قال جلاله الملك عبدالله الثاني في مقابلة مع صحيفة وول ستريت جورنال الأميركية نشرتها الثلاثاء وأجراها الصحفي جاي سولمون، إن قادة إسرائيل ما زالوا يدفنون رؤوسهم في الرمال. وأضاف جلالة الملك، "إذا لم نجمع الفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين في الأيام المقبلة فكيف سيكون مستقبل عملية السلام، إذا تراجعنا إلى المربع الأول، فسنعود إلى أبعد من ذلك ما سيترك آثارا سلبية على الجميع". وحول العلاقات مع إسرائيل قال جلالة الملك "لا توجد علاقات صحية بين الشعبين الأردني والإسرائيلي بسبب القضية الفلسطينية". "كل ما نراه على أرض الواقع هو عكس ما يصرح به المسؤولون الإسرائيليون، فهناك المزيد من الإحباط من ذلك، والمسؤولون الاسرائيليون لا زالوا يدفنون رؤوسهم في الرمل ويتظاهرون أنه لا توجد مشكلة".

وردا على سؤال حول الوضع في سوريا، قال جلالة الملك إن الحكومة تراقب عن كثب تطورات الأحداث في هذا البلد وأثرها على المنطقة بمجملها. "لقد تحدثت مرتين مع الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد لمناقشة التحديات التي تواجهها المنطقة، وكيف يمكن الاستفادة من الدروس التي تعلمناها، لكن السوريين بدوا غير مهتمين".

من ناحية أخرى، أكد جلالة الملك ثقته بأن الحكومة قد استجابت للتحركات التي اجتاحت الشرق الأوسط والمطالبة بالإصلاح وبالمزيد من الديمقراطية، حيث شرعت في إحداث تغييرات سياسية ودستورية تستهدف في النهاية تشكيل حكومات برلمانية. وقال جلالته "نسير قدما للإمام، ولأن لدينا خطة فسيكون هناك أردن جديد في أسرع ما يمكن، ولا أدري إذ يمكن أن يكون ذلك طبيعة الحال للعديد من الدول في المنطقة". وأكد جلالة الملك أن النظام الديمقراطي الأردني سينضج أكثر مع تطوير الحياة الحزبية السياسية التي تستوعب جميع الأحزاب، والقائمة على مبادئ الشفافية والعدالة، ما يستدعي حينئذ من الإخوان المسلمين إعادة النظر في توجهاتهم نحو المشاركة السياسية.

مقابلة الملك عبدالله الثاني مع صحيفة وول ستريت جورنال الأميركية 2011

عن عملية السلام: "أعتقد أن التحدي الماثل أمامنا ما يحدث مع الفلسطينيين وهو من وجهة نظري نابع من حالة يأس شديدة سببها الجمود الحاصل في كل شيء. كنا جميعا نعلم بالموعد النهائي للقدوم إلى الهيئة العامة للأمم المتحدة، وكان العديد منا يقول إنه ما لم نجد بديلا لدفع الإسرائيليين والفلسطينيين للجلوس من جديد إلى طاولة المفاوضات، فإن ما يحصل الآن أمر محتم. وقد عبرت عن ذلك أثناء زيارتي الأخيرة لواشنطن. لقد تحدثت العديد من الدول عن ضرورة إيجاد فرصة للجمع بين الإسرائيليين والفلسطينيين بحيث تنتفي الحاجة للذهاب إلى الهيئة العامة للأمم المتحدة، وبالتالي نتجنب المشكلة التي نشهدها اليوم. لكن لم يتحقق أي شيء ملموس خلال هذه الفترة".

+ "أعتقد أن الولايات المتحدة وإسرائيل ستواجهان المزيد من العزلة وستزداد الضغوط على إسرائيل. أعلم أن هناك إسرائيليين يقولون إن الربيع العربي جاء في مصلحتهم، ولا أعتقد أن هذا صحيح بالضرورة كما تدل الشواهد الأخيرة. وعلى إسرائيل أن تقرر إن كانت تريد الاستمرار بعقلية القلعة أم معاملتنا معاملة الند، وأن تندمج في الجوار الذي تعيش فيه. وما يزيد من مخاوفي أننا إن فشلنا في الأمم المتحدة في إيجاد حل يدفع بالفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين إلى الأمام، فإن عواقب ذلك غير محمودة على الجميع". "إذا ما استخدمت الولايات المتحدة الفيتو، كما تعلم، فإنها سوف تواجه شرق أوسط ينظر إليها بمنظور غاية في السلبية باعتبارها جزءا من المشكلة، وسوف يعبر الناس عن طموحاتهم بصوت أعلى. وأكرر أن إسرائيل سوف تواجه المزيد من العزلة".

