Jordan’s King Abdullah II left for the United States with his crown prince this week and was warmly welcomed by US President Joe Biden on Monday.
“Rai Al-Youm” newspaper quoted American diplomacy sources as saying that in addition to the official part, the meeting also has a family section, and the joint statements of the media in the American protocol show the special importance of this meeting, and Biden and Abdullah II spoke warm words to the media.
According to the report, hours before the official meeting began, the White House announced that the King of Jordan’s visit to the United States would address a permanent and strategic partnership between the two countries, citing Jordan as a key partner and ally of the United States. The White House statement also said the meeting would provide an opportunity to explore the challenges facing West Asia.
The official Jordanian media also paid special attention to the summit of the two countries, and the most important diplomatic phrase that the Jordanians adopted from the White House statement was that the meeting will highlight the role of the Jordanian leadership in strengthening peace and stability in the region.
This is perhaps more than what the Americans are asking the Jordanians to acknowledge their regional role and opportunity to influence all trans-regional issues, most notably the Palestinian cause; in a way, it is possible that Egypt will also participate in this role, and the case of Iraq and Syria will be added later.
As Marwan al-Mashhar, a former Jordanian court minister and expert on the US Democratic headquarters said, the margins of the Jordanian leaders’ maneuver in seeking Biden’s first economic concessions are still unclear, Biden, who calls himself a friend of the Jordanians. Another is to talk about a strategic partnership that means security and military in the region and the implementation of major plans to establish military bases and transfer American forces to Jordan, and this issue was even raised before the ambassador of the king to Washington.
In addition to Hussein bin Abdullah, Jaafar Hassan, Jordan’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, was also present.
It seems that the American side insisted on showing during the preparation for this meeting which shows that this trip is a kind of acknowledgment of the importance of Jordan’s geopolitical position and the exceptional role of Jordan, after a long phase of cold relations under former US President Donald Trump, and at the same time, focuses on leadership partnership; a partnership that everyone is asking about the results of and where this partnership will end, especially since of the five official US statements, three have been issued by the US Embassy in Amman, in which it has spoken of a strategic partnership.
Given the remarks about the Jordanian king’s visit to the United States, which are mostly American, it is possible that the trip will also take place after the protocol meetings with Biden, members of the government and leaders in Congress, and it is clear that some of these meetings, especially meetings with congressional military service committees and the Foreign Relations Committee, are pre-planned.
Rai Al-Youm writes: “The nature of these meetings with those Jordanian committees and personalities clearly shows that the United States has made a mistake not only in betting on a strategic partnership with Jordan, but also in its military, economic and political role and plan, and no one can decipher it now.”