Abdullah II of Jordan
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein[a] (born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is considered a 41st-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[1]
"Abdullah II" redirects here. For other uses, see Abdullah II (disambiguation).
Abdullah II
- عبدالله الثاني
- عبدالله الثاني
Abdullah was born in Amman as the first child of King Hussein and his wife, Princess Muna. As the king's eldest son, Abdullah was heir apparent until Hussein transferred the title to Abdullah's uncle Prince Hassan in 1965. Abdullah began his schooling in Amman, continuing his education abroad. He began his military career in 1980 as a training officer in the Jordanian Armed Forces, later assuming command of the country's Special Forces in 1994, eventually becoming a major general in 1998. In 1993, Abdullah married Rania Al-Yassin, with whom he has four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem. A few weeks before his death in 1999, King Hussein named Abdullah his heir, and Abdullah succeeded his father.
Abdullah, a constitutional monarch with wide executive and legislative powers, liberalized the economy when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008. During the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring. In 2011, large-scale protests demanding reform erupted in the Arab world, which led to civil wars in some countries. Abdullah responded quickly to domestic unrest by replacing the government and introducing reforms. Proportional representation was reintroduced to the Jordanian parliament for the 2016 election, a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary government, but government critics remained skeptical, viewing the reforms as cosmetic changes. The reforms took place amid unprecedented challenges stemming from regional instability, including an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees.
Abdullah is known for promoting interfaith dialogue and a moderate understanding of Islam. The longest-serving current Arab leader, he is custodian of the Muslim and Christian religious sites in Jerusalem, a position held by his dynasty since 1924.[2] The 2021 Pandora Papers revealed Abdullah's vast hidden wealth through offshore entities, countered by the Royal Court citing privacy and security reasons, attributing the funds to inherited wealth.[3][4]
Administrative reforms[edit]
Economic[edit]
King Abdullah proposed significant economic reforms to the country during the first decade of his reign.[126] Jordan, a relatively-small, semi-arid, almost-landlocked country, has one of the smallest economies in the region; its GDP was about $39 billion in 2016.[127][126] Insufficient natural resources, especially in water and oil (unlike its neighbors) have given the kingdom chronic government debt, unemployment and poverty[126] which led to a dependence on foreign aid from its Western and Arab allies in the Persian Gulf region.[126] Jordan embarked on an aggressive economic liberalization program when Abdullah was crowned in an effort to stimulate the economy and raise the standard of living, and its economy has improved under his reign.[126] He has been credited with attracting foreign investment, improving public-private partnerships and providing the foundation for the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and Jordan's flourishing information and communications technology (ICT) sector.[128][129] Abdullah set up five other special economic zones: Irbid, Ajloun, Mafraq, Ma'an and the Dead Sea.[128] As a result of these reforms, Jordan's economic growth doubled (to 8% annually) between 2004 and 2008 compared with the latter half of the 1990s.[126] It also led to a steady increase in foreign investment by the West and the Persian Gulf countries.[130]
Abdullah negotiated a free-trade agreement with the United States, the third free-trade agreement for the US and its first with an Arab country.[131] Under the agreement, Jordanian exports to the United States increased from $63 million in 2000 to over $1.4 billion in 2015.[132] Jordan's foreign debt-to-GDP ratio fell from more than 210 percent in 1990 to 83 percent by the end of 2005, a decrease called an "extraordinary achievement" by the International Monetary Fund.[133] Abdullah's efforts have made Jordan the freest Arab economy and the ninth-freest economy in the world, according to a 2014 study by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty.[134]
Official
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