+ "المشكلة في عملية السلام أننا دائما نبحث عن بصيص الضوء ونحاول أن ندفع بالأطراف للتحرك قدما. لكن هناك علاقة غير سليمة اليوم بين الشعوب مع أن فوائد السلام المفترضة هي دوما السلام. إن عجز إسرائيل عن معالجة الظلم الذي نتج عن القضية الفلسطينية لا تستسيغه الشعوب، ونحن نرى، من موقعنا في الشارع الأردني، أن إسرائيل تزداد عنادا في رفضها الجلوس إلى الطاولة والتوصل إلى اتفاقية مقبولة من الجانبين".

+ "هناك العديد من الصيحات التي تخرج في دول أخرى عديدة تتساءل عن جدوى اتفاقية السلام مع إسرائيل وما يمكن أن تقدمه. أعتقد أن إسرائيل في مرحلة مفصلية اليوم بإنكارها علاقتها بما يحدث في المنطقة هذه الأيام ورفضها الاعتراف أن القضية الفلسطينية تجعلها طرفا في ذلك، الأمر الذي سيضاعف من صعوبة إندماج إسرائيل في المنطقة مستقبلا. وأعتقد أنك تعلم أن المسالة الجوهرية هي إن على إسرائيل أن تقرر إن كانت تريد أن تكون جزءا من الجوار أم تريد الاستمرار بالتصرف بعقلية القلعة، وما شهدناه من قرارات اتخذتها إسرائيل في العام الماضي أو نحو ذلك غير مشجعة كثيرا".

+ "في النقاشات التي خضتها مع رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو وحكومته، كانت هناك تصريحات إيجابية جدا في السنوات الماضية، وكانت رؤيته للمنطقة مطمئنة. ولكن ما شهدنا على الأرض مغاير تماما وأعتقد أنه قد خاب أملنا جميعا بالنتيجة، وأفضل ما أصف به رأيي في إسرائيل هو إحباطي المتنامي، وذلك لأنهم يضعون رأسهم في الرمل ويدعون أنه لا توجد مشكلة".

عن الربيع العربي: "أعتقد أنه من شبه المستحيل لأي خبير أن يتنبأ بالتغيرات السريعة التي نشهدها في الشرق الأوسط، حيث إنها سريعة الإيقاع وسوف تستمر لفترة ليست بالقصيرة. وأعتقد أننا سوف ننظر إلى الوراء بعد سنتين أو خمس أو عشر سنوات ونقول إن الربيع العربي كان أمرا جيدا. ومع ذلك فإننا في هذه الأثناء سوف نشهد المزيد من المعاناة، ويحدوني الأمل أن نتكاتف جميعا لكي نحقن ما نستطيع من دماء، وأن نمنع ما استطعنا من تساقط للدموع وهو ما نتمناه. ولكن مما لا شك فيه أن الربيع العربي انقضى ودخل الصيف العربي بالنسبة لدول عديدة، مما يستدعي أن نشمر عن سواعدنا ونقوم بالمهمة الشاقة، خصوصا فيما يتعلق بمستقبلنا. لقد حددنا الآن معايير الإصلاحات السياسية وأجرينا تعديلات على الدستور كما تعلمون بالتأكيد. وهناك قانون انتخابات وقانون أحزاب جديدان وهيئة مستقلة للإشراف على الانتخابات، ...إلخ. والتحدي الآن هو إقرار هذه التغييرات من قبل البرلمان بالسرعة الممكنة بحيث نستطيع أن نجري انتخابات وطنية في النصف الثاني من عام 2012. وكل دولة تسير حسب إيقاعها الخاص. وأعتقد أننا في الأردن نسير بخطوات متقدمة وذلك لأننا نملك خطة واضحة. ويتمثل دور القيادة في ضمان أن تلتزم الحكومة والبرلمان بالمعايير التي وضعناها لبناء الأردن الجديد وتنفيذها بالسرعة المطلوبة. لا أعلم إن كان ذلك ينطبق على العديد من دول المنطقة، حيث ان بعضها مر بالربيع العربي وصولا إلى الصيف العربي ثم الشتاء العربي، وقد يحتاجون إلى فترة طويلة حتى يعودوا للربيع العربي من جديد".

