Unfortunate as it may be, at the masses-level only 0.8 per cent of Jordanians named Iraq as “the closest ally” of Jordan in a recent survey by Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions.

Despite the deep sense of pessimism in the region about a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Israelis are proposing the “Tracks for Regional Peace” initiative.

Managing the aftermath of the tragic incident of October 25 near the Dead Sea points to a few strengths and some structural weaknesses. The strengths were demonstrated in the immediate post-catastrophe response of citizens, civil defence and military.

Nearly a quarter of a century of formal peace between Jordan and Israel and 40 years of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty have resulted in 61 per cent of Israelis; Hebrew, Russians and Arabs, having a favourable view of Jordan and 56 per cent of Egypt, according to a comparative

There is a need to build a more inclusive participatory democratic process to involve Jordanian citizens more in decisions affecting their lives, especially youth and women. This is a guiding principle His Majesty King Abdullah has been repeating for years.

Hierarchy of competence, just like a sense of equal opportunity, is essential for justice, equality, national pride, sense of individual significance and relevance to homeland.

Deja Vu 2011? Will people take to the streets to protest the new income tax law? Probably this is the most frequently asked question in Jordan these days and is often complemented by the question where is the country heading?

Why does government messaging on tax law not seem to be working? Over the past few weeks, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz and his team embarked upon an outreach campaign to convince Jordanian taxpayers of the newly revisited income tax law.

Despite the political fiasco we live in these days, the exit lights are illuminated.