Why Tiny Jordan Is a Microcosm for Understanding the Entire Middle East

However accidental its historical genesis, Jordan has become a crucible of knowledge about how power and geopolitics operate in the region.

Winston Churchill in Jerusalem with Emir Abdullah of Transjordan and Herbert Samuel, the first British High Commissioner for Palestine, at left, March 28, 1921. (Source: Library of Congress)

By Sean Yom

Sean Yom is an associate professor of political science at Temple University. He studies regimes and governance in the Middle East, especially in Arab monarchies like Jordan, Kuwait, and Morocco. His new book, Jordan: Politics in an Accidental Crucible, from which this essay is adapted, was recently published by Oxford University Press. He is also the author of From Resilience to Revolution and a co-editor of The Political Science of the Middle East, with Marc Lynch and Jillian Schwedler.