+ "أعتقد أنه بناء على ما تستطيع تنميته من اتجاهات يسارية ووسطية ويمينية قائمة على برامج أحزاب سياسية سوف يزداد التحدي الذي يواجهه الإخوان المسلمون والمتمثل في الاندماج في النظام الجديد، وذلك نظرا لاختلاف الطريقة التي ينظرون فيها إلى مسعاهم للحكم على ما يعرف بأحزاب اليسار واليمين والوسط،. لذا أعتقد أن على الإخوان المسلمين البحث في ذاتهم ليعرفوا كيف يمكن التكيف مع ما أراه تغيرا في الشرق الأوسط، وإن كان بإمكانهم الاندماج مع عقليات اليسار واليمين والوسط بناء على برامج سياسية، في الوقت الذي يبحث فيه الشباب عن شيء مختلف كما أعتقد"..

+ "الوحيدون المنظمون في الشرق الأوسط، والسبب يعود إلى طبيعة المرحلة التي أعقبت الحرب الباردة، هم الإخوان المسلمون. ولكن أكرر ملاحظتي حول ما يحصل في مصر، حيث قالوا في البداية دعونا نتجه نحو الانتخابات، ثم حصل تراجع في الموقف وقالوا دعونا نتناقش في مسالة الانتخابات، ثم قالوا دعونا نبحث في مسالة الدستور ثم نذهب بعدها إلى الانتخابات، وذلك انهم لا يريدون إجراء انتخابات، والإخوان المسلمون في وضع أفضل تنظيما يمكنهم من الوصول إلى السلطة وبالتالي تغيير الدستور كما يشاؤون. أما في الأردن فقد فعلنا النقيض تماما من حيث سعينا للإجماع الوطني. لقد حددنا الطريق للمستقبل وعرفنا أين نحتاج أن نتجه، ونحن الآن بصدد إشراك الناس في العملية السياسية من خلال انتخاب أحزاب وتأسيس أحزاب يصوتون لها. أعتقد أن البندول يتحرك جيئة وذهابا بالنسبة لمصر ودول أخرى، ولهذا أرى أننا متفوقون على غيرنا. إننا نشهد في الأردن مظاهرات منذ كانون الثاني، وتقام المظاهرات كل أسبوع بطريقة سلمية، ونجد أن الناس يقولون الآن دعونا نشمر عن سواعدنا لأننا جميعا نؤمن برؤية تتمثل في حكومات برلمانية وقد جاء وقت العمل الجاد. وكما قلت فإن التحدي يكمن في العودة للبرامج الحزبية. وقد اجتمعت في بداية هذا الصيف مع مجموعة من الناس كان أحدهم ناشطا سياسيا، وكنا وقتها بصدد إجراء التعديلات الدستورية. وقلت له: سوف يقر قانون انتخابات جديد وقانون أحزاب جديد وهناك قانون انتخابات بلدية على وشك الإقرار. حسنا، أنتم تكررون مطالبكم بذلك، فماذا أنتم فاعلون إن جاء شهر تشرين الأول وتم بالفعل إقرار كل هذه القوانين؟ هل ستظلون في الشارع أم ستؤسسون حزبكم السياسي الخاص بكم أم ستنضمون إلى حزب سياسي يعبر عنكم؟"

