JORDAN
• 1946 Independent Kingdom of Transjordan
• 1948-9 Arab-Israeli war, Abdullah seized the West Bank
and renamed the country as the Kingdom of Jordan
• Rule over Palestinian Arabs between 1949 and 1967
• King Abdullah assasinated by a Palestinian
• Succession by Abdullah’s sons (Hussein became king in 1953).
Hussein controlled the legislation, the military, and foreign policy
with support of loyal Beduin citizens in the Royal Army. Hussein
tried to create a multiparty system, but he could not create a
consensus because of resistance to his support for the peace
with Israel and his support for the U.S. against Iraq)
• After Hussein’s death in 1999, his son Abdullah II (educated in
the US and the UK) is now the Jordan king