Analysis: “Jordan: All Quiet on the Eastern Front?”

In a Policy Watch piece for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, David Schenker writes that Jordan’s monarchy seems to have found a formula to quell internal unrest. A mixture of political and economic promises “is helping to insulate the monarchy from the instability currently sweeping the region.” Protester’s concerns, Schenker argues, lie mainly with rampant unemployment and unmanageable food costs, concerns which may find a cure in Jordan’s GCC membership. On the political front, ”72 percent of Jordanians familiar with the constitutional amendments regard them as a positive step forward.” GCC membership could increase the number of jobs held by Jordanians throughout the Gulf, while increasing remittances, Schenker adds.

Meanwhile, Jordanian authorities reportedly began a country-wide sweep for illegal immigrants.