+ "أعتقد أن هناك أغلبية في الشرق الأوسط مهتمة بشكل رئيسي بالإصلاح والازدهار الاقتصادي بدلا من الإصلاح السياسي. لكن الإحباط السياسي يجعل صوتهم أعلى في هذا الجانب، وهذا ينطبق ليس على الشرق الأوسط فقط، بل هو قائم في كل أوروبا ومناطق أخرى من العالم. وقد شهدت إسرائيل أيضا مظاهرات تعكس مشكلة اقتصادية يعاني منها العالم بأسره. أما الشرق الأوسط فإنه يعاني من أعلى معدل بطالة مقارنة بكل أقاليم العالم الأخرى، ونشهد أفواجا متلاحقة لا نظير لها من الشباب الذين ينضمون إلى سوق العمل، بحيث نجد أن ما يعانونه من إحباط نتيجة الجوع والبطالة ينعكس على الوضع السياسي. وفيما يتعلق بمسألة الفساد، أكرر أننا رغم حاجتنا لمكافحة الفساد، يوجد هناك من يستغل الوضع كأدوات لمهاجمة أشخاص آخرين. والواقع أن الفاسدين لا يجدون في الأردن آلية تحميهم، لكن البعض يستغل مكافحة الفساد كسلاح سياسي، وهناك من وجهة نظري حالة من عدم الثقة عند كثير من الناس تجاه ما يعتقدون أنه فساد".

+ "وحول مسالة الإصلاح السياسي، أعيد التأكيد أنني أريد أن اشعر براحة أكبر بعد أربعة شهور من الآن بإذن الله. إنني أزداد إدراكا وأتعلم المزيد كل يوم، ونزداد جميعنا نضوجا مع استمرار عملية الإصلاح. ومن وجهة نظري، أعتقد كرأس للدولة أن مهمتي تكمن في إعداد الأرضية المناسبة لإطلاق الحوار. وأنت تعلم أن التعديلات الدستورية بيد البرلمان الآن، أما قانون الانتخابات البلدية فقد تم إقراره وأعلنا أن الانتخابات ستجري في النصف الثاني من كانون الأول. لذا فعلى الجانب السياسي، كل الأمور في طورها النهائي، أقلها على المدى القصير والمتوسط. وأنا رجل من طبعي أن أستبق الأمور بخطوتين نحو المرحلة التالية، حيث علينا أن نطلق حوارا جديدا يتعلق بها."
+ "عندما توليت الحكم شعرت أن مسؤوليتي تكمن في تأمين لقمة العيش للأردنيين. وقد قصدت بذلك تنمية الطبقة المتوسطة. واعتقادي الذي عبرت عنه في أكثر من مناسبة، أنه حالما تنجح في إنشاء طبقة وسطى، فإن سلاسة الإصلاح السياسي تعتمد على قوة ومتانة هذه الشريحة من المجتمع."

"من الناحية الاقتصادية، سيكون انضمامنا لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي عونا كبيرا لنا، والأمر الأكيد أن هذه الخطوة ستعزز من موقف الأردن اقتصاديا في المنطقة، وأرى أن الأردن، خصوصا في ضوء حالة عدم الاستقرار بالمنطقة، في وضع أقوى كمركز محوري لتكنولوجيا المعلومات والخدمات والنقل على مستوى الشرق الأوسط؛ بسبب كل التطورات الحاصلة. وأعتقد أنك ستشهد العديد من الناس يتطلعون لدور الأردن في هذا السياق، ولو نظرت لما كان يحصل تاريخيا عند حدوث أي مشكلة في الشرق الأوسط، كان بعضهم يقول: راقبوا، سوف ينهار الأردن، ولم يتعلم أحد الدرس بعد أن ظل الأردن دوما قادرا على الصمود في وجه الصدمات الإقليمية وكان يخرج منها كل مرة أكثر استقرارا، والحقيقة إنني متفائل جدا بالنسبة لمستقبلنا."

"تواجه أميركا تحديات كبيرة داخليا، منها التحديات الاقتصادية وقضايا الرعاية الصحية والضرائب والحروب، وهنالك الكثير من المشاكل أمامكم، لكن الدروس التي تعلمناها تقول: إنه ليس بإمكانكم أبدا تجاهل الصراع الإسرائيلي ــ الفلسطيني، لأنكم إن فعلتم فسوف يرتد عليكم ذلك لاحقا. قد تستطيعون الآن إبعاد هذه القضية عن مركز اهتمامكم، ولكن شئتم أم أبيتم تظل الحقيقة القائمة: إنكم سوف تضطرون للتعامل معها يوما ما. وأؤكد مرة أخرى أن ما سيحصل في الأمم المتحدة هذا الأسبوع سوف ينعكس عليكم إيجابا أو سلبا ولمدة طويلة، تعتمد على النتيجة النهائية للتصويت. فلو جاء التصويت إيجابيا لصالح الفلسطينيين، سوف يكون علينا القيام بعمل جاد من أجل الجميع؛ كي نسير نحو نهاية الصراع. وإن جاء عكس ذلك، أعتقد أن علينا أن نقلق جميعا وبشدة".

