Yesterday the King of Jordan was interviewed on NPR. Today the Queen of Jordan got an interview.

Being admittedly not as fully versed as I should be on some of the countries in the Middle East and how they conduct diplomacy, I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised while listening. They came across as incredibly intelligent people who more importantly sincerely wanted peace in the region. There was no denying that by the end of the Queen's interview especially, that I had a really good first impression of her. I liked her!

So to those of you with more knowledge, fill me in. How does Jordan fit into the whole Israel / Palestine thing? I know they have been taking refugees at least on a limited basis, and I know there are some more extreme people in Israel who do not wish for a Palestinian state who wish to see all Palestinians exiled into Jordan. What can you tell me?

Not necessarily exiled to Jordan, there have been suggestions that the territory become a part of Jordan rather than its own state. The land would become part of the countries who held it originally before they lost it in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Jordan is sort of a buffer state in the region. They are somewhat like Saudi Arabia in that now they really don't like Israel but they don't have any overt or active plans to do away with them.

From what I recall, none of the states bordering Israel want the Palestinian state to come from their land.

Well, I'd certainly hope they wouldn't want it in their land. That'd be like asking Canada to make Indian reservations for the Native Americans we kicked out in the northern United States.

http://www.comedycentral.com/colbertreport/full-episodes/index.jhtml?episodeId=223627

Interview with Queen Noor is at the end.

She is HAWT!

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I know the king was educated in Monterey at the Naval Post Graduate school. I thought that was pretty interesting when I found that out. It was the first time I realized that we taught those outside of the U.S. military.

...at NPS.

Jordan is the country that we should be cultivating as our closest ally in the region. They have as much, if not more, to gain by having the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolved; they have been pro-west for all of Hussein's and now Abdullah's reigns; any relationship would not be tainted by the oil question; and they have found a way to largely keep a lid on the radicals within Jordan without resorting to mass jailings or mass killings.

Found this useful explanation of Jordan on Youtube.

Is what I thought of.

The King and Queen of Jordan are great. There were some concerns when he took over, because Queen Noor (as you may know) was American, and many Americans were hoping one of her sons would rule...because he's 1/2 American blah blah blah.

The current King has gone out of his way to show his closeness with Queen Noor's son AND bitches about how lucky the kid is NOT to be King because they both love extreme sports. Queen Noor's son can still do them, the King cannot (he cannot risk himself).

However there are still religious courts in Jordan, and the King has struggled with that bullshit. The extent of his power doesn't seem as absolute as it is in other nations (like Saudi Arabia, the King's power there IS absolute).

So the appearance is that Jordan royal family tries to be VERY moderate muslim, and very westernized...while not being able to resolve all the problems within their kingdom.

He did a lengthy special for Nat. Geo. a few years back, which was basically a tour of his country. He's a very likable man, and his Queen is also very likable.

IIRC he has also stated he would not take additional wives, and has spoken somewhat critically about it (polygamy and the problems it can create in a household).

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