Lobbying 2014: Jordan counts on US for support in rough neighborhood
Resource-poor and challenge-rich Jordan is turning to the United States for extra support as its warring neighbors threaten the country’s very existence.
Jordan, resource-poor and challenge-rich, is turning to the United States for extra support as its warring neighbors threaten the country’s very existence.
The Hashemite Kingdom’s survival is a priority for the administration of President Barack Obama, and it has set aside $388 million to help the country cope with the influx of 600,000 Syrian refugees. Congress has followed suit, with the House and Senate spending panels voting to maintain the $660 million annual aid package next year even after a five-year assistance deal expires.
The continued support in a time of fiscal austerity underscores US policymakers’ resolve that the pro-Western kingdom not be dragged down by the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, the political unrest in Egypt or the rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Administration officials have praised Jordan, one of only 14 major non-NATO allies of the United States, at every turn, and lawmakers of both parties have made it a point to publicly highlight their concern for the country’s well-being.
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., told State and Defense Department officials at a hearing on Iraq in July, “I am particularly concerned about our vital ally in the region, Jordan, about both their military and economic and strategic stability, given the flood of refugees that they’ve already been taking in as a result of the Syrian crisis and about the open, increasingly porous borders.”