The Wall Street Journal Interview With Jordan's King Abdullah II, Sep. 2011

Wall Street Journal: I wanted to start just with what's going on at the U.N. this week, because obviously the world is watching. What is Jordan's position on the U.N. vote and what do you hope will happen?

King Abdullah: Well I mean we're all still supportive of whatever the Palestinian what to report, and I think that the challenge we have at this stage is, you know what's happening with the Palestinians is I think out of cheer desperation that nothing is moving and you know we talked to our western counterparts in the early spring. We all knew this deadline of UN General Assembly and many of us were saying well look unless we find an alternative to get the Israelis and Palestinians sitting at the table this is going to happen. That was also expressed in my visit to Washington last April. So we said ok, but we all agree that this creates more pressure from all of us but what is the alternative? And there's a lot of talk by different countries of creating an opportunity to get the Israelis and Palestinians together so that we wouldn't head to the UN General Assembly and have the problem that we're facing now today. But nothing credible happened during that period of that time. Now I have said that Kathy Ashton of the European Union, Foreign Minister, have been outstanding and looking at creative ways to diffuse the tension and get people back to the negotiating table and that's still ongoing as we speak. There's a lot of last minute negotiations that going to try and find a mechanism that allows … how do I say it: I think all three parties have climbed up the tree and don't know how to get down and so we are negotiating behind the scene to find a way of --- how do I say this but a way to get people back to the negotiating table. Now the flip side of that is if the boat does go through and it creates disunity in a lot of countries throughout the world on who should vote for Palestine and who shouldn't that would have a very negative impact on the rest of the world. If we can't get the Israelis and Palestinians together in this next couple of days then what signal is that for the future process, in other words, we're normally back to the drawing board, I think we're back beyond that and as a result the end of 2011 to 2012 is very bleak it has a very negative impact I think on all of us in the region. And I think you've been watching very serious breakdown in relations between Turkey and Israel; what's happening in Egypt recently, so the failure to move forward past the UN General Assembly. I believe the US and Israel are going to be more isolated and the pressure on Israel is going to be greater. I know that there are Israeli that are saying you know that the Arab Spring is a good thing for them and I don't think that is necessary the case as we've seen by recent examples. Israel has got to decide whether it continues to want to be a fortress mentality or whether they want to treat us as equals and be part of the neighborhood. So I am more concerned that if we failed in the United Nations to find somewhere to get out of this to move people – the Israelis and the Palestinians forward. That is going to be very unkindly to all of us.

What impact or fallout do you think would be if the U.S. vetoes it?

King Abdullah: Well if the U.S. vetoes it's going to have … you know … the Middle East will have a very negative view towards the United States that's part of the problem and again the aspirations of people are being spoken in much louder voices. And so again I think Israel is becoming more and more isolated.

How would you describe Jordan- Israel relationship right now and the future of it if the peace process stalls?

King Abdullah: The problem with the full peace process is we'll always look towards the light and try to move people forward. There is an unhealthy relationship today people to people because although the benefit of peace is always peace the inability of Israel to address the justice of the Palestinian problem has not come down well with the people and we're just seeing – from the Jordanian street – Israel is being more and more difficult in coming to the table and finding an agreement that is acceptable to both sides. So you know when this is a cry we have seen in many other countries what does the peace process or the peace treaty with Israel give and so this is, I think Israel is at a very critical juncture today where denying that they have nothing to do with what's going on in the area denying that the Palestinian issue does not involve them in the region is going to make it much more difficult for them to engage with us in the future. So I think that you know the buzz word is Israel has to decide; does it want to be part of the neighborhood or does it want to be fortress Israel and the decisions that we've seen over the past year or so are not encouraging.

Have you been disappointed with Prime Minister Netanyahu? Because I know in your book and other areas you said you hoped that when he came back [into power] he might have more constructive approach.

