Jordan’s troubled king and his bothersome brother

AFTER 23 YEARS on the throne, King Abdullah looks tired, aloof and despairing of his kingdom. While his counterparts in the Gulf unveil grand visions, he sounds short of ideas: his favourite way to tackle a problem is to create a committee. As more Arab states normalise ties with Israel, Jordan’s strategic importance as a front-line state has dwindled. So has aid from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, which used to be a primary source of revenue given Jordan’s lack of natural resources. Meanwhile prices for ordinary folk have soared; nearly half the young are jobless, and the economy—in the words of a disgruntled former prime minister—is bankrupt. In sum, Jordan and its king are unhappy.