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1. Jordan: Another Peak in a Multi-Year Crisis

Author:
Joshua Krasna
Publication Date:
03-2023
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)
Abstract:
Jordan recently saw violent protests over high fuel prices stemming from IMF-mandated austerity measures. These highlighted domestic malaise, driven by economic crisis, repressive government measures in recent years, and widespread despair of the possibility of near-time improvement of the economic and political situation. While the regime has presented a long-range plan for political reform leading to parliamentary government in a decade, this has met with apathy and lack of belief. This domestic crisis dovetails with a low intensity “hot war” on the northern border against the smuggling of Captagon (Fenethylline, a synthetic amphetamine widely used in the region) with Syrian official connivance; and a new Israeli government seemingly intent on pursuing policies in Jerusalem and the West Bank which threaten Jordan’s interests. This is not the first time, and will not be the last time, that Jordan faces domestic pressures and external challenges. However, the conflation of various challenges and crises, makes the current moment one of elevated, though not acute, concern.
Topic:
Reform, Protests, Crisis Management, Austerity, and Captagon
Political Geography:
Middle East and Jordan

2. The Middle East and North Africa Gap: Prosperity for the rich, austerity for the rest

Author:
Alexandros Kentikelenis, Sahar Mechmech, Amine Bouzaiene, Rowaida Moshrif, and Nabil Abdo
Publication Date:
10-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
This briefing paper examines growing inequality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, focusing on Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost of living crisis. It examines the lack of adequate and just taxation systems across the region, particularly wealth taxes. This limits governments’ fiscal space and their spending on public services, resulting in gender discrimination and the widening of the MENA inequality gap to a chasm. The rich must pay their fair share. Austerity in the MENA region cannot become the norm. Taxing the profits of the region’s richest people will provide critical recourses that are currently lacking but would begin to close the chasm between the rich and the rest.
Topic:
Tax Systems, Economic Inequality, Austerity, and Prosperity
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

3. Why a Traditional Austerity Plan Would Exacerbate Lebanon’s Woes

Author:
Mounir Mahmalat
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Harvard Journal of Middle Eastern Politics and Policy
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
Following the eruption of mass protests in autumn 2019, Lebanon’s economy slid into a deep financial and economic crisis. Given the magnitude of Lebanon’s contemporary economic woes, a bailout program with participation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) appears unavoidable. However, while a bailout program could avoid formal default and cushion the immediate effects of financial impasse, the austerity measures that will come attached are unlikely to achieve their goals. This article argues that in clientelist polities with weak states such as Lebanon’s, austerity programs carry the risk of leaving unaddressed the underlying inefficiencies that led to economic decline in the first place. Instead of prioritizing budgetary measures and spending cuts in a conditional reform program, international donors should seize this novel window of opportunity to legitimize a reform plan with popular demands. Measures to increase judiciary independence and political accountability in particular bear a larger potential than austerity measures alone to change politics and finally create a sustainable economic model.
Topic:
Financial Crisis, Austerity, Sustainability, and Economic Stability
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

4. Jordan in 2020: Protests and Pandemic

Author:
Laith Al Ajlouni, Sara Kayyali, Oraib Al Rantawi, and Rana Husseini
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Middle East Institute (MEI)
Abstract:
The start of the new decade in Jordan has been marred by unrest. In January, thousands of Jordanians took to the streets to protest both President Trump’s Middle East peace plan and the gas deal signed between Israel and Jordan. This wave of dissent came on the heels of the 2019 protests against increased austerity measures, a follow up to the 2018 movement that saw the resignation of Hani Mulki’s government. Though Jordan quickly adopted stringent measures to combat the virus, the economy will suffer a huge blow, exacerbating Jordan’s existing development challenges and popular discontent. Furthermore, the pandemic prompted troubling restrictions on freedom of speech, with an April decree stating that sharing anything that may “cause panic” about the pandemic is punishable with up to three years in prison. How have protest movements in Jordan been impacted by Covid-19, and what do recent protests over honor killings and gender based violence portend for progress in this area? How do these long standing grievances meet the current moment of the impending Israeli annexation? What will be the long term impact of the pandemic on Jordan’s economy and human rights, especially for the country’s millions of refugees?
Topic:
Refugees, Economy, Political stability, Protests, Austerity, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Middle East and Jordan