Everything about Abdullah Ii totally explained
Abdullah II bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan (
al-Malik ʿAbdullāh aṯ-ṯānī bin al-Ḥusayn) is the ruler of the
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. He became king of
Jordan on February 7, 1999 after the death of his father
King Hussein. King Abdullah is a member of the
Hashemite family and is reportedly the 43rd-generation direct descendant of prophet
Muhammad. Abdullah's parents were
King Hussein and
Princess Muna al-Hussein.
Education and Military career
Abdullah was schooled at St. Edmund's School in Surrey, England as well as
Eaglebrook School and
Deerfield Academy in the United States. His university training was at
Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1980, Abdullah left Pembroke and entered the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the United Kingdom as a cadet. He joined the
13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) upon commission as a Second
Lieutenant the following year. King Abdullah retains close links with the
British Army and is the
Colonel-in-Chief of
The Light Dragoons, a tank regiment and the successor to the 13th/18th Royal Hussars. In
1987, he completed an advanced studies and research program at the
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at
Georgetown University. He took full command of the Jordanian special forces in November 1993, becoming a Major general. He commanded the special forces until 1996, when he was instructed to reorganize the special forces and other special units under the special operation command
SOCOM. Upon assuming his constitutional powers, he became the
commander-in-chief. King Abdullah holds the ranks of
Field Marshal in the Jordan Arab Army and
Marshal of the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
Marriage and children
Abdullah is married to a Jordanian of Palestinian origin,
Queen Rania al-Abdullah. They have four children:
King of Jordan
King Abdullah became king on
February 7,
1999, upon the death of his father King Hussein. Hussein had recently named him
Crown Prince on
January 24, replacing Hussein's brother
Hassan who had served many years in the position. Since Abdullah's mother,
Princess Muna al-Hussein was
British by birth, the decision wasn't universally popular.
Politics as King
King Abdullah is the head of a constitutional monarchy in which the King retains substantial power. Jordan's economy has improved under Abdullah, and he's been credited with increasing foreign investment, attending meetings between public and private sectors, and providing the foundation for
Aqaba's free trade zone. As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth has doubled to 6% annually under King Abdullah's rule compared to the latter half of the 1990s. Healthcare is now easy to receive even in rural parts of Jordan. The adult literacy rate is 90%, one of the highest in the Arab World. Foreign direct investment from the West as well as the countries of the Persian Gulf has continued to increase.
Abdullah's speech at
The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law in September 2005 was entitled "Traditional Islam: The Path to Peace." While en route to the United States, King Abdullah met with
Pope Benedict XVI to build on the relations that Jordan had established with
Pope John Paul II to discuss ways in which Muslims and Christians can continue to work together for peace, tolerance, and coexistence.
The King announced on March 2, 2007 municipal elections in Jordan and in November 25, 2006 in his parliament address, told the parliament to work on reforms of the press and publication law.
King Abdullah II has worked for the Middle East Peace Process, attending the Arab Summit in 2002, OIC conferences and having several summits with US, Israeli and Palestinian delegations to find a solution for the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
He tried to impose a cease-fire when the
Israel-Hezbollah war broke out in the summer of 2006. While keeping strong ties to Israel, the King has invested money into the new Palestinian authority of Mahmoud Abbas, the current President of the PA. He has also helped increase foreign investment in the new Palestinian government.
Palestinians are given citizenship more easily than Iraqi refugees are. Crossing the border into Jordan from Iraq isn't much more difficult than it had previously been before the 2005 Amman bombings by Iraqis working with al-Qaeda. The king was expected to pay a lot of attention on domestic policy and domestic issues
(External Link
), his cooperation with the United States gained Jordan better econonmic and military position. His position with peace in the Middle East is met with criticism from Jordanians of
Palestinian descent.
Jordan received criticism when
Toujan al-Faisal, Jordan's first female member of Parliament and an outspoken advocate for
freedom of expression and
human rights, was jailed for slandering the government after she charged it with corruption in a letter to Abdullah.
Israel's GOC Central Command leader of the Israeli army,
Yair Naveh, said in a gathering with reporters that King Abdullah might fall and that he could be
Jordan's last king. The statement created tension between the two countries, and afterwards Naveh retracted his statement and apologized. Later, the Israeli prime minister expressed the disagreement of Israel with Naveh's statement, and referred to it as a personal and irrelevant view.
(External Link)(External Link) In March 2007,
Ehud Olmert commented on any American withdrawal from Iraq by saying that, "
Israel is worried a hasty American withdrawal from Iraq could have negative impact on the Hashemite regime in Jordan..." Jordan's spokesman Nasser Jawdeh replied by saying, "The Israeli prime minister should worry about his political future before worrying about us."
Like his father, King Abdullah pushed forward a policy of reform. In a speech before the
United States Congress, King Abdullah presented several political reform strategies to help Jordan become more democratic.
The new economic policies have seen many results in Jordan. Abdullah's policies have attracted business to Jordan. He also negotiated a free trade agreement with the United States, which was the third free trade agreement for the U.S. and the first with an Arab country.
King Abdullah has a strong belief in a powerful military and has led Jordan into adopting a "quality over quantity" policy. This policy has led Jordan to acquire advanced weaponry and great increase and enhancing its
F-16 fighter jet fleet. The ground forces have acquired the
Challenger 1 main battle tank.
Successor
On
November 28,
2004, Abdullah removed the title of Crown Prince from his half-brother,
Hamzah, whom he'd appointed on
February 7,
1999, in accordance with their late father's wishes. In a letter from Abdullah to Hamzah, read on Jordanian state television, he said, "Your holding this symbolic position has restrained your freedom and hindered our entrusting you with certain responsibilities that you're fully qualified to undertake." No successor to the title was named, but some analysts believe it probable that Abdullah intends to name his own son,
Prince Hussein, to succeed him at some point in the future.
Nuclear plans for Jordan
On January 20, 2007, King Abdullah revealed to
Haaretz that Jordan has plans to develop nuclear power strictly for internal energy purposes. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs though, Jordan is one of the poorest countries in terms of access to drinking water, and thus some have raised questions about King Abdullah's plans for making it a powerful country capable of developing nuclear energy. Jordan is one of the few non-petroleum producing nations in the region and is strategically dependent on oil from its neighbor, Iraq. Continuing civil unrest in Iraq puts Jordanian national and energy security at risk.
Democracy in Jordan
BBC international published an article titled "Jordan edging towards democracy", where King Abdullah expressed his intentions of making
Jordan a democratic country. According to the article, president
George W. Bush "urged King Abdullah, a U.S. ally, to take steps towards democracy."
King Abdullah was commended on his political reform strategies.
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