Inside Jordan's Untold Stories: the Royals, the Americans & the Protests (Video on Spotify) | S2E12

About this episode

The episode explores the complexities of Jordanian politics, the role of the Hashemite royal family, and the nature of protests in the country.

Is Jordan a stable country? Where do Jordanians practice politics? In protests? Or in the polls and parliament? In this interview, I discuss the following with my guest: ▶️Were the Hashemite royal family foreigners in Jordan? ▶️Did Jordan’s Hashemites belong to a larger, transnational royal family? ▶️How does the Hashemite royal family’s history impact Jordan’s national identity and nation-building efforts now? ▶️Why Jordanian protesters and cartoonists poke fun of King Abdullah II’s Arabic? ▶️How were tribal protests in Jordan during Ottoman and British rules different than now? ▶️If Jordan is not a democractic country, then how are protests routine in Jordan? ▶️Do Jordanians experience politics in streets as opposed to in parliament and during elections? ▶️Dose criticizing the King of Jordan cross a red line? ▶️What does it mean that Jordan's protesting places are disappearing? ▶️Why do Jordanians protest about water? ▶️Does Jordan coordinate its budget with the U.S.? ▶️How do protests in Jordan compare to other countries, such as protests in Iran or the U.S.? ▶️Why does the government of Jordan promote images of stability and instability? ▶️Why are cartoonists getting arrests…

People in this episode

Host: Adel Aali

Guest: Dr. Jillian Schwedler

Topics covered

• Jordanian politics
• Hashemite royal family
• protests in Jordan
• national identity
• U.S. relations
• political expression

Keywords

• Jordan
• Hashemite
• protests
• politics
• King Abdullah II
• U.S. relations
• national identity
• tribal protests

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: City University of New York, Hunter College, Graduate Center

Places: Jordan, U.S., Iran

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