A History of Jordan

An accessible introduction to the political history of Jordan, including new material on the major events of the last decade.

Covering over a century of the political history of the Jordanian state, this second edition benefits from new chapters, original research and an expanded chronology forming a comprehensive and systematic case study of Jordan, a country which has found itself at the centre of conflict for much of its existence.Since the publication of the first edition, substantial changes have occurred in the political landscape of Jordan and the Middle East. King Abdullah II has cemented his rule amidst an onslaught of threats which have faced his kingdom since he succeeded his father in 1999. The Syrian civil war has fundamentally shifted the political context of its neighbouring countries, with Jordan experiencing a huge population explosion as people moved across the border from Syria. This second edition of Robins' accessible and succinct survey of Jordanian political history is an account of a century of events within a country whose fortunes are closely identified with its heads of state. Beginning in the early 1920s in the Mandate years, and now benefiting from new material on the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, attempts at democratisation, the collapse of the economy, the Jordan Spring and refugee crisis, this new edition featuring original research brings Jordan's political history into the twenty-first century.