King Abdullah: In discussions I've had with him and his government there has been very positive statements over the past several years. The vision that he has for the region which has been reassuring, having said that everything we see on the ground has been completely the opposite and as a result I think we're all disappointed and I think my best way to describe my view toward Israel is my increasing frustration because they're sticking their head in the sand and pretending that there's not a problem.

How else do you see the Arab Spring causing the mood in the region to change? You got a major uprising in Syria now as I assume impact your country, you've got, like you said, the shifts with Turkey, with Egypt are you getting a better sense of where we're headed?

King Abdullah: I think it's almost impossible for any expert to predict for the rapid changes we see in the Middle East. They are rapid and they will continue for quite while. The Arab Spring I think we will look back whether it's two years, five years, ten or fifteen. And say it's a good thing. Having said that, in the meantime there's going to be a lot of blood, sweat and tears and the hope that all of us that are working together is to make sure that there is a lot less blood and ideally a lot less sweat and tears. But definitely the Arab Spring has gone we're into for many countries including Jordan into the Arab Summer, which means we need to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work specifically when it comes to Jordan. We've now benchmarked on political reforms we've done changes to the constitutions that I'm sure that you're aware, new election law, new political party law independent commission etc etc. the challenges now is to pass these through Parliament as quick as possible so that we can have national elections in the second half of 2012. And each country is going on its own pace. I think that we're way ahead of the curve because we have a plan, and the job of the leaders is to make sure that government and parliament stick to those benchmarks so that we have a new Jordan as quickly as possible. I don't know if that could be said for a lot of countries in the region, some of them maybe going from an Arab Spring to an Arab Summer to an Arab Winter and maybe it takes a while for them to come back up to the Arab Spring again.

Where do you see Jordan in like two to three years? I read that you'd hope that a parliament chooses the prime minister but I guess some people wanted the process to go quicker.

King Abdullah: You know I had a meeting with … again I think the problem is reality is … there is what I call a reality check of the situation at this stage. I sat with a bunch of reporters recently or members of the press; they said when are national elections? And I said well, I believe them to be second half of 2012 maybe beginning 2013. They said why that long? I said ok you guys walk me through this. You want municipal elections first, right? They said yes. When do you think we can have municipal elections? December – and by the way we've announced I think in the second half of December for municipal elections. Because we need to have municipals before naturally. How much time do we need between municipal election and national elections? After six months. Ok so that means we're into May/June. How important is the independent commission to oversee elections? Vital. How much time do we need for that? Six to twelve months. I said ok so not before October, they said not before May/June. I said ok we have to benchmark at the other end of the spectrum so we make sure that we keep the pressure on. So can we agree that no later than November 2012 if that's what we need to aim for? Absolutely. So, in other words sometimes I don't know the answers that could solve these technical issues, but we believe that elections would be sometime in June 2012 to November 2012. But the pressure, the reality of it iWEs the work that the government and the parliament needs to do. The constitutional changes by themselves – I'm just going to give you background because this issue is complicated – the constitutional changes that we've done, means that around 14 laws will be either issued or amended plus a review of more than 30 other laws that have links to municipal and national elections, political party laws etc etc – So, that's alot of laws that need to be ratified before we can have national elections. Now, there would be a tendency for government and for Parliament to take their time on this because there is a feeling that while the quicker we do this the quicker we have elections the quicker that some of us maybe out of a job. So the challenge I said to the press and to different interest groups in Jordan is we need to collectively make sure the pressure is on Parliament and on government to stick to that. Now again and I apologize for taking sometime, we will have national elections in 2012. You're democratic institutions we're working with the Republicans and Democrats, we've reached out to the Eastern European countries; because they've gone through this much more recently, we have links with Portugal and Spain when I was young, but these European countries have gone through this tumultuous change recently. For all these organizations including the new political parties that are being adopted in Jordan. I say we need a minimum of two years. .Elections in 2012 would give you a transparent new polity but it will not give youth, I have been saying recently, the vision for Jordan being 2-5 political parties ideally representing left right and center. In my discussions – and I have a couple of meetings on a weekly basis I get people to see me in the office is having this debate. You know, guys we need to move. And I'll take one step back so you can understand the challenge that I have which is one that gives me too much concern about the timing. Every single group that I've sat with from all walks of the political spectrum and social spectrum in Jordan. Half of the meetings I answer questions; where do you guys stand on health, education, services, taxes, etc.? And except for a very few exceptions I get a blank look so you know culturally we're not in a position yet to think left of center or right of center. You as an American have been having to wrestle with two major issues – I've been watching – your country for the past two years. Health care and taxes and most people because of the political affiliations here in the United States know whether they are on the left of that law and right of that law. That concept is still new to a lot of people so to develop that concept of left, right and center of political parties to establish themselves based on programs is the challenge and the best way I can describe that is work in progress there's going to be bumps in the road I am continuing to fuel the debate to new political parties to activists that guys you have to start thinking on political platform lines. Again, this from someone who's not an expert talking about the issue. The second man at the American embassy a couple of months ago I was talking to him and he actually explained it to me in a very nice way which I'd like to say; your challenge the way I see it today, is you as Jordanians have to develop and identify what is center. Once you understand and you all agree as a nation what center is then it's going to be easy for you to figure out who's left and who's right. For me I am left leaning when it comes to health and education on the right when it comes to defense. So I don't know where I come on the political spectrum. And I think this the challenge that a lot of Jordanians have to deal with.

