page_title: Abdullah II of Jordan
section_title: Arab Spring 2010–2014
hierarchical_section_title: Abdullah II of Jordan / Reign / Arab Spring 2010–2014
caption_attribution_description: English: A mass protest in Amman, Jordan, November 2012, over price hikes
context_page_description: Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein has been King of Jordan since 7 February 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Abdullah is a 41st-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.
  Abdullah was born in Amman as the first child of King Hussein and his second wife, British-born 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, and he became a major general in 1998. In 1993 Abdullah married Rania Al-Yassin, and they have four children: Crown Prince Hussein, Princess Iman, Princess Salma and Prince Hashem. A few weeks before his death in 1999, Hussein named Abdullah his heir, and Abdullah succeeded his father.
  Abdullah, a constitutional monarch, liberalized the economy when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008.
context_section_description: The Tunisian Revolution in December 2010 (which unseated that country's president) brought Egyptians into the streets, and by January 2011 they overthrew president Hosni Mubarak. Protests in other Arab countries soon followed, resulting in civil wars in Libya, Syria and Yemen. In Jordan, opposition groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, leftists, and retired army generals protested throughout the country. By 1 February 2011, domestic unrest prompted Abdullah to sack Samir Rifai's government and pledge to follow a democratic trajectory.
  The 2011–12 Jordanian protests were driven by complaints about a troubled economy: soaring prices, widespread unemployment and a relatively low standard of living. Although some called for an end to the monarchy, most protesters' anger was directed at politicians viewed as undemocratic, corrupt and unaccountable. Demonstrators called for the dissolution of the parliament which had been elected three months earlier in November 2010, when pro-regime figures won a majority of seats. The Jordanian monarchy was the first Arab regime to offer political concessions during the Arab Spring. Marouf Bakhit was appointed prime minister, but protests continued throughout the summer; Bakhit was seen as a conservative unlikely to push for reform. Dissatisfied with the pace of reform, Abdullah sacked Bakhit's government and appointed Awn Khasawneh to form a cabinet. Khasawneh abruptly resigned in April 2012, and the King appointed Fayez Tarawneh as interim prime minister; it was the third government reshuffle in 18 months.
  In November 2012 the government cut fuel subsidies, driving up prices. The decision, later revoked, triggered large-scale protests across the country. The regime calmed the unrest by introducing reforms, amending about one-third of the constitution and establishing a Constitutional Court and the Independent Election Commission. Abdullah called for an early election and appointed Abdullah Ensour to form a cabinet. In the January 2013 election, pro-regime figures were victorious as opposition groups continued a boycott. Since December 2012, the king has published seven discussion papers outlining his vision of democracy and reform in Jordan.
  In December 2012, Abdullah was the first head of state to visit the West Bank after a United Nations General Assembly vote upgraded the Palestinian Authority to a nonmember observer state. Jordan sees an independent Palestinian state, with the 1967 borders, as part of the two-state solution and of supreme national interest. Jordan, the only country bordering the West Bank other than Israel, ruled it after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War and lost in the 1967 Six-Day War. Its annexation of the West Bank was not recognized, and in 1988 the kingdom ceded its claim to the territory.
  An interview with Abdullah by Jeffrey Goldberg, published in The Atlantic in March 2013, sparked controversy when the king criticized local and international figures and parties. He called the Muslim Brotherhood a "Masonic cult" and "wolves in sheep's clothing", described ousted Egyptian president Mohammad Morsi as a man with "no depth" and said that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan saw democracy as "a bus ride". Abdullah also criticized American diplomats, some of his country's tribal leaders and members of his family.
  Another 2013 article in The Atlantic advised him to address governmental corruption, saying that there "is a growing perception that the degeneracy reaches the palace". According to the article, Abdullah was accused of "illegally appropriating 'tribal' lands" shortly after his accession and members of 36 Jordanian tribes issued a statement denouncing Queen Rania's "publicized and extravagant" 40th birthday party in 2013.
caption: 16 November 2012 Arab Spring demonstration in Amman against a later-revoked government decision to cut fuel subsidies
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