Nationalist Voices in Jordan:
The Street and the State

Betty S. Anderson
Austin: University of Texas Press, 2005. 288 pages.

Jordan has existed now for nearly 60 years, since the termination of the
British mandate in 1946, and has generally been studied in terms of its
Hashemite rulers and the “King’s men,” those who helped the Hashemites
construct it. These historical narratives, argues Anderson, have privileged
the Jordanian monarchy and the “high” elements of society and, conse-
quently, have ignored the “urban” elements that played an equal, if not a
greater, role in constructing the Jordanian national identity. In this sense,
Anderson gives voice to narratives that were previously unknown and
unheard and, by so doing, makes a significant contribution to the body of
literature on Jordan. 

She contends that the “Arab Street” “holds a key to understanding
Jordan in the twentieth century” and, in this regard, focuses upon the “true”
Jordanian natives and their narrative. Taking a subaltern approach to
Jordanian history, she examines the foundation of the Jordanian National
Movement (JNM), a coalition of leftist parties based loosely upon Arab
nationalism, and its influence upon the nation’s formation. Given her unique
approach to Jordanian history, she admits that her work is incomplete, for
many first-hand accounts and memoirs, which cannot be found, should be
examined in light of the larger body of literature on Jordan. 

The history of Jordan is that of post-colonial independence and nation-
hood, of a nation that had never existed in the hearts and minds of those who
would live within its borders until it was actually drawn on a map. In an
agreement brokered in late March 1921 between Winston Chuchill, then the
British colonial secretary, and Abdullah I, the latter would accept British

Book Reviews 95



96 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 23:1

suzerainty over “Transjordan” and, in return, would be recognized as its
ruler. Therefore, from its earliest days Jordan’s history is that of its
Hashemite monarchs appeasing their colonial benefactors. This is important
for two reasons, as Anderson notes: First, it helps explain why King Hussein
crushed the JNM. Second, and more importantly, it helps students of
Jordanian history better understand the motivating factors and decisions of
its Hashemite rulers. 

Anderson’s works sheds light on a highly tumultuous period not only of
Middle Eastern history, but also of what should really be considered under
the larger rubric of world history – the history of British colonialism and
mandates, post-colonial independence, and the formation of nationhood.
Through nine chapters, she covers each stage in the aforementioned process,
carefully avoiding the trap of focusing on one period or quickly glossing
over others. As a result, her work gives an equal amount of attention to each
historical period and, in so doing, offers a remarkable balance of both depth
and breadth. 

Returning to the importance of the Jordanian natives in forming Jordan,
she examines Jordan’s rejection of the British-backed Baghdad Pact in late
1955. Anderson argues that the pressure brought to bear upon King Hussein
by the JNM proved too much and thus forced him to acquiesce to its rejec-
tion. The 1954 election had been hampered by government manipulation to
ensure a Hashemite-compliant government. These were the days of both
heady Arab nationalism and the height of the cold war. The Baghdad Pact
was designed to create a buffer zone of Middle Eastern nations in the battle
against Soviet communism. The British first looked to Egypt and Syria, but
both declined. 

The next obvious choice, writes Anderson, was Jordan. While King
Hussein – like father, like son – agreed to accommodate the colonial mas-
ter’s commands, going so far as to sign the document personally in spite of
the JNM, the British ambassador advised against it until a legitimate govern-
ment could be formed to rubber stamp the agreement. The JNM, refusing to
kowtow to either British or Hashemite pressure, though at this point they
were perhaps one and the same, brought Jordan to the “most violent demon-
strations the country had ever seen” (p. 162), and led the rejection of the
Baghdad Pact. Through examining the failure of the Baghdad Pact,
Anderson persuasively highlights the JNM’s power, and thus of the
Jordanian natives, in effectively altering national policy. 

Perhaps the curse of the JNM was it very own success, in that it posed
a viable threat to Hashemite rule and could effectively undermine the



king’s will. By the 1956 election, the JNM had won an overwhelming mar-
gin, and, for the first time, Jordan had a leftist-oriented Arab nationalist
government that highly favored Jamal Abdul Nasser and his worldview. In
this heyday of Arab nationalism, Sulayman al-Nablusi, the newly elected
prime minister, made no secret that Jordan could not exist independently
of its fellow Arab neighbor states and should form some sort of union. Two
years later, Egypt and Syria united to form the United Arab Republic. Al-
Nablusi, pushing the card further, openly courted the Soviet ambassador,
allowed Jordanian communist parties to function normally, and permitted
the Soviet news agency, Tass, to open an office in Jordan. Anderson
believes that these bold and highly controversial overtures caused the
JNM’s downfall. Using the threat of a military coup, whether real or arti-
ficially created, King Hussein arrested its leaders and thereby ensured its
demise. 

This work will be of great interest to students of Jordanian and
Palestinian history and those exploring the creation of state and nationalism
within the Middle East. Its only shortcoming is its somewhat disjointed cov-
erage of the JNM. While the entire book is premised on exploring Jordanian
history vis-à-vis the JNM, only the last four chapters do so exclusively, for
the first half focuses on the concepts of identity, nationalism, and nationhood
in regards to Jordan. This work is a tour de force of Jordanian history, with
captivating attention to detail and painstaking research, made evident by her
use of poetry, textbooks, interviews, and previously unknown memoirs. It
heralds the arrival of Anderson as a “new historian” of Jordan. 

Faisal Ghori
BA, Middle Eastern Studies; BA, History

University of California, Berkeley, California

Book Reviews 97