Syrian refugee camps in Jordan
Today, Jordan is an international refugee camp in the Middle East, a tool for major powers to relieve pressure. Although conflicts can be temporarily suppressed within a framework of stability, they will eventually erupt. As a result, many believe Jordan will be the next focus of the war in the Middle East. Initial point. As for what the future holds, this is the historical mission of the Jordanians themselves.
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