Book contents
- A History of Jordan
- A History of Jordan
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 On the Edge of Empire
- 2 Founding State and Regime
- 3 The Long Road to Independence
- 4 Loss of Innocence
- 5 The Roaring Fifties
- 6 The Road to Disaster
- 7 Illusions of Progress
- 8 Hussein’s Choices
- 9 Abdullah’s Governance Debate at Home
- 10 International Relations Under Abdullah
- Conclusion: Jordan: Still a Politely Run Authoritarian State
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
1 - On the Edge of Empire
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 September 2019
- A History of Jordan
- A History of Jordan
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Illustrations
- Maps
- Tables
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Maps
- Introduction
- 1 On the Edge of Empire
- 2 Founding State and Regime
- 3 The Long Road to Independence
- 4 Loss of Innocence
- 5 The Roaring Fifties
- 6 The Road to Disaster
- 7 Illusions of Progress
- 8 Hussein’s Choices
- 9 Abdullah’s Governance Debate at Home
- 10 International Relations Under Abdullah
- Conclusion: Jordan: Still a Politely Run Authoritarian State
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Prior to the First World War, the potential for the emergence of a state from the lands beyond the River Jordan was almost non-existent. There was no significant urban concentration to act as an embryonic power centre around which political and economic power might coalesce; indeed, Amman was a deserted village until the 1870s. Neither was there much sustainable prosperity in the area from which an economic surplus capable of supporting the complex structures of a modern state might be drawn. Moreover, there was little sense of a collective community on which the ideology of a state might be built.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- A History of Jordan , pp. 5 - 16Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019