How do you see the Muslim brotherhood fitting into the new political reality?

King Abdullah: Yes I think this is the issue, my belief is that the more you develop left, right and center based on political party programs the more challenge it's going to be for the Muslim Brotherhood to integrate into the new system because the way that they look at their desire to govern is inconsistent with left right and center political parties, equality, transparency and as a result they're having to go through some soul searching I guess to say how can they adapt to what I see as the change in the Middle East and will they be able to integrate into the mentality of left right and center based on political platforms. When I think young people are looking for something else.

Are you worried that the Egyptian people are moving too fast in the sense that a lot of the people think that the Muslim Brotherhood is the only political party organized for elections?

King Abdullah: Throughout the whole of the Middle East the only organized people, and the fault is because of the way the region was coming up in the Cold War, the only people who are organized are the Muslim Brotherhood. But again I think you see in Egypt where they're saying lets go for elections and there has been a push back saying no lets go down on the issue of elections lets figure out the Constitution and then go to elections, because what they don't want is go to elections now having the Muslim Brotherhood in a more organized go into a position of power and then they are the ones who would change the constitution to their liking. What we've done in Jordan by national outreach is quite the opposite. We defined the framework of the future identified where we need to go and now get people involved in the political process through voting and through creating parties to vote for. And so the pendulum I think is swinging back and forth in countries like Egypt and elsewhere and this is why I think we have the edge because I think we have been very fortunate that Jordanians have really stuck to common sense, we have had demonstrations every week since January. We had one person died of heart attack who was watching the demonstrations. Although there have been injuries there has been no loss of life. Demonstrations happening every week they're peaceful but people are now saying well ok lets roll up our sleeves because we all believe in the vision of a government elected from political parties it's time for us to do the hard work. The challenge as I said is going back to the platform, and I was with an activist, a group of people , one of them was an activist ok well ,this was earlier in the summer, were about to do the constitutional changes, elections law is going to be ratified, the political parties law, municipal elections that's about to pass. Ok so you keep saying that, but once you get past October and those were actually passed. What are you going to do then? Are you going to continue to stay on the street or you're create your own political party or join a political party that express your expression.

How much is the economy playing a role in fueling the protests in Jordan? How difficult is that and how much of that is contributing to the mood on the street?

King Abdullah: I think throughout the Middle East, and we've had a recent poll in Jordan, there is a clear majority that are interested mainly in economic reform and economic prosperity as opposed to political reform. But because of frustrations that gives them more political out voices and I think that goes not only the Middle East but throughout Europe and other places, Israel is having demonstrations too that there is a major economic problem throughout the world. The Middle East has the highest unemployment percentage of any region in the world we have a largest youth cohort of history coming into the market place that frustration does translate into the political sphere when people are hungry and with out jobs. On the issues of corruption we have a very good person who's running the anti-corruption department. But again, we need to fight corruption but again a lot of people are using us as tools to attack other people. So ok you're corrupt and there is no mechanism in Jordan to defend yourself from that. So corruption is being used as a political weapon and here is distrust I think between a lot of people and perceived corruption for example privatization is perceived corrupt, but wherever we go in the world there are groups who feel that way so Jordan has been extremely good. One reason why we are such a strong IT base is because of what we've done in liberalizing telecom and IT industry and if we didn't privatize the telecom we would've never have gone there.

