How Jordan Embodies the Arab World's Woes

Jordan reflects the dilemma that many Arab governments and countries have experienced for years – the economy continues to grow at a reasonable pace of around 3 percent, as do improvements to infrastructure and basic services, but daily economic pressures on citizens also persist or become worse in some cases, leading to chronic frustrations that take on a political character. The combination of economic and political disappointments does not lead to a revolutionary situation and a mass uprising that removes the government, as happened in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries. But instead it generates a disenchantment with political life among many citizens, leaving the country much less able to harness its human talent to meet its challenges.