Editing History of Jordan (section)

===Reign of King Abdullah II===
{{Jordan Series}}

====Economy====
[[Economic liberalization]] policies under [[King Abdullah II]] have helped to create one of the [[Index of Economic Freedom|freest economies]] in the [[Middle East]].

In March 2001, King Abdullah and presidents Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Hosni Mubarak of Egypt inaugurated a $300m (£207m) electricity line linking the grids of the three countries. In September 2002, Jordan and Israel agreed on a plan to pipe water from the Red Sea to the shrinking Dead Sea. The project, costing $800m, is the two nations' biggest joint venture to date. King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched the Wahdah Dam project at a ceremony on the [[Yarmuk River]] in February 2004.

====Foreign relations====
{{Unsourced section|date=May 2025}}
Jordan has sought to remain at peace with all of its neighbors. In September 2000, a military court sentenced six men to death for plotting attacks against Israeli and US targets. Following the outbreak of [[Second Intifada|Israeli-Palestinian fighting in September 2000]], Amman withdrew its ambassador to Israel for four years. In 2003, Jordan's Central Bank retracted an earlier decision to freeze accounts belonging to leaders of [[Hamas]]. When senior US diplomat [[Laurence Foley]] was gunned down outside his home in Amman in October 2002, in the first assassination of a Western diplomat in Jordan, scores of political activists were rounded up. Eight militants were later found guilty and executed in 2004. King Abdullah did, however, criticise the United States and Israel over the conflict in Lebanon in 2006.

====Politics====
Jordan's gradual institution of political and [[civil liberty]] has continued, but the slow pace of reform has led to increasing discontent. Following the death of a youth in custody, riots erupted in the southern town of Ma'an in January 2002, the worst public disturbances in more than three years.

The first parliamentary elections under King Abdullah II were held in June 2003. Independent candidates loyal to the king won two-thirds of the seats. A new cabinet was appointed in October 2003 following the resignation of Prime Minister [[Ali Abu al-Ragheb]]. [[Faisal al-Fayez]] was appointed prime minister. The king also appointed three female ministers. However, in April 2005, amid reports of the king's dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reforms, the government resigned and a new cabinet was sworn in, led by Prime Minister [[Adnan Badran]].

The first local elections since 1999 were held in July 2007. The main opposition party, the Islamist Action Front, withdrew after accusing the government of vote-rigging. The parliamentary elections of November 2007 strengthened the position of tribal leaders and other pro-government candidates. Support for the opposition Islamic Action Front declined. Political moderate [[Nader Dahabi]] was appointed prime minister.

In November 2009, the King once more dissolved parliament halfway through its four-year term. The following month, he appointed a new premier to push through economic reform. A new electoral law was introduced May 2010, but pro-reform campaigners said it did little to make the system more representational. The parliamentary elections of November 2010 were boycotted by the opposition Islamic Action Front. Riots broke out after it was announced that pro-government candidates had won a sweeping victory.

====Arab Spring====
On 14 January, the [[Jordanian protests (2011–present)|Jordanian protests]] began in Jordan's capital [[Amman]], and at [[Ma'an]], [[Al Karak]], [[Salt, Jordan|Salt]] and [[Irbid]], and other cities. The following month, King Abdullah appointed a new prime minister, former army general [[Marouf Bakhit]], and charged him with quelling the protests whilst carrying out political reforms. The street protests continued through the summer, albeit on a smaller scale, prompting the King to replace Bakhit with [[Awn al-Khasawneh]], a judge at the International Court of Justice (October 2011). However, Prime Minister Awn al-Khasawneh resigned abruptly after just six months having been unable to satisfy either the demands for reform or allay establishment fears of empowering the Islamist opposition. King Abdullah appointed former prime minister Fayez al-Tarawneh to succeed him.

In October 2012, King Abdullah called for early parliamentary elections, to be held at some time in 2013. The Islamic Action Front, continued in its calls for broader political representation and a more democratic parliament. The King appointed [[Abdullah Ensour]], a former minister and vocal advocate of democratic reform, as prime minister.

Mass demonstrations took place in Amman (November 2012) against the lifting of fuel subsidies. Public calls for the end of the monarchy were heard. Clashes between protesters and supporters of the king followed. The government reversed the fuel price rise following the protest.<ref name= "aljaz_totyrants">{{Cite news |first= Lamis |last=Andoni |title=To the tyrants of the Arab world... |date=16 January 2011 |work=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]] |url= http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011115135046129936.html |access-date=19 January 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110117231003/http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/01/2011115135046129936.html |archive-date= 17 January 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]'' stated that protests are expected to continue for several weeks because of increasing [[food prices]].<ref name="aljaz_totyrants"/>

====Arab Winter====
{{main article|June 2014 Northern Iraq offensive}}
With the rapid expansion of the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]] into northern and eastern Iraq in summer of 2014, Jordan became threatened by the radical Jihadist organization, and deployed more troops on the Iraqi and Syrian borders.