Monday 11 June 2018

Is the Gulf Bailout Enough for Crisis-hit Jordan? | Inside Story


Jordan has always been seen as an oasis of peace and stability in a volatile region. But it is a country of limited resources and increasingly in debt. Conflicts in neighbouring Iraq and Syria have dampened trade and it is had to absorb hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Budget cuts and tax hike plans have led to mass protests, toppling the prime minister. Gulf countries worried about another Arab Spring uprising have stepped in with $2.5bn in aid. And the European Union, whose foreign policy chief was in Amman on Sunday, has thrown in $23m.

What is at stake in a country of huge geopolitical significance?

Presenter: Hashem Ahelbarra | Guests: Jawad Al-Anani - Chairman of the Amman Stock Exchange and a former Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ibrahim Fraihat - Associate Professor of Conflict Resolution & Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies; James Moran - Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies who served as the EU Ambassador to Jordan and Yemen