The 25th of May 2016, Jordan celebrated it’s 70th Independence anniversary. From all sides, this is an important event for a country that faced many political and economic hardships. A simple look at the map of the Middle East shows also that Jordan presents an important model of stability compared with other countries that face serious challenges. However, in evaluating the level of progress and development, it is always imperative for decision makers not to fall in the trap of such comparison, by putting bad situations thorough which many countries are passing along with the situations in their country to convince themselves that things are on the right track. Changing is a continuous process,, and development is a progressive issue that people should always seek to imitate the successful models.
Many are the challenges that Jordan faces today, internally and externally. Locally, Jordan should focus more on building and implementing an effective de radicalization strategy. Focusing on making some concrete changes on the socio-economic situation of the rural zones, such as micro-economic projects that can make people feel productive by having better chances to participate in building their future. This might be done by a wide national strategy that aims at achieving a real change in the socio-economic system which is capable of putting an end to the economic dependency on the state it self. Such procedure can seriously prevent any possible scenario of future uprisings by the frustrated, and unemployed youth. The Independence Day should be the motive to make decision makers in Jordan starts an evaluation process to revise the mistakes of the past and plan for a progressive future based on enlightenment and positive cultural reform.
From a regional point of view, It was really disappointing to see Amman losing a very important chance to be the cultural hub of Arab world, as the so called Arab spring, has made the Arab historical and cultural hub , Damascus, Beirut, Cairo and Baghdad, Jordan should have developed a plan that makes the Jordanian Capital “Amman” the place where culture evolves and develops.
The Jordanian Renaissance should be the target for the coming phase; the enlightenment movement should include all aspects of life; it should be a cultural movement that includes Art, Education, and above all the consolidate the concepts of pluralism, respect of diversity and rule of law. By doing this, then Jordan can start its real Renaissance and play a major role in re building the cultural scene of this region.
Dr. Amer Al Sabaileh