Would you say you feel better about things now than you did four five months ago?

King Abdullah: On the issue of political reform, Yes and again four months from now, God willing, I want to feel much better. And you'd understand that the way my life was six months ago, to four months ago to two months ago, I'm learning and we're all maturing as the process goes forward. So my view of, and I think as a head of state, my job is to layout the landscape and get the debate going. You know now the constitutional amendments are in Parliament, the municipal elections have been ratified and we've announced on the second half of December. So on the political aspect it's now being finalized and put into place at least in the short –medium term. But I am always the type of person who takes a couple of steps ahead, what is the next stage and then we have to create debate on that.

Were you surprised by the speed of the Arab Spring? I know those are things you've thought about.

King Abdullah: Honestly we all thought about it and part of the problem is I think is when you're in a monarchy and one of my main things I said when I first came to this position was my responsibility is to put food on the table for Jordanians. And what I meant by that is creating a middle class. And my belief – and I have mentioned it I think many times – once you create a middle class, the stronger the middle class is the smoother the political reform goes through. And it's a two-edged sword because the stronger I create the middle class the quicker they're going to say we want more authority in our lives so the role of the monarch changes politically. But I knew this coming into it I didn't understand to be quite honest how complicated and pushed for this, once the box is opened I was surprised of how quickly it's moving and how quickly decisions need to be made.

I'm curious from your perspective why you think this happened now, just recently was it the demographics with the fallout from wars, was it technology?

King Abdullah: A lot of young people coming into the market place. You look at Jordan you look at 70-75% of the population that are 35-40 and again its young educated youth cohorts especially in Jordan for the first time in establishing middle class with tremendous economic frustrations. You've got to remember that Tunis started not because of politics but because of unemployment and that just opened a floodgate. So in hindsight whether we look back and say it's a good thing but this country is going to have its pace and its share of problems. Each country is going to be unique in how it deals with the world of.

How much was the GCC membership helping you?

King Abdullah: Economically, GCC will be tremendous help, but again we bring a lot to the GCC table. But it definitely positions Jordan in a much stronger position economically in the region. And I see that Jordan, specially with the instability that's happening in the area we are much stronger as a IT and services and transportation center for the Middle East because of all these that are coming in. So I think you'll see a lot of people looking to Jordan Because you know, historically, if you look at every problem they've had in the Middle East, they'd say ahhh Jordan is going to crumble. Nobody has learned that lesson yet, that Jordan has always been able to sustain the shocks of the region and has always come out historically very stable and I'm actually very optimistic for the future.

I know you and Syria's leader came into power at very similar times, have you talked to President Assad?

King Abdullah: I've talked to him twice in the first part of the year to discuss about the challenges we're facing and how we could be supportive in lessons learnt, but at that point the Syrians weren't really interested in what we had to say.

I don't know if you're going to see President Obama, but when he came I think there was a lot of optimism. Is there disappointment with him in the region or is it just seen as something that is out of his control?

King Abdullah: America has had major challenges internally. And you've been faced with the a challenging economy, the issues of healthcare and taxes, two wars, there's a lot on the plate, but my stroke of lessons learnt is you can never ignore the Israeli-Palestinian problem because if you want to ignore it will later come back and bite you in the backside. So you can keep it at arms length but whether you like it or not the bottom fact that you will have to deal with it. And I think that again what happens in the UN this week is going to resonate positively or negatively for quite a while depending on what the outcome is. If the outcome is positive it's going to be hard work for all of us to try and move to the end game, and if it doesn't succeed then I think we all need to be very concerned.

And is there anything specifically you're hoping the U.S. does/do this week or the next week?

King Abdullah: Well like I said, we're working and again my tremendous appreciation to the role of the Europeans and Kathy Ashton and Tony Blair in looking at mechanisms to be able to get the Israelis and Palestinians together. And I just hope that the Americans work closely with Kathy and with Tony Blair specially the next 24/ 48 hours because they're going to be critical [inaudible] For 2012. [source]