Jordan Simulation

9-23-05

International Relations 315

 

 

Bryan Whiter

CEO

 

 

            The Kingdom of Jordan is located in a very hot spot in the world with instability on its east and west boarders.  Nestled in between Iraq and Israel it seems to be very susceptible to an overflow violence from both those countries.  This constitutional monarchy was established on May 25^th 1946 after being granted a mandate by Britain and the League of Nations; after which King Hussein reigned until 1999.  Jordan has had some internal problems but King Hussein did reinstate parliamentary elections in 1989 and now has a wide range of political parties the largest being The Islamic Action Front who are considered to be part of the right wing Muslim Brotherhood.  The other twelve major parties range from the Jordan communist party, socialist, democratic, peace, Baath etc.  But as far as I could tell the king seems to in control of the country.  Jordan does have a prime minister who is considered the head of government and a council of ministers who make up the cabinet, along with these positions Jordan is divided into twelve governorates.  After losing a war against Israel in 1967 King Hussein signed a formal peace treaty normalizing relations with Israel but maybe more importantly the United States who Jordan in recent years has been making attempts to model its self after.  The country is only 34,573 sq. miles and with a population of roughly 5.48 million Jordan isn’t one of the biggest actors in the Middle East.  Although the King who seems to have a loyal following and a secure political foothold on the country there are still problems facing Jordan, as far as I could tell the three largest problems that are facing Jordan today are: One, high unemployment.  Two, the war in Iraq severely hurt Jordan’s oil supply and finally a high national debt.  The following graphs are from the Department of Statistics from the United Nations website, http://www.un.org/ to

http://www.dos.gov.jo/sdb_ec/sdb_ec_e/index.htm.  They describe products and markets that Jordan exports to and economic activity of the country.

 

Legend for Chart:

A - Product group for export

B - Top destination markets

              A                             B

Fertilizers, processed        Malaysia, Philippines, Korea

Crude fertilizers             Netherlands, India, Japan

Live animals                  Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Netherlands

Medicines                     Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Iraq

Hides and Skins               Turkey, Italy, Spain

Lime, cement                  Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Kuwait

Mechanical engines            U.K., Netherlands

Petroleum products            India, Saudi Arabia

Men's clothing                U.S., Italy, U.K.

Vegetables                    Kuwait, Germany, U.K.

Aircraft                      U.K., Germany

Waste metal                   Korea, Hong Kong, Japan

Employees and Enterprises by Economic Activity and Size Group of Employment For Year 2000 For Both Public and Private Sectors

 

Economic activity	No.of employees and establishments	Size group of employment
		Total	1-4	5-19	20-49	50-99	100 or More
Mining and quarrying	Employees	9064	128	551	125	224	8037
	Establishments	118	41	65	4	3	6
Manufacturing	Employees	126229	36754	24978	10757	11349	42392
	Establishments	17801	14517	2637	332	160	154
Electricity, gas and water supplies	Employees	14174	0	0	0	0	14174
	Establishments	6	0	0	0	0	6
Constructions	Employees	23379	1228	3226	4324	3806	10796
	Establishments	1200	612	318	149	56	65
Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles and personal and household goods	Employees	160284	120303	25891	5785	3402	4903
	Establishments	70018	66894	2869	186	46	23
Hotels and restaurants	Employees	28144	11486	6924	2470	1498	5766
	Establishments	5943	5062	749	85	24	23
Transport, storage and communications	Employees	30921	2107	5531	2201	1547	19534
	Establishments	1646	962	560	75	22	27
Financial intermediation	Employees	19582	278	576	808	1223	16697
	Establishments	229	90	64	25	18	32
Real estate, renting and business activities	Employees	29444	15719	5442	1699	1660	4924
	Establishments	7861	7184	583	58	22	14
Public administration and compulsory social security	Employees	74026	0	2648	3194	1286	66898
	Establishments	399	0	186	116	19	78
Education	Employees	123821	1704	8719	4780	3266	105353
	Establishments	1734	661	818	150	47	58
Health and social work	Employees	42430	7686	1726	962	1289	30768
	Establishments	4007	3719	214	31	17	26
Other community, social and personal service activities	Employees	20401	13040	2679	720	1075	2886
	Establishments	7309	6988	276	23	15	7
Total	Employees	701900	210434	88890	37824	31623	333128
	Establishments	118271	106730	9339	1234	449	519

 

 

           

This graph is from the IFS and shows Jordan’s freedom index from the Freedom House website.

 

 

 

 

Jordan’s future appears to be one of the most stable today in the Middle East.  The monarch doesn’t appear to be losing power any time soon and I suspect that they will remain to have a firm hold on the country.  Jordan is threatened by the instability on both sides of its boarders with Israel and Iraq but this is being checked by Jordan’s strong relationship with the United States, which is of much use in maintain the monarch its legitimacy.  Jordan’s unemployment is also a major problem with the country but maybe a series of public works projects could help with that while building infrastructure for the country.  What Jordan needs the most is to continue walking the tight rope that its on right now of staying in good relations with the United States but not seem like Jordan is willing to do anything for the United States in the eyes of the rest of the Arab world.