Jordanian opposition vows to keep up wave of protests, challenging kingdom's stability Associated Press/Fox News

Published November 15, 2012

Is Jordon next?                 By  RJ MacDonald

The associated press reports that there are socioeconomic protests in Jordan which protests are Islamist-led. This is very significant, especially with the Muslim Brotherhood involved – a “spooky” organization which has had historical dealings with Western intelligence agencies such as MI6 and the CIA. This is a real foreboding of things to come and it is still riding on the momentum of the so-called “Arab Spring.”

Of course the basis is economic in nature and the oligarchic government, the kingdom that is, rather than absorbing the depreciation of it's own economy, is seeking to let the people pay, so that it experiences less loss – or no loss – itself.

Clearly violence has erupted which means that the issues and the movement which the issues have caused are very serious and will doubtfully disappear soon.

Reportedly the Muslim Brotherhood has stated that the protests will continue until the government decision is revoked. It seems then that the Brotherhood have taken a rather definitive and set position so that the conditionality is instituted and so the pressure is on.

AP reports:

"While we understand the reasons behind the price hike, we insist it's a temporary, but not a fundamental solution," said Jamil Abu-Bakr. The alternative, he said, is a crackdown on corruption and a stronger parliament to monitor the government's activities. He said a demonstration is scheduled for Friday in Amman.”

The fact that the frame of reference is a charge of “corruption” and that the framed solution is to “monitor the government's activities” indicates that the movement has taken a very proactive and probably relentless mode of operation.

Cooking and heating gas, the rising price of which seems to be what the protests are centered around, can be seen as basic essentials and so this will not simply be dismissed as a passing movement. Gas is an energy issue, so no doubt at some level major energy corporations are involved or will be in respect to a push-back in order to maintain or even increase their profits. These are fundamental economic issues then which are power based and therefor can give rise to violence unfortunately, which violence may be used for the purpose of implementing politico-economic change. A political “Kingdom” combined with energy resources generates a fundamental equation that the West, perhaps particularly the US, is and will be sensitive to and may become involved in, if it is not already, such that they (the US) may support a reactionary position behind the scenes, probably initially in the mode of intelligence direction. The Muslim Brotherhood is a double-edged sword for the West and the US, depending on whether or not the Brotherhood supports the particular Western hegemonic drives at hand. This may unfold in a rather complex manner with variable contingencies determining, to a degree, the unfolding of those events.

AP states that:

“The government has defended the price hikes, saying they are necessary to reduce a massive budget deficit, part of Jordan's efforts to secure a badly needed $2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund to shore up the kingdom's shaky finances.”

The fact that the government wants to use the price hikes to counter a massive budget deficit partly in order to secure a loan from the IMF indicates that the West and more centrally the US is most probably involved or will be, in supporting the government, unlike it's “Arab Spring” role in respect to Syria. What this could do then is to pit the Muslim Brotherhood against the US, which was not the case in the “Arab Spring” as both had the common ground interest of removing Bashier al Assad, that is unless the Brotherhood is used covertly by the US to hijack and usurp the movement for the sake of controlling and curbing the the critical dynamics. Again, what may take place in Jordon will be quite complex and the basis of that is that The Kingdom of Jordan has been a US alley to date.

“Jordan has been hit by frequent, but small, anti-government protests over the past 23 months, but these demonstrations have shifted the focus from the government squarely to the king.”

If it is true as AP reports that the focus has shifted from the Jordanian government to the King then this indicates that the movement is structural and therefor subject to deep fundamental changes. If this is the case then there is little doubt that Western intelligence will want to control the outcome in fear of the rise of secular nationalism and a more governmentally controlled market which might run counter to Western interests in the region.