Arwa Shobaki

With more than 60 percent of Jordan’s population under the age of 30 and unemployment among this cohort around 50 percent, creating opportunity for youth should be one of the Jordanian government’s most urgent priorities. While the regime does have a national youth agenda and has promised to reform its political system, Jordanians have seen many commissions, committees, and national reform acts enacted with little to no improvement in their day-to-day lives.

Since the beginning of the Arab Spring in 2011, the Jordanian government has rarely been in the spotlight. This past week’s events have been a game-changer for Jordan, which suddenly finds itself the center of international attention, though the closely controlled government messaging has provided very few answers. Many of us were shocked on Saturday to hear the news of arrests linked to an alleged coup in Jordan and Prince Hamzah bin Hussein’s rumored house arrest.